Barakholka Market
Tour

Venture out to Almaty’s notorious district of shops in shipping containers, where we’ll dive into traditional Kazakh culture at a crafts bazaar and dine on Afghan pilaf.

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Barakholka Market

When we started doing this tour, it made headlines! That’s because Barakholka is a place with a reputation that looms large in the Almatian imagination, a district of largely black market bazaars that’s known as a world of chaos and counterfeit goods — but certainly not as a tourist destination. We wanted to change that.

Barakholka may be looked down upon by Almaty’s cultural elite, but it is a major motor of the local economy, What started as an underground trading point for black market goods in the Perestroika era (barakholka is Russian for "flea market") would later sprawl into a city-within-a-city of stores in shipping containers, selling everything from underwear to construction supplies. Now, tens of thousands of Almatians work and shop there every day, and for many rural migrants in particular, Barakholka is a place to hustle and chase the Almaty Dream.

For travelers who want to look behind the curtain and experience Kazakhstan’s largest city like a local, Barakholka is a dream as well. We start our adventure at the Arlan Market, a stand-alone bazaar that’s almost entirely dedicated to Kazakh crafts, including traditional clothes, cradles and wedding gifts. If Arlan is where couples go to get their traditional party favors, our next destination, Baisat, is where brides try on distinctive Kazakh wedding outfits - including conical saukele headdresses fitted with fur and feathers. Baisat is also Barakholka’s foodie mecca, so we finish our market crawl with a meal at a legendary Afghan palaukhana (a cafe with fragrant pilaf).

What You'll See