Middle-aged flash packers

Executive summary: Yandex rules, we are living in Fort Knox but the surrounding area is great, the waterfalls are average but we love the people, go out to eat before you are really hungry, chocolate is very nice.

After a chilly morning in Nur Sultan searching for a local sim (surprisingly difficult to come by) we flew to Almaty.

We have a new friend – Yandex.

It’s a taxi app similar to Uber. So far we have had excellent drivers arriving within minutes. No language barrier as their app shows everything in Russian and ours is in English. No need to give directions; technology is fabulous!

The arrival at our apartment did not fill me with joy. In the dim light, the apartment block looked run down to say the least. Entry is through a rusty old door and the steps up to the flat are broken and fractured. However the apartment itself is compact but modern and comfortable.

We headed out for some food, slightly concerned that the neighbourhood might be a bit dodgy. In fact it would seem we are in the heart of the posh bit of the main city, close to the opera house and loads of restaurants. We chose Georgian food which was a great choice and the homemade wine was fabulous.

The next morning, we thought we’d stretch our legs with an “easy” walk to Butakovskiy waterfall. It’s a 25 minute cab ride out of town and starts from the ice rink.

A first for me- some local walkers were scared of the cows blocking their way and Steve and I walked them through. Feeling very pleased with myself!

By the river, lots of families and young people had set up camp and were enjoying bbqs and tea. Of course, the girls were all “instagram ready” and taking selfies, but it’s so interesting to see this melding of old meets new.

The waterfall itself was fairly average but young lads were showing off to girls, getting soaked and freezing cold and families were helping grandma over the rocks. Cheering to see people enjoying their beautiful country.

As much as we are fascinated by the people of Kazakhstan, so they are of us. Those that can speak English want to know where we are from and why we’ve come to their country. They seem to feel the poor relation in comparison to their neighbours. A curious group of people stopped to chat to us and asked if we’d eaten horse meat. When Steve said he had and loved it, they positively glowed!

We caught the bus back (princely sum of 80p for both of us) and it’s fair to say we were pretty knackered. Considering the waterfall walk was described as easy, I’m slightly concerned about the other walks I’d hoped we’d do.

We stupidly left it until we were both starving before we went in search of eateries and did that ridiculous thing of dithering, trying to find the perfect place. Almaty is full of the most amazing restaurants and yet we couldn’t decide on anywhere then started getting very grumpy with each other. When will we learn?!

After eating we found the most fantastic supermarket, stuffed with a cornucopia of delicious foodstuffs. And it’s just round the corner from us. We left with a huge box of chocolates, a chocolate bar and chocolate cookies. Can life get any better?