Cable Car Ride and other Almaty, Kazakhstan Things to Do Tips

From the southern side of the city, it's possible to take a pleasant cble car ride to the top of one of the nearby mountains. There are no Alpine vistas here; that's further to the South, but the view fof the city from the top is nice, and the view to the other, uninhabited side is scenic. Better still, there' are several pleasant places at the top to enjoy a beer, a snack, or a meal. No english spoken at the ticket offices, but the waiter at the restaurant where I ate had a few words of English, and there was an English version of the menu.

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Address: Corner of Dostyk and Abay
Directions: souteast side of the city

This lake, a few kilometers into the mountains south of Almaty, makes for a nice day trip. The lake resulted from damming a mountain stream to provide water for the city. Although the lake is reachable by a combination of public transport and hiking, I chose to employ a guide with four wheel drive vehicle, arranged for me by StanTours. I was glad that I did, as the walk up would be a very hard slog. The Alpine scenery in the area is indeed beautiful, but at the time of my visit (July, 2008), the lake was only about half full due to drought and Almaty's profligate use of water, which made it considerably less beautiful than it otherwise might have been. Be sure to take rain gear. I did not, and the result was being drenched by cold rain from a shower that blew up suddenly. The positive side of this was that my guide and I were able to take refuge in the home of a local game warden and enjoy a cup of tea--an experience I otherwise would not have had. All told, the trip was well worth the money.

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Address: n/a
Directions: South of Almaty