HOW TO SURVIVE IN KAZAKHSTAN?
Get few directions and advise from local tour operator
By plane
Air Kazakhstan stopped flying at the end of March 2004. The most important carrier
is now AirAstana which flies to Almaty, Astana, Aktau, Aktobe, Atyrau, Uralsk,
Dubai, Moscow,Delhi,
Beijing, Istanbul,Bangkok, Hannover, London, Amsterdam , Frankfurt and Seoul.
Lufthansa has also seven days flights to Almaty, the best city in Kazakhstan, from
where you can go
anywhere via local carrier SKAT, which flies to most cities in Kazakhstan. British
Airways and KLM now fly several times a week to Heathrow/Schiphol. Turkish
airlines is good passenger
carrier, with flights to Istanbul (ask a travel agent about the student fares, which
can be a
great deal). There are twice a week flights from Seoul to Almaty, one is Asiana Air
Line and the other is Astana.
By train
Popular routes include Almaty to/from Moscow (77 hours), Novosibirsk(35 hours)
and Ürümqi, China. You can get Petropavlovskto/from Moscow(48 hours),
Novosibirsk(12 hours), Omsk(4 hours), and Astana (9 hours).The trains are a great
way to meet people. A lot has been written about the pitfalls of being included in a
vodka drinking party on a train, but for the most part fellow travelers are friendly,
and keen to find out about you ("why aren't you married?" and if you are "why don't
you have children?" and if you do "why don't they have children?"!). Most travelers
take food for the journey as restaurant car provision is sporadic (and they expect
you to share yours too!). If you don't have enough to last the distance, the trains
generally stop for 15-20 minutes at each station and there are always people on
the platform selling food and drink, at any time of day or night. Popular routes
include Almaty to/from Moscow (48-56h), Novosibirsk(35 hours) and Ürümqi, China.
You can
get Petropavlovskto/from Moscow(48 hours), Novosibirsk(12 hours), Omsk(4
hours), and Astana (9 hours). The trains are a great way to meet people. A lot has
been written about the pitfalls of being included in a vodka drinking party on a train,
but for the most part fellow travelers are friendly, and keen to find out about you
("why aren't you married?" and if you are "why don't you have children?" and if you
do "why don't they have children?"!). Most travelers take food for the journey as
restaurant car provision is sporadic (and they
expect you to share yours too!). If you don't have enough to last the distance, the
trains generally stop for 15-20 minutes at each station and there are always people
on the platform selling food and drink, at any time of day or night.
Getting around
Public transportation in big cities is rather popular. You can use buses, trolleys,
trams and
minibuses. One big minus of all of them is that they never come on schedule and
very crowded on peak time. I would suggest you to use taxis as they are very
cheap (1-4 Euro within City). You don't have to use official taxis, basically you can
stop almost any car on the street by raising your hand. Official taxis cost 3-5 times
more. You can travel within country using taxis, buses, trains and planes; it
depends on your pocket and demands. Renting a car is rather costly comparing to
other means of transport. In Petropavlovsk
(Petropapvl) a large bus cost 30 tenge, common taxi fare was 300 tenge (at the
time, April of 2010, USD1 was approximately 150 tenge). A note of warning, getting
to the Almaty airport can be expensive, I had the relatives of Kazakh guide to help,
but they said a Taxi to the Airport costs USD50.
THE best way to get good taxi service is to consult your tour operator in
Kazakhstan. e.g in Petropavlovsk the best taxi service you can get by calling
(+77152) 501-000
Taxis to the airport vary greatly in price. Any foreigner will be quoted a fantastic
rate but usually cabs will come down once they see they aren't going to be able to
get that much. USD 50 is outlandish. It should be less than USD10, although it can
NEVER be guaranteed that a foreigner will get that price. A better option is the
minibuses and buses that go to the airport. The word "airport" is very similar in
Russian and English. In general any taxi will quote a foreigner a fantastic rate. If you
ever take the first price, you're getting overcharged. A common way to get around
is by unofficial taxis. Any time of day, just wave your hand and someone will stop.
Locals do this all the time. Negotiate the price and destination before you agree to
go. About $2-$4 is fair for a ride within the center of Almaty. To be safe though, do
not get in a car if more than one person is driving. Also, do not take these kinds of
taxis for long distances or anywhere that goes through remote areas, as there are
frequent robberies- especially of foreigners. A fun and cheap way to get
around is by taking a marshrutka. These are the dilapidated vans that cruise
around town. They usually have a sign (in Russian) listing the destination and the
driver will usually call out where they are going.
