Almaty Kazakhstan 1st impressions

I arrived at Almaty airport around 2am and almost instantly became a subject of some attention due to my bike helmet. Began bike build of the surplus bike around 3 am after clearing customs and passport control. Luckily my bag was too wide to fit through their x ray machine, so everything for the build made it into Kazakhstan. I roughly assembled the bike in the shop at school 1 hr before departure to make sure I had all the parts, but didn't cut any cables or install or grease anything. So it took til 5 to get everything assembled, and then some more time to get used to the 70 pound load in a duffel.
Since I had a whole day to work, decided to take a tour of Almaty. The city is laid North South, with the southern part 400 meters higher towards the mountains. Wonderful tree lined boulevards and fresh rain made for pleasant riding, except when cars showed up. Not quite as bad of drivers as in the Republic of Georgia, probably because there is more money in Kazakhstan and big vehicles, rather than just vehicles, mean wealth and speed. The disparities are visible, with Soviet cardboard concrete block towers one block, presidential palaces the next, and new high rises competing with Manhattan in the outrageous rent category. Have had a wonderful time chatting with Taz, the crazy Aussie pilot I'm staying with for a bit, and seeing all his google mapping of guests' routes through the Pamir and Tien Shan ranges.
Early in the day I went searching for a latte and paid Starbucks prices, and in the evening had a wonderful desert discussion with a fella from one of the regions big search engines. Among other things we discussed iPhone pricing, and lets just say I'm glad I didn't plan on buying a phone in Kazakhstan. New 5s go for 1100+ and are an eastern symbol of wealth. With that here's an iPhone pic