Almaty Advice

This is the outside of our apartment in Almaty.

Entertainment - We brought movies and TV shows on DVD. You could also upload them to an iPod but we did not have one nor did not want to spend the extra money. Our apartment did not have a DVD player so we use our laptop for watching DVDs and for internet communications. I did not bring any computer games but I will add that to the list for our next trip. Even if we had a DVD player in the apartment, Kaz has the PAL format and there is a possibility that it may not be compatible with our NTSC (North American) formatted DVDs. I have read that the iPod works for both. Sorry I cannot explain the specifics as I only have a superficial knowledge of the difference. We debated on whether to purchase a small 12” laptop to save the weight, but decided on the largest 17” screen and it has worked well for blogging and watching movies and TV. The extra weight is not a problem for me but you may need to shop for a high quality back pack to haul it around in, our 17” did not fit in several laptop style packs that we found. Make sure to get well padded shoulder straps and a pack with a nice waist strap. The waist strap helps when you need to make the occasional dash across an intersection to get to the curb and out of traffic. Kaz drivers are very aggressive, so do not play it cool and stride casually across the street if the light is turning green for the autos. Get out of their way!

Which brings up the next point, you will want to bring really comfortable walking shoes. I brought two, a pair of Asics athletic sneakers and a pair of black business casual Dockers lace ups which are as comfortable and padded as the Asics. Stacye (my wife) brought only sandals and she regreted that decision. We walked at least one hour a day minimum. We had access to a driver when we needed, but the trip from our apartment to the baby house was only about 25 minutes walking. After the visit this allowed us to walk and talk about how cool of a kid we think that Andrew is and how he will fit into our family. Also the walking has a side benefit of shedding a few extra pounds and inches. We have actually enjoyed this aspect of the trip since we are in no real hurry to get anywhere except to our visits at the baby house. We tried not to overdo ourselves because there were the four flights of stairs waiting at the end of every trip.

As far as regular TV, there are several programs that you could watch (from a guys prospective) with the volume turned down. For example, American Chopper and American Hot Rod (with my buddy Boyd Codington) are in Russian and are not a real problem to watch with the volume off. As far as sports there was baseball, soccer, road rally racing, and Olympic volleyball on many days. Stacye missed HGTV.

Drugs – Bring your own. Try to picture walking into a Walgreens to get tooth ache medicine or worse cold medicine for your kid but you cannot read any of the labels. Actually the drug stores are small kiosks so you may not be able to walk into them, they are not inspiring. I would recommend bringing the medicine cabinet like we did. Bring drugs for all of the basics like cold/sniffles, muscle ache, headache, PMS, fever, stomach, diarrhea, with the last two possibly being the most important. I used the muscle ache reliever the most. Advil and Icy Hot has been a kind traveling companion. A PM headache medicine may be helpful as it can help dissolve night time headaches with the side benefit of sleeping through the night.

Hygiene - Don’t leave home without it. Bring some small packages of toilet paper and paper seat covers, along with anti-bacterial hand cleaner that will fit in a purse or back pack. We went to a few malls and tourist attractions where there was no TP. Also get ready for "squatter" style toilets. Non-squatter toilets will probably still not have a seat. Without going into too much detail, these extras will help you feel a little more comfortable with your hygiene while in Kaz.
You can buy bottled water everywhere and that is what you will use for brushing teeth and washing out specific glassware. We were actually pretty relaxed about washing utensils and plates, choosing to wash with the tap water and let them rack dry. We didn't experience any problems from this practice.

Clothes – You will not need a variety. We brought four shirts and pants each and one dress out fit in the event that we were able to get court. This allowed for a decent amount of mix and match and it will reduce your load and your stress. We washed a couple of loads about every two days.
I recommend button up pockets. Cargo style shorts and pants with extra pockets are very practical. I wore a pair of these most of the time and it was convenient for wallets, cameras, phones, keys, and a variety of other items. Also the Velcro or button-up pockets give an extra measure of security.

That's it for now...more advice to come later.