It was good meeting up Cool Runnings. Your post is pretty spot on with my observations as well.
To add my two cents regarding the iminent danger question - I spent most of my time with Dantes and Chase during my time in Almaty, and we all faced varied levels of aggression from local guys during both the day and at night. As mentioned above, they absolutely can't handle foreigners going anywhere near their women and are extremely protective.
There was at least one situation that I had that needed to be difused in order to not break out into a drunken vodka-fueled brawl.
Together as a group we also saw guys rolling around with knives on the hip, and even strolling down a main street packing a samurai sword on his back. This place feels a bit like the wild wild west (east, maybe).
I'd say Almaty had the most seedy vibe out of any other FSU country I've been to, and the highest chance for something going wrong.
Would I go back? Yeah, but I think if you're spending quite a bit of time there you have to expect you'll at least have a minor encounter.
To add my two cents regarding the iminent danger question - I spent most of my time with Dantes and Chase during my time in Almaty, and we all faced varied levels of aggression from local guys during both the day and at night. As mentioned above, they absolutely can't handle foreigners going anywhere near their women and are extremely protective.
There was at least one situation that I had that needed to be difused in order to not break out into a drunken vodka-fueled brawl.
Together as a group we also saw guys rolling around with knives on the hip, and even strolling down a main street packing a samurai sword on his back. This place feels a bit like the wild wild west (east, maybe).
I'd say Almaty had the most seedy vibe out of any other FSU country I've been to, and the highest chance for something going wrong.
Would I go back? Yeah, but I think if you're spending quite a bit of time there you have to expect you'll at least have a minor encounter.