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[Tiger Beer]

Anyone visited them, lived in them, or have a good sense of them?

All three seem equally interesting to me. Pay seems low and winters seem cold.

How about the general feel for nightlife, going out, people, clubs, bars, and active social lives?

Also all the cities seem to be kind of ugly soviet monstrosities from what I can gather. Do most agree with this, or is there a poster or two that differs on this?

Seems like Almaty is the best, but also the most expensive, meaning you couldn't as actively go out if you can't afford it on the salary.

Bishkek seems like a cheaper version of Almaty, but also sounds sketchy and many travelers anyways describe that you probably don't want to be wandering around drinking and such after dark. How is it outside of that, and is that a strong enough of a reality to be aware of that?

Finally Tashkent. Seems the most exotic by far. Is it? Many photos and youtube even have the bellydancers. Seems like significantly different than the other two.

Anyways, what are others takes on these cities?

[oxi]

>Anyone visited them, lived in them, or have a good sense of them?

I�ve been to Almaty a few times recently. Bishkek a couple of times about 7 years ago. Never Tashkent.

>How about the general feel for nightlife, going out, people, clubs, bars, and active social lives?

Very easy to do in Almaty, although prices are going up � faster than TEFL salaries. Locals are starting to get much better pay these days and are in a better mood than they used to be.
I�d say it�s ok for $1000 a month and a free flat. International House for example offer a bit less than that.

>Also all the cities seem to be kind of ugly soviet monstrosities from what I can gather. Do most agree with this, or is there a poster or two that differs on this?

I liked the wide tree-lined streets and you can see the mountains in the distance almost everywhere. The central buildings are often quite impressive, but yes there are plenty of typical Soviet blocks. I got used to it.

>Bishkek seems like a cheaper version of Almaty, but also sounds sketchy and many travelers anyways describe that you probably don't want to be wandering around drinking and such after dark. How is it outside of that, and is that a strong enough of a reality to be aware of that?

7 years ago I went there for 10 days and had a great time on my Almaty salary. I was teaching the police so I felt reasonably safe�.

I do like Almaty, nice scenery/mountains only a half hour away. Big parks to stroll around. Some cheapish bars, but some overpriced expat Irish bars. Nice Russian girls. Nice Kazakh girls�. Can even have a normal relationship with them! Not like Azerbaijan.

[KatyaGooner]

I spent the summer in Tashkent working at Westminster University.

Tashkent is an enormous city. So big it has a metro system. There are some interesting sights in and around Tashkent (gorgeous bazaars, some interesting mosques, statues and museums if you are into that sort of thing). There's also a fairly tame mountain range about 100km outside of Tashkent (ok, it's more a range of hills) but there's a gorgeous lake there which makes it worth visiting. On the whole though, it's not the prettiest city I've ever been to and I wouldn't call it particularly exotic, although there are some towns outside Tashkent, particularly Bukhara which is exotic. There is a very definite Soviet footprint but if you venture to the north-west of the city, it's very Uzbek. Make sure you get out of Tashkent and visit Samarkand (touristy but nice) and Bukhara (surreal, like something out of the Bible).

As for nightlife, everything closes by presidential decree (a lot of things happen in Uzbekistan by presidential decree) at midnight I think. You can find a lot of speakeasy style places that stay open later but you would probably need help from a local to track them down. The militsia are, in my experience, much less corrupt than in Russia.

As for the university, the students were the nicest I've ever taught, a mix of IELTS prep, General English and some in-company classes at places like the British Embassy. My colleagues were perfectly cordial, although perhaps not the most sociable people in the world. Speaking Russian is a must if you want to make friends with people who are not English teachers.

[Tiger Beer]

[dreadnought]

I lived in Bishkek for about four years (only left about six months ago) and went to Almaty on several occasions, and I really do prefer Bishkek. Ok, that may be because my wife is Kyrgyz and my son is half Kyrgyz, but it really is a much more relaxed, less pretentious and cheaper place than Almaty. Almaty is insanely expensive, we're talking big Western capital city prices and I'm pretty sure an ESL teacher's salary won't let you live like a king.

Bishkek is certainly smaller, has a less evolved nightlife, but it is a capital city, there are plenty of bars to hang out in and being a foreigner still has a certain kudos (especially with the ladies!!). I think Almaty has become pretty overun with foreign businessman.

I don't know much about Tashkent, but I would advise against it just on a political level. I mean, it is a police state, probably very safe, but you would have to be very careful about what you said and did. The few people I've known who lived there said it kinda sucked.

[maccamlc]

I have not been to any of them, but from what I have been told by others, Tashkent sounds like a place I want to visit.

[travelingirl68]

I lived in Kaz for two years, in Taldykorgan, about 275 km north of Almaty. Many of my former students have now moved to the 'big city', and I was shocked to hear how prices have skyrocketed in the last 3 years. If you live there, make sure you have a flat included, and that it is in a decent part of town - rent can go up to $1000 a month for a small one bedroom. (A friend was shocked when she saw the size of my 3 bedroom in India and learned that it is only about $350 a month in the IT capital of the country.)

Winters are pretty cold, but that is all relative to your own experience, about the same as winters in the US Midwest (Detroit specifically). There are pubs, discos, etc., but they probably would be expensive on a TEFL salary - they certainly were on a Peace Corps budget!

I have always thought Tashkent would be an interesting place, a little different from the Kazak/Kyrgyz experience, but the political unrest could make it daunting or exciting depending upon your perspective. The best fruits and veggies in Central Asia were always proclaimed as being of "Tashkent origin".

No matter where you decide, I do recommend the Central Asian experience. It is definitely unique, the people are interesting and the landscapes have stark beauty to them.