I was in Almaty during the 2018 summer for two weeks.
This datasheet has very limited info on nightlife, refer to Cool Runnings recent and great data sheet for that: thread-64401.html
Background
Black, not anglophone, fluent in Russian, had prior traveling experience in former soviet republics. 6’2, 205 pounds at that time, athletic frame.
Transportation
Almaty isn’t a very walkable city. You can download Yandex taxi app (Яндекс.Такси) and order cabs. Locals use that app and you can’t get rip off since it shows the price beforehand. I think it’s only in Russian, but it’s easy to use even if you only know the basics. You can pay cash or by credit card. Very cheap. Time frame to pick you up was precise and fast. I used it a lot. I didn’t take the bus. I took the metro twice, it’s clean and I felt safe.
Accomodation
I rented an Airbnb located at Zheltoksan St / Kazybek Bi streets. This was an excellent area with cafes, restaurants, groceries stores. Also not far from nightlife including sky bar which is open everyday. When I came back from Kyrgyzstan I stayed at Grand Saphire Hotel. Decent hotel where guests are allowed, decent location.
Restaurants
Tyubeteyka, Satpaev St 32 (There is also a second restaurant in the city)
Kazakh restaurant. I went twice there. You can sit outside. At night, there is live music at times. I ate the national Kazakh dish : beshparmak. It’s boiled horsemeat with noodles. Got some Uzbek pilaf as well and lamb, very tasty. Good service from the waiters.
Чайхана NAVAT, Dostyk Ave 48
Kazakh restaurant. Really interesting decor. Very intimate with some kind of couches, so good for dates. Also hate horse meat. A lot of choice, tasty, I recommend. If you have time for only one restaurant, I’d go there.
Gosti, Kunaev St 78
Big traditional russian restaurant with a kitsch decor and different rooms. Calm atmosphere, good for a date. Borscht was pretty good.
Darejani, Kazybek Bi St 40/85
Georgian restaurant infront of Gosti. I like georgian food and their wine. It was tasty with good service.
Market
The green bazaar on Zenkov Street: You can find all kinds of tasty and fresh products from Central Asia: fruits, vegetables, nuts, meat, etc. It’s worth a visit. The sellers make you taste for free.
Gym :
Adrenaline, Kunaev St 64
Nice gym. Two rooms, one with many power racks, free weights and a deadlift/olympic weightlifting platform. A second room with machines and cardio equipment. If I recall correctly it was something like 6$US each visit. Staff was friendly. I had some cool conversations with friendly Kazakhs there. I saw some cute Russian and Kazakh girls.
Excursions :
You can go by cab at the big Almaty lake. My driver was a nice guy, an ethnic Uyghur, we had interesting conversations. I booked a tour with an agency called Blast-tour to go to the Kolsai Lakes. It was really worth it. Amazing sights. I did some horseriding in the mountains. We slept in a small Kazakh village for 2 nights with a local family. The tour was in Russian and all the people were Kazakh citizens. Met some nice people there. The same tour is offered by multiple agencies including English speaking ones.
Museums :
I visited the Central State Museum of Kazakhstan and the museum of the history of the city of Almaty. I don’t recommend going there, don't waste your time.
Mall
Dostyk Plaza was a big mall. I had lunch at Cafe Central there, a big trendy cafe. That mall could be a good spot for daygame.
Parks :
Central park: mostly families there, no talent seen. There is a pool club : Delight pool dayclub. I couldn't get inside without buying a day pass just to check it out, but I'd say it's moslty families.
Koktobe: mountain. You can go up with the funicular and walk around. One of the main landmarks in the city. There are some cafes, including a relatively chic restaurant, on top and the view is very nice.
Walking streets :
1.Panfilova.
2.zhibek zholy
Cool spots. A lot of people here at nights just relaxing, and walking around. Talent seen. Easy to approach.
Clubs
I only went clubbing once at Chukotka bar. I really like the setting there. If I recall correctly there were two floors. Upstairs there was a little dance floor and a large bar, with table where people would eat. On the first floor there was another dance floor and bar. Ratio was good and crowd was mostly Kazakh in early twenties.
Overall experience and opinion
I had a blast in Almaty but I speak russian fluently. I believe this is a game changer. Almaty is a modern, green and dynamic city. As a black guy, not once did I felt threatened. Khazakh people were very friendly and polite to me. Many were smiling at me and wanted to have a talk since you rarely see black guys there. No harassment by the police. Khazakhs have a slight frame in general and the Russians were not very built either. Almost everyday I got asked if I was a professional athlete and was told how muscular and big I was. Got asked if I was a boxer, MMA fighter, basketball player, soccer player and Olympic weightlifter. Kazakhs are muslims, but I found them to be very moderate and open. I saw only a handful of girls wearing hidjabs. The younger generation doesn’t seem very observant. In Almaty, you’ll find a sizeable russian community. If you’re not into Asians and the purpose of your trip is mainly to meet with girls, I wouldn’t go there only for the Russians. I found Khazakh women to be attractive and open. There is also a community of ethnic Koreans who have been in the FSU for 3-4 generations. I didn’t have the impression that girls in general were particularly conservative. I talk with a lot of people there, guys and girls, and honestly I find the younger generation to be behaving like in the west. This is my anecdotal experience, and of course, the duration of my trip was short. Of course, in the countryside, the vibe was different and people are more conservative. They get married younger outside of big cities.
Personally I’m not sure I’d recommend to go there if you don’t have a basic command of russian but many guys who don’t went and enjoyed it.
I met wth a forum member there, also black. The only other black guy that I saw the whole trip. A very experienced traveler and player. He didn't like it there and left earlier than expected.
Tinder is big there. If you have a quality profile, meeting with hot chicks will be easy.
