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re: Trip Report: A Journey Across Asia
Posted on 7/18/25 at 8:41 pm to H2O Tiger
Posted on 7/18/25 at 8:41 pm to H2O Tiger
quote:
Overall, we had an amazing time in Almaty. We went in not knowing what to expect and were blown away by the city and the people. Everyone we met were extremely friendly and welcoming. While we went into the trip thinking we may not return, we can’t wait to go back and explore more of Kazakhstan’s largest city.
I spent a week a couple of years ago with a group exploring the mountains just to the west, and the deserts to the northwest of Almaty (up to the China border). And several days in Astana.
The people are great. And I loved the mountains and desert areas. And maybe it's not fair because I saw so little of the city, but I've no great desire to go back. We stayed in a Soviet era hotel which was weird and interesting. Our daily trips into the mountains involved multiple checkpoints and bribes for some absurd "security" reason. Traffic in Almaty was the worst I've ever seen in the world, and I've been to Lima twice. For some crazy reason there were no left turn signals, and they were basically impossible. Our group could have saved almost an hour by walking the last half mile. Regarding food - they did have awesome tomatoes and strawberries, and extremely cheap vodka; (and I won't talk about the horsemeat, say no more). Anyway, overall it was interesting, and a great way to see a more modern, better, version of the Soviet Union. And the view of Almaty from the north with the mountains behind is pretty stunning.
Their new capitol of Astana is best avoided. Everything looks beautiful from 200 yards away. And when you get closer everything is falling apart, in spite of being new. The Kazakhs have hired the Chinese to build a new city ASAP and it's just shoddy, and growing at a ridiculous pace. Our tour guide from Almaty just hates the place. But it has impressive city views if you don't focus too tight with your camera.
It was interesting for some perspective, when we were there there were more than a million Russians, avoiding being drafted by Putin. Kazakh is the nominal language but Russian is used for almost everything. And lots of Kazakhs want to come to the States. And the best food we had was near China in a camp run by Uyghur. Pretty awesome dumplings and kebabs.
Some weirdness - we talked with an Australian trekker from Melbourne (and gave him some food) the day before he froze to death in the mountains, possibly near your ski slope photo. He was headed up the mountain, completely unprepared for cold weather (this was May). Nice guy, he almost made it down on the other side of the pass. Yikes, sorry to end it this way.
1
Posted on 7/18/25 at 9:41 pm to Tigris
Thanks for sharing, a lot to unpack in your post but there are a few things I want to address.
First and foremost, I couldn't agree with you more in the fact that the people are fantastic. Everyone we came across was friendly and excited to speak with us.
That probably also had something to do with the fact that, while we were outsiders, everyone in our group other than myself spoke Russian. Both of my wife's parents are from Kazakhstan but, ethnically, are Russian. Her grandfather was a Supreme Court judge back in the USSR days and, all things considered, her family had a much easier go of things under Soviet rule.
As far as the checkpoints, during our entire trip, one of my wife's grandmother's best friend's son (hopefully everyone followed that) was our driver. We were in a late model black sedan and were the only car I remember seeing with Russian license plates. I don't know if that helped or hurt us, but we weren't stopped anywhere we went.
Traffic laws in Almaty are basically non-existent. The place is bat-shite crazy and nobody follows any rules.
The food was great and horse meat, in the right setting, is delicious. I had it on multiple occasions as it is considered a delicacy there, though my wife chose not to partake.
Not surprised to hear that NurSultan/Astana is falling apart. Unfortunately the Chinese influence is string in that part of the world. Almost every vehicle on the street was a Chinese electric car.
As for the guy attempting to trek over the mountain; play stupid games.....
First and foremost, I couldn't agree with you more in the fact that the people are fantastic. Everyone we came across was friendly and excited to speak with us.
That probably also had something to do with the fact that, while we were outsiders, everyone in our group other than myself spoke Russian. Both of my wife's parents are from Kazakhstan but, ethnically, are Russian. Her grandfather was a Supreme Court judge back in the USSR days and, all things considered, her family had a much easier go of things under Soviet rule.
