Kok Bazaar

Kok Bazaar (also called the Green Bazaar and Zelionyj Bazaar) in Almaty is a large two-storey food market selling everything from vegetables, fruit, cheeses, sweets, sheep heads, medicinal herbs and spices and with an entire row dedicated to horse meat.

You can also buy fermented horse milk (kymyz), fermented camel milk (shubat), freshly squeezed pomegranate juice and cafes dotted around the perimeter serve bowls of thick noodles (laghman) with fried rice and meat.

The Kok Bazaar is not Almaty’s only food market but is by far the biggest and most bustling and a great place to soak up local atmosphere, sample the goods before you buy and try your hand at haggling with stall holders.