Over lunch in Samarkand, we interrogated our guide, a Samarkand native, about Uzbek politics. Finally, he stopped, let out an...

the little canals running through Almaty, called aryks I don’t know why more people don’t visit Almaty. As cities go, it’s pretty perfect. I’m sitting at a cafe table outside, under the shade of giant, green trees, watching people scoot by (walking or on electric scooter). A cappuccino with a milk-foam seahorse poured into the top sits in front of me. Almaty is beautiful—clean and park-filled, pedestrian-friendly and kid-friendly, peppered with murals and old Russian architec