When I was in Almaty, my hotel has four channels of PayTV. Two are normal channels (all in Russians) and another two are not for underage (I think you know what I meant here). This is one of the movies available.
Landed at KUL couple of minutes before 11pm local time. Taxied to contact pier at KLIA. By 11:40pm, I was on the train to XKL where BH was waiting for me.
Now, let me give my view and conclusion on my trip to Almaty.
Overall, Kazakhstan is bored if you are stuck in the cities like Almaty or Astana. In fact, I was told living in Astana increases your boredom meter. However, translating this into “money management”, then it is good since you don’t have many things to spend your money on.
Here are my observations for the last four days during beginning of winter in Almaty, Kazakhstan
Working: Not favour of this. You feel alienated since all businesses are conducted in Russian. So do the workers. Only handful of them speaks English. All signboards are in Russian. No English words at all. I know the same in Middle East where majority speak Arabic. However, the feeling is different.
Moving around: Pretty hard since Almaty is not a “city center”. Meaning, there is no down town. You must know where to go. There is no such thing as I want to go to Mall A then walk around the area. There may only be Mall A there and nothing else. Not many taxi around, however there are “private cars” where you have to negotiate the fare and must know the exact place to go. Bear in mind these “private cars” can slaughter you as foreigners easily. Literally, if you are behind the wheel, you are licensed to pick and drop passengers wherever and whenever you want. Driving your own car may not be a good idea unless you have been in the country for quite sometimes.
People: Kazakhstan has more than 100 nationalities/ethnics. There are local Kazakh (looks like Mongolian), ethnic Russia, Tartar, Korean, etc. Therefore, the tolerance level towards foreigners are high. You may experience positive encounter with the locals and may also have negative view on it.
Food: The country may have majority of Muslim people. However, be careful when eating at the restaurant because some Muslims here do eat pork and drink alcohol. Ramadan is not respected (I dare to say this since I was told by people who have been here long enough) and you will not see any or very minimal Islam being practised as a way of life. The best thing is to go to the restaurants that serve no pork at all. All restaurants that I have been do serve alcohol. There is no international fast food chain like KFC, McD or any of those international brand coffee shops (Starbucks, Coffee Bean etc..).
Surrounding Area/Travel: This country is rich in natural beauties. Apart from Almaty, Astana and petroleum cities around Caspian Sea, Kazakhstan has lots to offer for nature’s lovers. However, the tourism industry is not being aggressively marketed. Only those people who are in the country would know the untouched area in the country. Everybody needs a visa in advance before entering the country. This is a negative point for tourism. There is a railway system connecting Almaty and Uzbekistan (not sure about other countries). One of the company staff does a once in fortnight trip from Almaty to Tashkent (overnight train from Almaty to Uzbek town for 3000 tenge and another 3000 tenge for a taxi from the Uzbek town to Tashkent). For info, USD1 = 120.5 tenge = RM3.45.
Standard of Living: This is very high. Basic meal for small soda and a plate of kebab costs around 700 tenge. Kebab seems to be cheaper than burger. Rental is quoted in USD and a semi-dee house within a gated community can fetch USD4million. The average two rooms apartment in Almaty costs circa USD3500 – USD4000. You can get a cheaper rate for old Soviet-era apartment building.
~ MT @ Malaysia
~~ Sunway Damansara, Petaling Jaya
~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself ~
Woke up at 6am to freshen up and had breakfast. By 7am, I was already at the lobby and the driver was already there. I was with another candidate who is traveling back to Jakarta. However, she was to stop overnight in Bangkok to visit some friends.
According to agenda, I am supposed to be in the company office at 11am. However, the head of the unit would like to see me before he leaves for Astana, thus I have to be in earlier. Met him for 15 minutes and he briefly mentioned his plan for me and the package I might be offered. I would say it is not that attractive.
In the afternoon, I went to another building to have lunch with the country head. A New Zealander who has been in the country for the last couple of years. Pretty interesting story from him on the country development.
