Since the morning we fortilo, having bathed for goodbye, we immediately caught the car to Bishkek, which is 255 km! Were willing to pay for the fare, but two cheerful Russian uncles said that nothing is needed. We were flown to the border of the DAPP Tokmok, where they did not let us out, supposedly the border for the local, to the international border, we need to go further, kilometers 20. Immediately stunned the next car and the paradox is that I again asked how much and again for free, and when we went basically free of charge , everyone asked about the money ... We landed on a bend, on foot to the border of 2.5 km, after walking a little, catching a third car.
At the border, customs officers are slow, very carefully checking documents from local, with Russian passports are passed very quickly.
To the nearest city 13 km, the fourth car with two old men, who took us to the ATM, and then even to the place from where you can leave cheaply. The car to Almaty from a private trader who recruits fellow travelers cost only 2000 tenges (~ 375 rubles / 225 km) for two.
The Kazakhs drive very dashingly, we flew 150 km per hour !!! The roads are very good, even the drivers like to fly to the counter, a little scary.
On the way, they tried the sour-milk drink "kozhe", it is made from kefir with wheat, it is quite tasty, especially with grandmother's pie with potatoes.
Around the steppe and not the soul, there are no villages, shops, etc..
Almaty meets traffic jams and exhaust fumes, the city is big, with multi-lane roads, high houses and hyper mock-ups.
There are also sunsurfers in Almaty, Alikhan opened a hostel here and allowed us to stop for a few days absolutely for free, that's so good luck!
In Almaty, everything is very civilized, on the roads there are some foreign cars, mostly jeeps, catching 4g, shopping malls ... Next to the hostel is a huge supermarket cash & carry, where we are now buying, prices are slightly lower than Moscow, and seasonal fruits and vegetables are several times lower. Tomorrow we are going to study the metropolis.
