Experience in Almaty, Kazakhstan by Dariya

What is it like to live in Almaty? Would you recommend it? What is the city like?

I live in ALmaty all my life and ofcourse I love it. But if to be objective, I'd say that its very friendly city. People here are very kind and open minded. Mainly Kazakh and Russian languages are used, butalmost all people of students age and younger speaks english or at least can understand you and help to find the way)
Almaty is the biggest city in Kazakhstan. it is ex-capital but it is still financial and culturalcenter of Kazakhstan. It is just near the mountains which are part of Tian-Shiyan mountains group. The climate is continental. Its a heaven for you if you like mountain sports like mountain biking, mountain hiking, skying, skating, rafting.
it is very easy to navigate in the city. The most important to know in Almaty that there always used "top" and "bottom" of the street when talking about directions. The mountains are the "top", its South and opposite North is "bottom", thats it. all the streets in the city parallel and perpendicular, so its easy to navigate.I'd definitely recommend to live in Almaty. You can meet there a huge cultures, nationalities, traditions and religions that lives together and prosper.

How much does it cost to live in Almaty?

If you'll live at the universities dorm it will cost you not that much, per a year its about 300$. If you want to rent a flat then it will cost around 600-800$ per month without bills (1room flat). If to think average, then for food, entertainment and transport costs for 1 person for month will be needed around 700-1000$.

Is it difficult to find accommodation in Almaty? Is there any advice you can give?

It isnt difficult to find accommodation in Almaty. The only difficulty might be in a distance (how close it to university) and cost. Usually all the last course students of the universities rent flats all around the unis so it is important to find the flat as early as it possible. most popular website with fresh ads of flats for rent is www.krisha.kz but i guess it is in russian.

What is the food like? What are your favourite dishes?

You can find all kind of food there. There are restaurants and cafes of all cousins from italian to korean. For students there are chain cafes for reasonable prices like Kaganat and Paradise. Generally in common food in Almaty you can find soups (beef, chicken or fish), pastas, roast, steamed vegetables, lasagna and so on. Generally food is not spicy and there is no too much spices in food. My favourites are traditional meal beshbarmak ( is made of horse meat or beaf/sheep meat and boiled noodles), pasta and manty (our traditional meal too :)

What places would you recommend visiting in Almaty?

Medeo skating rink in the mountains, Shymbulak skying resort, The National Museum, Kok-Tobe (Green hills) symbol of Almaty, there you can find panoramic view, Republic square, Park 28 Panfilov Guardsmen (hystorical place of Second world War), Central Park of Culture and Rest, Almaty zoo, Park of First President. There are lots of nature reserves where you can go with touristic groups for weekends (Tamgaly tas,Turgen waterfalls, Charyn canyon, gorge Almaarasan etc)