I recently returned from a 15-day tour in Kazakhstan. Here, I'll share some interesting things I discovered/learned while traveling around Kazakhstan
VISAS AND PLANNING
Kazakhstan previously required visas from tourists, but a new deal approved a few years ago allows North American/EU individuals to visit Kazakhstan for up to 30 days without a visa.
KAZAKHSTAN
After spending time in both Astana and Almaty, I found the former to be soulless and irritating, but the latter had a terrific spirit and a city I could see myself living in. The vast majority of girls in Almaty are hapas, a mix of European and Asian descent. There are a large number of ethnic Russians and Ukrainians, as well as Germans, Greeks, and Koreans. There are 30,000 Koreans in Almay. There are also Azeri, Georgian, and Chechen girls. Kazakhstan's population demographics are as follows: 64% Kazakh, 23% Russian, 3% Uzbek, 2% Ukrainian, 1% German, and a few other minorities. Russian is important, however there are plenty of girls who speak English extremely well. They frequently attend local business schools and have studied overseas.
We went out on a Thursday night, and most places were about to close by 1AM (on weekends, the lights stay on until sunrise), but we discovered this new lounge place on the 4th floor called "Sky Bar," which was incredibly vibrant and had a great, well-dressed population with a party going on until 4AM. We also went to "Aalasha," an Uzbeki/Kazakh restaurant a little outside of Almaty (maybe 5-10 minutes), which had ridiculously delicious food (lamb, horse, cow), design, live belly dancing, shisha, beer, and everything else you could possibly want, with a final bill of around $22 per person after 3 hours of feasting and enjoyment.
Astana has a low population density, and the streets are largely deserted. It is a relatively new city, and Kazakhstan's strongman/dictator, Nursultan Nazarbayev, relocated the capital from Almaty to Astana approximately 20 years ago. Astana's buildings are almost all new, and there is a lot of construction taking place. Astana is reminiscent of a badly played Sim City, with poor public transportation (though a bus ride costs only 90 tenge), huge roads, and an overabundance of stupidly large buildings. Unless you are in Astana for an event (such as the Expo), you must have a compelling reason to visit; otherwise, you may go nuts. I wouldn't be surprised if Astana becomes the official Dubai of Central Asia. We wandered for three hours in the presidential palace park on a beautiful sunny day and saw only five other individuals. The shops and cafés were lovely, but I didn't find the city bustling or enjoyable.
Almaty, on the other hand, was full of character and excitement. Almaty was more appealing from the start due to its mountainous surroundings. There were far more people on the streets, the cafes were largely new, and everyone appeared happy in Almaty. There were also more Uzbek/Kazakh traditional eateries in and around the city center, which improved the nightlife and culinary options. Another thing I noticed was that people in Almaty appeared to be more "white" and "European" than in Astana, where the bulk of people were Asian. My findings also revealed that girls in Almaty were substantially more appealing than those in Astana. Needing directions and opinions on the city, I approached a few groups of girls on the street who spoke basic Russian, and they were really kind and receptive. However, English was not frequently spoken, and this was true in both places.
Having served as Kazakhstan's president since its independence from the Soviet Union, I expected to see many Nazarbayev posters/presence/monuments in the major cities, but this was not the case. I only recall seeing one banner in Astana and a monument in Almaty's President's Park. When I mentioned this to the Kazakh girls of someone I knew in Almaty, they stated there is a lot more Nazarbayev things on the outskirts of the city. Kazakhstan is the wealthiest country in Central Asia due to its natural energy resources, and Kazakh and Russian enterprises collaborate on a number of projects in this regard, and the two countries are politically close.
Kazakhstan is a predominantly Muslim country. However, only about 5 or 10% of women covered their heads with hijab. There was no Niqab or Burqa anywhere. My French buddy in Almaty accurately stated, "I see more burqa women in one day in Paris than in the last three months in Almaty." However, Kazakhstan's police are extremely tough. There are a lot of cops on the roadways, and they seemed to stop automobiles that were going around 5-10 km/hr faster than the speed limit. Locals also told me that the northern portion of Kazakhstan is more pro-Russian, with Russian as the majority language, but the south has more Kazakh nationalists. One of the reasons Nazarbayev changed the capital was that Almaty is in the south-east of the country, which is insufficiently central for such a large country, whereas Astana is more central, making governing the entire country more practical.
