In this photo, you can see people crowding around to buy samsas. Samsas (known as "somsas in Uzbekistan) might be called the street food of Central Asia. They are a flaky triangular pastry filled with either chicken, cheese or "meat" (this last one is to be avoided!). In most parts of Almaty, there's a samsa hut on just about every corner. In my opinion, "so syrom" (with cheese) is the best, but like most things here the good stuff is hard to get. Eight times out of ten when I ask "so syrom" is sold out. Notice also that they are selling tea with milk--this is unofficially called "chai po kazakhskii" (tea in the Kazakh way).