Talk
The Kazakh language is very difficult to understand and to pronounce, though it is
notably
easier than some other regional languages like Kyrgyz. Actually, travelers
proficient in Turkish might be able to get by. If you speak and/or understand the
Russian language, then you should be fine. But still Russian is considered to be
tougher to learn (grammatically speaking). At the very least, become familiar with
the Cyrillic alphabet (it's easy) and learn a few phrases. Note that despite the
president's campaign to stamp out the Russian language, Almaty and much of the
north are still predominantly Russian speaking. Many people under age 20 will
know some English. Most customs officials and airport people know English. It is
difficult to get around the country without some Russian or Kazakh language skills.
Within the city it is easier. Have your place of residence written on a card and get a
cab if you get lost (you might be somewhat overcharged by the cab, but it is better
than being lost).
Local food, traditions and habits
Meat, potatoes, rice and pasta. And lots of it. If you're vegetarian be wary, because
if it doesn't have meat in it, it was almost certainly cooked on meat stock. Some
recommend dishes:
* Laghman - a thick noodle dish, usually served as a soup
* Manty - large steamed dumplings full of meat and onions
* Plov - wonderful dish of fried rice, meat, carrots, and sometimes other bits such
as
raisins or tomatoes
* Beshbarmak - wide, flat noodles, with boiled horseflesh on top - the traditional
meal of
Kazakhs
* Shashlyk - skewered, roasted chunks of meat, served with some sort of flat bread
(usually lavash) and onions
If you're a vegetarian, you're probably thinking there's nothing for you in
Kazakhstan . And
you're right - so long as you eat out. But if you're cooking your own food, you'll be
more than
satisfied. Kazakhstanhas some excellent produce available at little markets
everywhere. For a treat in Almaty, try Govinda's, a delicious vegetarian Hare
Krishna restaurant. Malls have food courts with some vegetarian options too. Even
some small Kazakh eateries will prepare vegetarian meals for you if you make it
very clear to them (e.g. "byez myasa" (without meat), "ya vegeterianetz" (I [male]
am a vegetarian), "ya vegetarianka" (I [female] am a vegetarian) in Russian). At
some places (e.g. smak) you can even find vegetarian manty made with pumpkin.
On the other hand, in Kazakhstan you can find any dishes you want, but Chinese
and Japanese dishes are very expensive. The most delicious is caviar, which is
very cheap, you can buy 1 kilo of caviar for less than USD300 in Almaty Zyeloniy
Bazaar, but you can't export or take it with you home, you will be stopped at airport
and pay high fines...
Drink
You can find any sort of drink you want, some of the traditional beverages include:
* Kumiss - fermented mare's milk.
* Kumyran (Shubat)- fermented camel's milk
* Kvas - described as similar to root beer it can be bought in a bottle in a store, or
by the cup from people with giant yellowish tanks of it on the street Cheap alcoholic
drinks can be found at every little corner shop (called the astanovka). These places
are open 24/7, just knock on their door if the shopkeeper is asleep Kazakhstan 's
specialty is cognac, though stores still sell vodka cheaper than bottled water at
times.
Sleep, Place to stay for a night
There are numerous hotels, from very cheap ones (10 euro per night) to the
luxurious ones.
You wouldn't find the cheapest ones on the web, the only way to book them is to
call directly, but in that case you'll have to speak Russian at least. The best and the
shortest way is to apply to Kazakhstan-Reisen office. We support in all situations
as our valuable customer.
Work
Not impossible to find. English teaching schools are sprouting up all over. The
English department at KIMEP might be a good place to start, depending on
credentials and experience of course.
Stay safe
The general rules of safety in Kazakhstan are the same as in any other civilized
country of the world. Besides the normal risk of pick-pockets etc. Try to avoid
being taken to the police station. But in general this is a very friendly country where
foreigners are respected as the hospitality is one of the Kazakh main traditions.
Fire brigade: dial 01 (land line phones), dial 101 from any mobile Police: dial 02 (land
line phones), dial 102 from any mobile Ambulance: dial 03 (land line phones), dial
103 from any mobile Or just dial 112 from any mobile for Ambulance, Police, F
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