As far as the checkpoints, during our entire trip, one of my wife's grandmother's best friend's son (hopefully everyone followed that) was our driver. We were in a late model black sedan and were the only car I remember seeing with Russian license plates. I don't know if that helped or hurt us, but we weren't stopped anywhere we went.
Traffic laws in Almaty are basically non-existent. The place is bat-shite crazy and nobody follows any rules.
The food was great and horse meat, in the right setting, is delicious. I had it on multiple occasions as it is considered a delicacy there, though my wife chose not to partake.
Not surprised to hear that NurSultan/Astana is falling apart. Unfortunately the Chinese influence is string in that part of the world. Almost every vehicle on the street was a Chinese electric car.
As for the guy attempting to trek over the mountain; play stupid games.....
Posted on 8/17/25 at 1:25 am to H2O Tiger
JW Marriott Istanbul Bosphorus
Overall, we had a fantastic stay at the JW Marriott Istanbul Bosphorus. While the room was on the small side the location of the property was fantastic and we were walking distance from most of the major attractions.
Additionally, the staff were fantastic and went out of their way to make sure that we had a good experience. While I always enjoy visiting new properties, I would absolutely stay at this hotel on a future visit to Istanbul.
Overall, we had a fantastic stay at the JW Marriott Istanbul Bosphorus. While the room was on the small side the location of the property was fantastic and we were walking distance from most of the major attractions.
Additionally, the staff were fantastic and went out of their way to make sure that we had a good experience. While I always enjoy visiting new properties, I would absolutely stay at this hotel on a future visit to Istanbul.
Posted on 8/17/25 at 8:32 am to H2O Tiger
Very interesting trip and damn you did some miles. I’m assuming Jr was under 2 or 3 and a lap child? I’ll be honest, it’s never occurred to me but I assume they allow lap kids in business/ first class?
Posted on 8/17/25 at 3:43 pm to baldona
Oh yeah, they do. The one and only time I was able to fly Qatar biz, I got to stay awake all night with a big family that featured a newborn and twin toddlers.
This post was edited on 8/17/25 at 5:26 pm
Posted on 8/17/25 at 4:30 pm to baldona
quote:
it’s never occurred to me but I assume they allow lap kids in business/ first class?
Some don't in first.
Some seats can't have lap children either because of the design.
But otherwise, yes.
Posted on 8/18/25 at 3:32 pm to baldona
quote:
Very interesting trip and damn you did some miles. I’m assuming Jr was under 2 or 3 and a lap child? I’ll be honest, it’s never occurred to me but I assume they allow lap kids in business/ first class?
Yeah, he was 9 months old on this trip so he was a lap infant. On the widebodies we had a bassinet available for us as well but he wasn't as comfortable there.
Posted on 8/18/25 at 4:21 pm to Teddy Ruxpin
quote:
Some don't in first.
Some seats can't have lap children either because of the design.
But otherwise, yes.
Makes sense. Kids don't generally bother me, I put on my headphones anyway. But I can see some people on business and that paid good money being VERY upset if there's an upset kid.
Sorry to derail OP. Very interesting trip
Posted on 8/19/25 at 8:18 am to baldona
quote:
But I can see some people on business and that paid good money being VERY upset if there's an upset kid.
I'd argue that we paid for the ticket as well. I don't know of any airline that doesn't allow kids in First/Business class.
Posted on 8/19/25 at 3:47 pm to H2O Tiger
quote:
. I don't know of any airline that doesn't allow kids in First/Business class
I might be wrong here, but it isn't necessarily that they are banned from the cabin, it's that in first class cabins the seats are so far apart/private that children of a certain age cannot reasonably operate the seat safely (seatbelt) and therefore cannot be issued their own seat. But I'm only vaguely recalling running into this issue when I was researching an award trip a while back.
This is less of an issue in business class where seats are a little more accessible between seats and a parent can assist.
Nice thread and observations about Kazakhstan.
