Kazakhstan didn’t much like Borat’s mockumentary in his films portraying Kazakhstan.  However, they got their own back as they began using the “Very Nice” tagline to attract tourism 

There’s more money here, through the riches of oil and gas.  Things are more developed and everything costs more than in other Stan countries, but it is genuinely lovely here in Almaty.  A great place, and the snow-capped mountains provide a picture-perfect backdrop to this beautiful city.

It does seem a little overstretched, traffic jams are constant, public transport not as much as they need and the airport packs people in like sardines.  The 2GiS navigation GPS that navigates you around the city, even without WiFi, works really well and highlights the madness when it is faster to walk to a destination rather than go by transport.

Pre-getting the advice about 2GiS, day #1 was a magical mystery tour trying to navigate this vast city.  A taxi took me to Kok Tobe as solving the Almaty puzzle was proving tricky.  Taxis are not expensive, but the views of walking are so much more fun and interesting when exploring a new city.

Kok Tobe genuinely took my breath away…you coast up on a cable car up to the top, and the views down are exceptional, especially as luck would have it the sun was shining bright.  I’ve seen views like these many times over, so what makes Almaty different?  Well, from up at the top…spin around, and the snow-capped mountain is almost close enough to touch.  It genuinely is idyllic.

It’s kind of a ritual now to check out the Metro stations, former Russian Republics never disappoint.  I remember the first delight of seeing them for the first time in Russia.  They always impress.  Almaty too.

Eastern Europe and Central Asia have brilliant bakeries and regularly I’ll find my way there, but with the challenge of language, it can be a bit like playing bakery roulette.  Generally, everything’s good, but here beef and horse meat are used interchangeably, so you have to be ready for what comes!

I did make my way to a football ground, of course, and got a souvenir from the club shop of Kairat Almaty.  I cannot say that I have ever known much about Kazakh football teams, but apparently, Kairat is #2 in the country and #1 in Almaty.  On the European stage, they come in at #206, just above Burnley who are dropping like a stone at #211.

I wandered miles upon miles during my stay in Almaty and truly felt the experience of going from new friend to good friend   My taxi driver back to the airport used his little English and Google Translate, to say…” come back to Almaty often, we have fun here”.  Yes, you certainly do.

Almaty is without question “Very Nice”.