Kazakhstan – quick travel guide

Lovely mountain country with westernized people of Asian descent, but Russian language and Muslim religion. The culture is also a hybrid of Asian, Russian, and Muslim.

Kazahkstan was my first country in the “STANS” and I loved it. Friendly people, interesting nature/landscapes, nice tourist sites, good food, their culture new and exotic but also relatable at the same time. Very cheap costs. Interesting architecture. It’s a strange mix of Turkish, Asian, and Slavic influences all at the same time.

You could definitely see the 2 main cities in a week. But I’d recommend an extra week so you can visit the nature as well. I thought the nature was beautiful but could also be similar to what you’ve seen before in Switzerland, Canada, America, or Peru.

General tips for traveling in Kazahkstan:

• 2GIS – important app for maps. I couldn’t download it as a US citizen so I just used Google Maps instead.
• Transportation – public transportation is really cheap and works. They have buses and metro. Use tickets.kz for purchasing train tickets, but purchase early since they get bought out ahead of time!
• Rideshare – Yandex Go or Uber. I recommend you don’t use Uber, it just subcontracts off of Yandex (or at least that’s what it was before, not sure if still now). But I try not to support Uber anyway.
• E-Scooters – all the scooter apps like Jet, Eleven, Whoosh, Yandex…I couldn’t even activate (the phone activation code never arrived or I wasn’t able to add my foreigner VISA card). Even Yandex which works for me when calling a car wouldn’t work when I tried to rent a scooter.
• Weather – summers are too hot, winters are too cold. But the thing locals will tell you is to avoid winters in Almaty since the pollution is really bad. Kazahkstan heats with coal and the air is trapped within the mountains. I suppose you could still go, but wear a mask and/or spend more time inside.
• Mobile carrier – my friend recommended Tele2 (but I feel its coverage is not as good as others…in certain areas throughout the city as well as in rural places). Kcell, Beeline, and Activ are the other carriers. Beeline was super cheap (and allows hotspot), $12 gave me unlimited data for 30 days but it did slow down at times.

Miscellaneous tips:

• Tours – booking tours gives you so many options. The cheap ones with many people on a bus. And private ones with fewer people in a private car. Your results may vary. Do your research.

Safety tips:

• It’s quite safe. I never felt any danger anywhere.
• My only fear was doing anything that might go against Muslim culture.

Foods to try:

• Horse – lots of horse meat. Don’t be shy. You have to try it. Some look like simple cuts and have a very gamey taste. Others are like ribs and taste amazing!
• Horse milk – tried it and will never order it again. Very sourish. The locals don’t like it either, but they’ll insist all foreigners *must* try it.
• Beshmarmack
• kurdock

Customs & Language:

• Primary languages – Russian is currently the primary language and fewer people speak Kazakh. Depending on their age and generation, certain people can speak both whereas others can only speak Russian. The young generation speaks pretty good English.
• Muslim culture – I would say Kazakhstan semi-strict Muslim culture. No public affection (like kissing). Also gay behavior is extremely forbidden, they may try to kill you if they see this. But there are gay bars.

Kazahkstan cities (* = recommended, ** = must see):

• Almaty** – highly recommended! Beautiful big green city with lots of parks and nature, big population, tons of culture, thriving nightlife, and many things to do. All the famous nature tours are also by Almaty. Very warm tempurature.
• Astana* – capital city with government buildings, modern architecture. Much cooler and windier than Almaty. Some people consider it “boring” and compared to Almaty , you could definitely say that. Many Kazakhs would tell you to skip it. But I still enjoyed my time and loved taking photos of the architecture.
• Aktau – I feel Kazakhs wouldn’t recommend any other city for you to see outside of the main two. But if you were looking for a 3rd to visit. Aktau is “unique” in that there’s no natural water source, has lots of industrial buildings, and is near the border to other countries.

If you’re American, I’d say Almaty is like Portland and Astana is like DC. If you’re Brazilian, I’d say Almaty is Rio de Janeiro and Astana is Brasilia.

Nearby countries:

• Uzbekistan – definitely. Lots of culture to see and cheaper. Also considered less Muslim-strict than Kazahkstan.
• Kyrgystan – in terms of tourist value, it’s much lower and much fewer things to see. But many foreigners love how relaxed and authentic the culture is, people are very friendly.
• Georgia – very unique culture, great food, many things to see. Beautiful mountains.
• China – of course. Nature, culture, food, etc.
• Monogolia –
• Russia – of course. Nature, culture, food.
• Azerbaijan
• Turkmenistan
• Tajikistan

Unfiltered notes: