In three days I managed to visit Shymbulak–Medeu, the Museum of Modern Art, and Charyn Canyon. I loved everything and will definitely come back again. Both Almaty and the Kazakh people are wonderful 🙂
By the way, the mountains and canyons are an excellent workout if you explore them on foot. It felt like I lost about 7 kilos—despite all the baursaks, belyashi, and beshbarmak I enjoyed along the way )