This is a picture of Almaty, looking south-ish. There's a cable-car you can take up to the summit of a small foothill, and it's a very popular thing to do, especially at night. Lots of places to get Shashlik (kebab) at the top. As you can see, Almaty's a pretty green city, but it's getting busier all the time. Bishkek's much more relaxed. Apparently Tashkent's the nicest large city in the area, but we're not going to get the chance to visit Uzbekistan.....