This datasheet has very limited info on nightlife, refer to Cool Runnings recent and great data sheet for that: thread-64401.html
Background
Black, not anglophone, fluent in Russian, had prior traveling experience in former soviet republics. 6’2, 205 pounds at that time, athletic frame.
Transportation
Almaty isn’t a very walkable city. You can download Yandex taxi app (Яндекс.Такси) and order cabs. Locals use that app and you can’t get rip off since it shows the price beforehand. I think it’s only in Russian, but it’s easy to use even if you only know the basics. You can pay cash or by credit card. Very cheap. Time frame to pick you up was precise and fast. I used it a lot. I didn’t take the bus. I took the metro twice, it’s clean and I felt safe.
Accomodation
I rented an Airbnb located at Zheltoksan St / Kazybek Bi streets. This was an excellent area with cafes, restaurants, groceries stores. Also not far from nightlife including sky bar which is open everyday. When I came back from Kyrgyzstan I stayed at Grand Saphire Hotel. Decent hotel where guests are allowed, decent location.
Restaurants
Tyubeteyka, Satpaev St 32 (There is also a second restaurant in the city)
Kazakh restaurant. I went twice there. You can sit outside. At night, there is live music at times. I ate the national Kazakh dish : beshparmak. It’s boiled horsemeat with noodles. Got some Uzbek pilaf as well and lamb, very tasty. Good service from the waiters.
Чайхана NAVAT, Dostyk Ave 48
Kazakh restaurant. Really interesting decor. Very intimate with some kind of couches, so good for dates. Also hate horse meat. A lot of choice, tasty, I recommend. If you have time for only one restaurant, I’d go there.
Gosti, Kunaev St 78
Big traditional russian restaurant with a kitsch decor and different rooms. Calm atmosphere, good for a date. Borscht was pretty good.
Darejani, Kazybek Bi St 40/85
Georgian restaurant infront of Gosti. I like georgian food and their wine. It was tasty with good service.
Market
The green bazaar on Zenkov Street: You can find all kinds of tasty and fresh products from Central Asia: fruits, vegetables, nuts, meat, etc. It’s worth a visit. The sellers make you taste for free.
Gym :
Adrenaline, Kunaev St 64
Nice gym. Two rooms, one with many power racks, free weights and a deadlift/olympic weightlifting platform. A second room with machines and cardio equipment. If I recall correctly it was something like 6$US each visit. Staff was friendly. I had some cool conversations with friendly Kazakhs there. I saw some cute Russian and Kazakh girls.
Excursions :
You can go by cab at the big Almaty lake. My driver was a nice guy, an ethnic Uyghur, we had interesting conversations. I booked a tour with an agency called Blast-tour to go to the Kolsai Lakes. It was really worth it. Amazing sights. I did some horseriding in the mountains. We slept in a small Kazakh village for 2 nights with a local family. The tour was in Russian and all the people were Kazakh citizens. Met some nice people there. The same tour is offered by multiple agencies including English speaking ones.
Museums :
I visited the Central State Museum of Kazakhstan and the museum of the history of the city of Almaty. I don’t recommend going there, don't waste your time.
Mall
Dostyk Plaza was a big mall. I had lunch at Cafe Central there, a big trendy cafe. That mall could be a good spot for daygame.
Parks :
Central park: mostly families there, no talent seen. There is a pool club : Delight pool dayclub. I couldn't get inside without buying a day pass just to check it out, but I'd say it's moslty families.
Koktobe: mountain. You can go up with the funicular and walk around. One of the main landmarks in the city. There are some cafes, including a relatively chic restaurant, on top and the view is very nice.
Walking streets :
1.Panfilova.
2.zhibek zholy
Cool spots. A lot of people here at nights just relaxing, and walking around. Talent seen. Easy to approach.
Clubs
I only went clubbing once at Chukotka bar. I really like the setting there. If I recall correctly there were two floors. Upstairs there was a little dance floor and a large bar, with table where people would eat. On the first floor there was another dance floor and bar. Ratio was good and crowd was mostly Kazakh in early twenties.
Overall experience and opinion
I had a blast in Almaty but I speak russian fluently. I believe this is a game changer. Almaty is a modern, green and dynamic city. As a black guy, not once did I felt threatened. Khazakh people were very friendly and polite to me. Many were smiling at me and wanted to have a talk since you rarely see black guys there. No harassment by the police. Khazakhs have a slight frame in general and the Russians were not very built either. Almost everyday I got asked if I was a professional athlete and was told how muscular and big I was. Got asked if I was a boxer, MMA fighter, basketball player, soccer player and Olympic weightlifter. Kazakhs are muslims, but I found them to be very moderate and open. I saw only a handful of girls wearing hidjabs. The younger generation doesn’t seem very observant. In Almaty, you’ll find a sizeable russian community. If you’re not into Asians and the purpose of your trip is mainly to meet with girls, I wouldn’t go there only for the Russians. I found Khazakh women to be attractive and open. There is also a community of ethnic Koreans who have been in the FSU for 3-4 generations. I didn’t have the impression that girls in general were particularly conservative. I talk with a lot of people there, guys and girls, and honestly I find the younger generation to be behaving like in the west. This is my anecdotal experience, and of course, the duration of my trip was short. Of course, in the countryside, the vibe was different and people are more conservative. They get married younger outside of big cities.
Personally I’m not sure I’d recommend to go there if you don’t have a basic command of russian but many guys who don’t went and enjoyed it.
I met wth a forum member there, also black. The only other black guy that I saw the whole trip. A very experienced traveler and player. He didn't like it there and left earlier than expected.
Tinder is big there. If you have a quality profile, meeting with hot chicks will be easy.