I started my Central Asia adventure in Almaty. I came here from Bangkok and the culture shock was pretty evident. Central Asia is unique and different from other places I traveled to. It was a name I only read about in books I've read, about Silk Roads and nomad tribes. Russian is spoken here and all the signage is in Cyrillic and the people look neither fully Asian or fully European. It was an amazing combination of cultures, a mix I've not seen in person yet strangely intriguing.