Almaty's a fun town. I spent 5 days there for work 20 years ago. There was a bar with a boxing machine and pool tables, and this unassuming door which led to an indoor go kart track. Guys were having a half drunken race at 1am.
It's at the foot of the Tian Shen mountain range on the Silk Road route and has lovely wide leafy streets, with some nice old buildings alongside the brutalist Soviet ones.
Taxis weren't a thing in Almaty - you just stuck out your arm and a local would pull over and negotiate a fare with you if they were heading in that general direction.