Overall, I would definitely return to Almaty. It was a dynamic city with a thriving nightlife and a rich history. It is also close to some really wonderful and enjoyable outskirt activities, such as Kolsai Lake and Lake Kaindy, as well as Charyn Canyon. Outside of Astana, which is located in the middle of the desert, there is nothing noteworthy to see.
Some clubs/restaurants to pick up from:
Esperanza on Seifullin Street. Very nice, but with a lot of pros and semi-pros.
Fort Verny on Tole-bi Street serves good food and often has live music late at night. However, there are occasions when there are too many semi-professionals.
Karaoke Terrasa on Kabanbai Batyr St. is a fantastic eating and pickup spot.
Pirate restaurant on Tole-bi St. serves excellent Eurasian/Kazakh food.
Flybar on the 26th floor of the Kazakhstan hotel, as well as Noodles restaurant, provide European, Japanese, and Vietnamese cuisine.
Aragvi Cafe, Rayimbek Batyr St. - Very tasty Georgian cuisine. Good pickup opportunities at night, especially during vacations. A bunch of drunken groups of girls.
Almaty actually has roughly 3396 eateries.
A lot of girls are obviously bored. With the country's growing affluence, there has been a significant increase in the middle class among girls aged 18 to 30. They don't have anything to spend their money on. While conversing with girls, I heard stories of people who had traveled to over a dozen countries, drove 4x4s despite living in the city, and advised that the best thing to do was hang out at the mall. There is obviously nothing to do in Kazakhstan...which takes me to.
a)Day game heaven. If all you want to do is hang out at malls, this is the place to go. I'd never tried it before, but I was enticed to play with it while grocery shopping, etc.
b) Go to the Expo. We both work in research, so the Future Energy theme piqued our curiosity. As you might expect, there are very few international visitors and an abundance of volunteers, the most of whom appear to have graduated from the local university. When we told them where we were from and what we did, they were blown away, and many offered guided tours, among other things. Some were extremely upfront about giving apparent stares, as well as some straight flirting (one exhibit even had a cute volunteer pick me out and blast me with an air cannon, so I returned the favor and then initiated the discussion).
There are a few important differences that I believe everyone should be aware of
VISAS AND PLANNING
Kazakhstan previously required visas from tourists, but a new deal approved a few years ago allows North American/EU individuals to visit Kazakhstan for up to 30 days without a visa.
KAZAKHSTAN
After spending time in both Astana and Almaty, I found the former to be soulless and irritating, but the latter had a terrific spirit and a city I could see myself living in. The vast majority of girls in Almaty are hapas, a mix of European and Asian descent. There are a large number of ethnic Russians and Ukrainians, as well as Germans, Greeks, and Koreans. There are 30,000 Koreans in Almay. There are also Azeri, Georgian, and Chechen girls. Kazakhstan's population demographics are as follows: 64% Kazakh, 23% Russian, 3% Uzbek, 2% Ukrainian, 1% German, and a few other minorities. Russian is important, however there are plenty of girls who speak English extremely well. They frequently attend local business schools and have studied overseas.
We went out on a Thursday night, and most places were about to close by 1AM (on weekends, the lights stay on until sunrise), but we discovered this new lounge place on the 4th floor called "Sky Bar," which was incredibly vibrant and had a great, well-dressed population with a party going on until 4AM. We also went to "Aalasha," an Uzbeki/Kazakh restaurant a little outside of Almaty (maybe 5-10 minutes), which had ridiculously delicious food (lamb, horse, cow), design, live belly dancing, shisha, beer, and everything else you could possibly want, with a final bill of around $22 per person after 3 hours of feasting and enjoyment.
Astana has a low population density, and the streets are largely deserted. It is a relatively new city, and Kazakhstan's strongman/dictator, Nursultan Nazarbayev, relocated the capital from Almaty to Astana approximately 20 years ago. Astana's buildings are almost all new, and there is a lot of construction taking place. Astana is reminiscent of a badly played Sim City, with poor public transportation (though a bus ride costs only 90 tenge), huge roads, and an overabundance of stupidly large buildings. Unless you are in Astana for an event (such as the Expo), you must have a compelling reason to visit; otherwise, you may go nuts. I wouldn't be surprised if Astana becomes the official Dubai of Central Asia. We wandered for three hours in the presidential palace park on a beautiful sunny day and saw only five other individuals. The shops and cafés were lovely, but I didn't find the city bustling or enjoyable.