After lunch, Lyazatte came to fetch me and another candidate for a city tour. We decided to enjoy both the city and the mountains. Original plan is to go to Chimbulak, a ski resort. However, we cut short our trip and stopped only half way there. Around 1500ft above sea level. It was a breathtaking view. Then we went down town and the first stop was Post Office. I needed to post a postcard to myself. I always do this whenever I went out of the country. Buy a postcard and post it to yourself.
Then, to the Green Market where a lot of cheap stuff including souvenirs are sold. Actually, other things are cheap, but not the souvenirs. It is known as Green Market because the area is full with vegetables and fruits stalls. Then we moved to the Central Mosque. The first ever mosque I found in Almaty. People are not really religious. Met few Muslims Kazakh. Unfortunately they do not speak English, so unable to converse well with them.
Since it was already dark and our tour guide needed to go back to the office, we decided to call off the day. The traffic was so bad. Reminds me of Kuala Lumpur during peak hours.
Had dinner with David and Gary at the Namaste Indian Restaurant nearby our hotel. Although this is Indian restaurant, they also serve Thai and Chinese. As per other restaurants in Almaty, pork is also served.
After dinner, I went back to pack and dozed off after packing, Tomorrow pick-up will be at 7am form the hotel. Need to wake up early in this cold weather.
I woke up early in the morning for breakfast and get ready for my official interview. Originally, I promised David to meet him at 8am and go to the office together. Unlike me, David already joined the company and his first day is today. Apparently, he has to go to Office 1 and mine is Office 2. Slava, the company’s driver, picked me at 9am and from the hotel, it took me around 30 minutes to get to the Office 2. The traffic was bad. I thought the driving skills in Qatar was worse, but this is terrible. The way they structured the traffic light junction coupled with the bad driving skills make the driving condition in Almaty bad. I would not dare to drive at this point of time. Based on the experience by people I met here, driving can be harmful to you.
This Uzbekistan restaurant, I think it is known as “Alasa” has a very distinctive Uzbek deco. There were also few birds chirping once in a while. The food was good and the best part was the entertainment. Ranging from traditional Uzbek folk fore and finish it up with belly dancing. Before the end of the show, these belly dancers will move from one table to another. As a patron at the restaurant, you are expected to slip some monies to their waist. Luckily they don’t strip like that club :-p
I went to bed quite late last night. Around 3 o’clock in the morning. We stayed at that club until late. Woke up just in time for breakfast and continue sleeping until noon. In the afternoon, I had lunch at Promenad (again) and later went to Ramstore. This time, I was with David, an Australian who just joined the company. I was told this particular Ramstore is where majority of people go. Apparently, Ramstore is just like Carrefour / Tesco and Ramstore is a Turkish chain. Bought few fridge magnets for myself and some friends. Haven’t found the key chain for Zal yet.
The weather today was cold and the best thing to do in this weather is cuddling with the loved one sipping hot chocolate or coffee. Hehehe… However, I am alone here and there is no coffee place like Starbucks or Coffee Bean. So, forget about it. I was told the first Starbucks in the region (Russia and CIS) was opened in Moscow couple of months back and it was a great success. I think it is time for Kazakhstan to have one.
After Ramstore, I joined other two colleagues for drinks at Soho Almaty Club. This club is not the same as the club I went last night. It is a dining palce with live band. Although it is not the same, it is similar. A place where you can pick up “overnight partner” for around USD200 per night per partner. The band was pretty good I would say. We stayed there until 1am, which is the club closing time on Sunday.
Went back to the hotel and started packing. I need to pack just in case I have to move to another hotel since I was told the current hotel is fully booked. I hope that the company can extend my stay for another two nights. Too lazy to move out – although the hotel is not a great hotel. The breakfast is lousy and the internet connection is expensive.
Once I reached the hotel, changed and went straight to bed. I woke up at 8am after a short but good sleep. I was thirsty and needed to get some food. I thought KC to serve light refreshment before landing, however, I was wrong.
