Getting Around

I've been meaning to post this for months. It took me a really long time to figure out my way around Almaty. It wasn't hard to get my bearings. The city is at the base of mountains and from almost anywhere in the city you can look up, check where the mountains are, and know what direction you're headed in. Nope, the problem was that there are no street signs! Or at least, not many.

To be fair, some intersections are marked with street signs-- maybe 25% of them. (See the top picture.) However, the signs often mark not just this intersection, but also what street is coming up next. Unless you already know, it can be hard to figure out which street you're actually on. Moreover, these signs are written in both Kazakh (on top) and Russian (bottom). So if there are signs around, the problem is that there is too much information!

Many intersections have no signs at all. (See middle picture.) In this case, you have to either keep walking to the next intersection, which might not have a sign, or poke around the buildings nearby. Sometimes they're labeled with the full address (see bottom picture) and sometimes not. All this can leave you wandering in circles for hours trying to figure out where you are, whether it's where you're supposed to be, and (if not) how you might get where you're supposed to be.

This is all complicated by the fact that many of the street names were changed after the fall of the Soviet Union to be more Kazakh and less Soviet. So Astronaut/Kosmonot Street became Baytursinova, Soviet Street became Kazybek Bi, October Street became Tole Bi, etc. And in case you haven't guessed, most of the streets sound the same to the untrained ear. How many times did I end up wandering around Kabanbay Batyr Street when I was supposed to be on Karasay Batyr or Bogenbay Batyr or.... you get the picture.