#1 Almaty is the city of apples
#2 Same as in Eastern Russia and Mongolia; most of the older generation have full-on gold teeth
#3 The traditional countryside houses look very similar to their Russian and Mongolian counterparts but are painted white with blue window surrounds
#4 Nobody has beards or moustaches
#5 Many of the young in Almaty speak pretty good English
#6 There is steppe in the countryside of the north while the south-east is much greener and mountainous
#7 In Almaty cars beep their horns at the slightest thing – very annoying
#8 The petrol is very cheap – 31 pence a litre, cheaper still for the lower grade fuels (92 and 80)!
#9 Kazak people are very friendly indeed. Everyone wants to chat with us. Even while driving in central Almaty people will stick their heads out of the car window and ask us where we are from
#10 You will never have seen so many watermelons and butternut squashes
#11 Some of the police take bribes and they wear very wide-brimmed caps
#12 There is a real ethnic mix in Kazakhstan
#13 There are many roads in very bad condition though many new roads are being built, especially by the Chinese who want to create a network of roads heading to the West
#14 As in Russia; it’s compulsory to drive with your lights on at all times
#15 Horses abound in Kazakhstan, and in the far south-east corner, many people use donkeys and wooden carts to travel around.
#16 The wealthy in the cities drive massive sparkling new black 4WD LandCruisers
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