Almaty, the biggest city of Kazakhstan have become the country’s major cultural and financial center. The vast country, Kazakhstan, which stretches from the Caspian Sea to China is known to be as Asia’s most diverse country. As its here Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and China meet. Almaty, is the city that every traveler should explore once in life, the offbeat destination, is not in many travelers bucket list, but whosoever has visited here have never gone disappointed. The city offers myriad of things to do, from exploring the snow-capped mountains, swanky malls, and fountains, busy boulevards, amazing food and coffee to museums of Soviet era. So make the most of your Kazakhstan visit, as here we have reasons why you should visit Almaty.
At an altitude of almost 1700m, Medeu outdoor ice skating rails claim to be the highest ice-skating rink in the world. The enormous rink, covered all around with snow, overlooks the city and gives most spectacular views. The experience of skiing here is something else and we should thank the freezing weather of Almaty winters, which will give you the perfect reason to visit Almaty, Kazakhstan.
The Ascension Cathedral, located in Panfilov Parkin, Almaty is a Russian Orthodox cathedral, made out of woods, without the use of any nails claims to be as the world’s second tallest wooden building. Although flattened by an earthquake many times, Almaty is not a city awash with historic buildings and Ascension Cathedral is one such example, whose opulent interior and magnificent work of art are awestruck.
Paradise for food lovers and another reason to visit Almaty in Kazakhstan has so much to offer that you will go spoilt for choice. The traditional cuisine Kazakh is mainly served in all the restaurants, but not just their local cuisine, you will also get Uzbek, Tatar and Russian cuisines as well and despite confusions in culinary traditions, you will get to taste dishes different from their classical versions, thus so many flavors and spices, makes the gastronomic experience an exciting one. In addition, Kazakh people are meat lovers too, so along with their meat delicacies, they also have expertise in interesting fish dishes, fresh vegetables, and salads.
Kazakh’s love their coffee and they love it sweet, and you will be blown away by the plethora of options for cafes. One such pocket-sized popular cafe Bowler Coffee Roasters is also a roastery and runs his own in-house barista training school. Not just the coffee there many bars and pubs as well in the city, which will give you many options to tipple the night away. Kazakh’s winemaking is seeing a revival, and Arba wine bar is must visit for trying the best wine in the city.
The best reason to visit Almaty, Kazakhstan is the most relaxing baths, which is completely an unmissable experience. Arasan Baths complex is the most elaborately styled bathhouse in the region, built in the 1980s as a grand statement of late Soviet ambition offers Finnish Sauna, Moroccan hammam, Russian banya, and Turkish steam baths. So pick your towels, slippers, leave your modesty behind and relax to the fullest.