A sign near Big Almaty Lake, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Finally reached the Big Almaty Lake--Almaty, Kazakhstan

A pipe carrying water to communities down below--Big Almaty Lake--Almaty, Kazakhstan

We were going up, from 3000 ft to over 8000 ft above sea level--Almaty, Kazakhstan

Used Yandex to get a taxi--Almaty, Kazakhstan

Yandex taxi app is very popular in several former Soviet states.  I was going to the Big Almaty Lake but could not figure out how to tell Yandex that I wanted to use the same taxi to come back. So I verbally negotiated with the taxi driver about the ride.

Үлкен Алматы
Большое Алматинское Озеро