Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Hong Kong

[henleybeach]

Air Astana

A320 Y class

220pm departure



A uneventful flight to Almaty, a nice small

Snack box was served, which included a roll with ham, cheese, tomato, chips and a cake. The flight was blocked at 90 minute but it was only 65 minute.

We were through customs pretty quick and collected our luggage and on our way to our hotel Mercure .
It’s a nice new hotel , about a year old ? Has lovely hot tubs on level 11 looking out onto the City and snow capped mountains. We grabbed a beer and a cider and headed up to the hot tub for a spa and drink. There was Plenty of restaurants nearby and we went to a place called fornarina. Good wine list. We had a pizza , a rib eye , grilled veggies, a beer, bottle of rose and an apple pie to share for $60. Really nice place and a lovely waiter. Now for some exploring tomorrow

 

[henleybeach]

After a lovely breakfast spread at the Mercure we headed off to Kok Tobe mountain. Over here they have Yandex.Taxi which is their Uber , hotel staff use their Yandex.Taxi app and get one for you and you can pay cash.
It cost us about $ 2.50 for a 15 min ride to the cable car to go up to Kok Tobe.

It has a nice view of the city and the Tian Shan mountains which is the back drop of Almaty. We had a cappuccino and admired the views for a while before I noticed a luge ride down the hill. So my inner child took over and off I went and went on it twice. Good fun, nice and fast and spectacular views. Kok Tobe mountain is basically a family park with all rides and things for kids and families. Worth going up for the views and it doesn’t cost much on the cable car.

Next up we got a cab to medeo ice skating rink. It was closed due to winter being over and so was the cable car up to shymbulak resort. There was taxis doing shuttles runs so we took one up there. We had a dumpling soup overlooking the mountains, then went for a hike and looked around, still plenty of snow and everything was super green and very pretty. So far Almaty has surprised how nice it is, so many craft beer places , restaurants, cafes and very green. Back to the hotel for a spa and beer before a special dinner tonight at the ritz Carlton which has a top floor bar overlooking the Tien Shan mountains.

 

[henleybeach]

 

[henleybeach]

 

[henleybeach]

 

[henleybeach]

Mercure hotel spa with a view

 

[JohnM]

Killing it, HB, just killing it!

 

[henleybeach]

Last night was some dinner and drinks at the Ritz-Carlton Almaty . Beautiful views of the city and tian Shen mountains.
If you can afford it, defiantly come up here even for a drink at sunset. I had local beer and that was $5aud but for the ladies if they don’t drink beer , wine and coughtail prices are just as high as back home or higher. Mrs hb had a couple aperol spritz and they were $15 each, but you’ve gotta keep the wife happy
For Kazakhstan it is extremely expensive.
We had a meal while we were there , around $27 each for a chicken main which was quite nice.

 

[Wanderlust_tim]

Those mountains just capture my heart. Magical!

 

[stm1sydney]

Yer I noticed that , I was walking around all day without my lens cover on

Unfortunately, it's probably sensor dust not dust on your lens.

 

[JohnM]

Hey, HB, you mean 'definitely' not 'defiantly' .

 

[RooFlyer]

For Kazakhstan it is extremely expensive.

I have 3 nights in Kazakhstan after my tour finishes in Almaty in September. Ritz Carlton abt A$450 night. I think I'll stick with my plan to have a look at Astana Nur-Sultan and have an expensive beer at the RC.

 

[henleybeach]

Hey, HB, you mean 'definitely' not 'defiantly' .

Yer I bet there is plenty of mistakes throughout this report, iPhone auto correct annoys me and sometimes I’m too lazy to read back before I post

 

[henleybeach]

Today we decided to head to the big Almaty lake. I read online about doing tours but the hotel reception said he could just use his Yandex.Taxi account and order me a cab to take us there and back . It cost roughly $54 return , it’s around a hour each way plus we stayed up there for about 45min. There is a lovely scenic drive up to the lake, lots of hair pin corners and it’s lovely and green. The lake is approximately 3000m above sea level and it provides Almaty it’s water.
All the taxi drivers are really friendly here and with limited English they get the google translate out and love talking with you via that.
We felt very safe here and we wished we had a few days to go and visit the canyon and some other lakes .

 

[henleybeach]

 

[henleybeach]

Presidential park

 

[craven morehead]

Mercure hotel spa with a view View attachment 163911

Bloody awesome !! Really enjoying this TR

 

[craven morehead]

I had never really put much thought into The Stans but my interest is certainly on the increase. Almaty looks spectacular.

 

[henleybeach]

I had never really put much thought into The Stans but my interest is certainly on the increase. Almaty looks spectacular.

It has really surprised me how nice it is. Perfect weather this time of the year as well, 26 degrees and the locals are out after their freezing winters
Would’ve really liked to have gone to lake kaindy and charyn canyon .

 

[craven morehead]

It has really surprised me how nice it is. Perfect weather this time of the year as well, 26 degrees and the locals are out after their freezing winters
Would’ve really liked to have gone to lake kaindy and charyn canyon .

Yep, it's blown me away. Keep up the good work and have fun !!