This post was edited on 8/19/25 at 3:52 pm
Posted on 8/19/25 at 4:03 pm to Teddy Ruxpin
quote:
I might be wrong here, but it isn't necessarily that they are banned from the cabin, it's that in first class cabins the seats are so far apart/private that children of a certain age cannot reasonably operate the seat safely (seatbelt) and therefore cannot be issued their own seat. But I'm only vaguely recalling running into this issue when I was researching an award trip a while back.
This is less of an issue in business class where seats are a little more accessible between seats and a parent can assist.
On Air France, kids can't sit on the other side of a divider from their parent/guardian in business class (like you said, safety issue). The first time I tried booking for my family of four, I chose the two center seats, one in front of the other (like 15 E&F, and 16 E&F), and I kept getting an error. An Air France rep clarified the problem for me.
So the times we fly as a family, we stretch along one row, and I put my kids in the two middle seats and my wife and I sit by the windows.
This post was edited on 8/19/25 at 4:06 pm
Posted on 8/19/25 at 4:06 pm to Uhtred
We (thankfully) aren't at the point where I need more than two seats!
Posted on 8/19/25 at 4:10 pm to Uhtred
Ya, I have the same setup for BA next week in the center aisles because I'm used to business class with my wife. My buddy just did his family of four on same flight a couple weeks ago and reported back across the row would be easier, but too late now! 
At least I tried to mitigate this a little bit putting my wife and myself diagonal, thinking if either parent can't reach across, either one could access from the aisle. We'll see.
Kids' first time up front so I'm learning some things.
At least I tried to mitigate this a little bit putting my wife and myself diagonal, thinking if either parent can't reach across, either one could access from the aisle. We'll see.
Kids' first time up front so I'm learning some things.
This post was edited on 8/19/25 at 4:31 pm
Posted on 8/19/25 at 4:15 pm to Teddy Ruxpin
Love it!
Good luck getting them back to economy in the future!
ETA: the last few big trips, we've done business. But we have a family trip for Spring Break and we're flying economy to Geneva. I'll report back after the flight and let you all know if I've totally spoiled and ruined my kids
quote:
Kids' first time up front so I'm learning some things.
Good luck getting them back to economy in the future!
ETA: the last few big trips, we've done business. But we have a family trip for Spring Break and we're flying economy to Geneva. I'll report back after the flight and let you all know if I've totally spoiled and ruined my kids
This post was edited on 8/19/25 at 4:18 pm
Posted on 8/19/25 at 4:28 pm to Uhtred
quote:
But we have a family trip for Spring Break and we're flying economy to Geneva
Funny enough. We're also going to be going to Geneva for part of spring break next year. That'll be their second experience in J.
My oldest (6) already doesn't understand rooms smaller than Hyatt suites. I think he believes rooms are assigned on a lottery basis or something.
This post was edited on 8/19/25 at 4:30 pm
Posted on 8/19/25 at 5:54 pm to H2O Tiger
You should turn pro!
Posted on 8/20/25 at 10:22 am to Nole Man
quote:
You should turn pro!
Always love these H2O posts
Posted on 8/20/25 at 2:53 pm to Teddy Ruxpin
quote:
My oldest (6) already doesn't understand rooms smaller than Hyatt suites. I think he believes rooms are assigned on a lottery basis or something.
My son's first international hotel room was at the St. Regis in Dubai, I have spoiled him for life I'm afraid.
Posted on 8/20/25 at 2:53 pm to Nole Man
quote:
You should turn pro!
I'm not sure what this means!? But thanks?!
Posted on 8/22/25 at 12:17 am to H2O Tiger
Exploring Istanbul
Istanbul is an amazing city that provided us with so many different cultural experiences. We visited during a period of unrest but we felt completely safe during our visit and I would gladly return to explore more of the city.
In case anyone wondered whether I was actually from Louisiana, I ate Popeyes in Turkey.
Istanbul is an amazing city that provided us with so many different cultural experiences. We visited during a period of unrest but we felt completely safe during our visit and I would gladly return to explore more of the city.
In case anyone wondered whether I was actually from Louisiana, I ate Popeyes in Turkey.
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