almaty @en | GlobeStories

Couchsurfing in Almaty

By Adriane|2014-07-16T07:39:46+02:00January 8th, 2014|Asia, Central Asia, Couchsurfing @en, Journeys, Kazakhstan|

The taxi driver asks: "What was your first impression of Almaty?" I answer: "A nasty rip off by a taxi driver." In the morning, I took the Mashrutka from Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) to Almaty (Kazakhstan): Cost: 500 Som (10 USD) one-way Driving time: approximately five hours Border post: Korday Reason: visa extension [...]

Eye Surgery on Snow Leopards

By Adriane|2014-07-16T07:20:06+02:00November 13th, 2013|Asia, Central Asia, Features, Journeys|

Visiting a zoo in winter is a solitary experience. This Monday morning in January, there only few visitors. Most of the staff are busy with shoveling snow. In addition to the birds' croaking from the aviaries, you only hear the scraping of the shovel blades on the asphalt. Many of the snow-covered enclosures are empty. [...]