Almaty, on the other hand, was full of character and excitement. Almaty was more appealing from the start due to its mountainous surroundings. There were far more people on the streets, the cafes were largely new, and everyone appeared happy in Almaty. There were also more Uzbek/Kazakh traditional eateries in and around the city center, which improved the nightlife and culinary options. Another thing I noticed was that people in Almaty appeared to be more "white" and "European" than in Astana, where the bulk of people were Asian. My findings also revealed that girls in Almaty were substantially more appealing than those in Astana. Needing directions and opinions on the city, I approached a few groups of girls on the street who spoke basic Russian, and they were really kind and receptive. However, English was not frequently spoken, and this was true in both places.
Having served as Kazakhstan's president since its independence from the Soviet Union, I expected to see many Nazarbayev posters/presence/monuments in the major cities, but this was not the case. I only recall seeing one banner in Astana and a monument in Almaty's President's Park. When I mentioned this to the Kazakh girls of someone I knew in Almaty, they stated there is a lot more Nazarbayev things on the outskirts of the city. Kazakhstan is the wealthiest country in Central Asia due to its natural energy resources, and Kazakh and Russian enterprises collaborate on a number of projects in this regard, and the two countries are politically close.
Kazakhstan is a predominantly Muslim country. However, only about 5 or 10% of women covered their heads with hijab. There was no Niqab or Burqa anywhere. My French buddy in Almaty accurately stated, "I see more burqa women in one day in Paris than in the last three months in Almaty." However, Kazakhstan's police are extremely tough. There are a lot of cops on the roadways, and they seemed to stop automobiles that were going around 5-10 km/hr faster than the speed limit. Locals also told me that the northern portion of Kazakhstan is more pro-Russian, with Russian as the majority language, but the south has more Kazakh nationalists. One of the reasons Nazarbayev changed the capital was that Almaty is in the south-east of the country, which is insufficiently central for such a large country, whereas Astana is more central, making governing the entire country more practical.
Overall, I would definitely return to Almaty. It was a dynamic city with a thriving nightlife and a rich history. It is also close to some really wonderful and enjoyable outskirt activities, such as Kolsai Lake and Lake Kaindy, as well as Charyn Canyon. Outside of Astana, which is located in the middle of the desert, there is nothing noteworthy to see.
Some clubs/restaurants to pick up from:
Esperanza on Seifullin Street. Very nice, but with a lot of pros and semi-pros.
Fort Verny on Tole-bi Street serves good food and often has live music late at night. However, there are occasions when there are too many semi-professionals.
Karaoke Terrasa on Kabanbai Batyr St. is a fantastic eating and pickup spot.
Pirate restaurant on Tole-bi St. serves excellent Eurasian/Kazakh food.
Flybar on the 26th floor of the Kazakhstan hotel, as well as Noodles restaurant, provide European, Japanese, and Vietnamese cuisine.
Aragvi Cafe, Rayimbek Batyr St. - Very tasty Georgian cuisine. Good pickup opportunities at night, especially during vacations. A bunch of drunken groups of girls.
Almaty actually has roughly 3396 eateries.
A lot of girls are obviously bored. With the country's growing affluence, there has been a significant increase in the middle class among girls aged 18 to 30. They don't have anything to spend their money on. While conversing with girls, I heard stories of people who had traveled to over a dozen countries, drove 4x4s despite living in the city, and advised that the best thing to do was hang out at the mall. There is obviously nothing to do in Kazakhstan...which takes me to.
a)Day game heaven. If all you want to do is hang out at malls, this is the place to go. I'd never tried it before, but I was enticed to play with it while grocery shopping, etc.
b) Go to the Expo. We both work in research, so the Future Energy theme piqued our curiosity. As you might expect, there are very few international visitors and an abundance of volunteers, the most of whom appear to have graduated from the local university. When we told them where we were from and what we did, they were blown away, and many offered guided tours, among other things. Some were extremely upfront about giving apparent stares, as well as some straight flirting (one exhibit even had a cute volunteer pick me out and blast me with an air cannon, so I returned the favor and then initiated the discussion).
There are a few important differences that I believe everyone should be aware of
