Hi guys!
Thank you for your interest to the topic. I started to think about making a blog as Mel kindly advised me. I'll do it and here are good questions as starters and I'll answer them with my big pleasure.
First of all I'd like to give you a short info on Kazakhstan. So, Kazakhstan is situated in the heart of Eurasia continent between two great neighbours Russia and China. On territory our country takes 9th place in the world. According to recent census held in the beginning of the year, the population is about 15.8 mln people. 67% are kazakhs, 21% - Russian, the rest are other Nationalities. In general, there are more than 100 Nationalities living in Kazakhstan. The state languages are both Russian and Kazakh. But about 65% of urban inhabitants speak only Russian, the rest speak Russian and Kazakh. The capital is Astana but the biggest city of the country is former capital (1923-1997) Almaty. The population of Almaty unofficially is about 2mln. people. But still Almaty is cultural, economic center of the country. Many businesses are concentrated in the city and more than 50% of taxes of the Republican budget are levied in Almaty.
Now I'll answer your questions Atle step by step. As I live in Almaty I give you info on Almaty prices. Prices in other cities and towns of our country are different and most of them are lower. There is exception for Astana and Atyrau as prices in these cities are almost equal to Almaty prices and in some cases even higher.
Accommodation (Almaty): there is great choice of hotels in Almaty from 2 star to 4 star. Although we have 5star hotels (as they calll themselves) they are not real 5star hotels on international standards, they are 4star. Single room in 4star hotel costs starting from $450 per night. The range of prices for other hotels is from $80 to $300 for single per night. There is other option of accommodation. You can rent an appartment for about $50-$70 even for 2-3 people in the center of the city. As for booking, it's better to book in advance because rooms are occupied very quickly.
Food (Almaty): here is also great choice of restaurants, cafes, fast-foods on any taste. You can have National kitchen, Russian, Uzbek, Georgean, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Italian, Mexicanian etc. The prices range from luxury to plain food. In average lunch will cost you $15 in good restaurant. But you can also have good lunch for $6 in good cafe (Sweedish table). You can also have lunch less than $6 but it'll be quite plain. So any taste, any price.
People: our people are quite friendly to each other and especially to tourists because they are our guests. It's our tradition to welcome guests with warm hospitality. I don't know any tourist who has bad impression on the trip to Kazakhstan. I read some posts (opinions of tourists) not only in this site and everybody has good opinion. I'm glad to hear that. Of course, it doesn't mean that you can walk alone in the night on the streets. Our streets are quite lighted at nights and police patrol all the night but it's better to walk with some local and I guarantee that you'll not get in trouble. As for English speaking locals, well I think that in Almaty, Astana, Atyrau there are may be 15% who can speak English especially many young people can speak English. Your chance to find English speaking local will increase if you ask young people. Concerning corruption problem. From point of view of tourist I don't see any problems. Nobody will stop you on the street (I mean police) and require your documents. I didn't hear problems of tourists on custom house. Of course, if you transport drugs, guns etc. I gurantee you troubles 😊 Corruption problem lies in business. If you're going to make business here, you'll face corruption. Right now government successfully fights corruption and it's much less than 2 years ago.
Money: you don't need to bring much cash. Here are a lot of ATMs such as Visa, MasterCard, AmericanExpress etc. You can exchange any currency here. National currency is Tenge. Exchange rate is $1=150 tenge, 1 euro=226 Tenge. Tenge had depreciated in the beginning of the year and it's good for you 😊
Getting around: I recommend to come at first to Almaty because entertainment life is more vigorous in comparison with other cities of our country. Many restaurants, disco clubs, theaters, museums, shopping malls, different sightseeings inside and outside the city. Infrustructure is developed quite well. You can visit Medeo skating rink which is being renovated for Asian Winter Olympic Games 2011 together with Chimbulak skiing resort. These are the first places people go. They are in mountains. If you like mountain-climbing there are many places to go as well. There is Kapchagai lake near Almaty. You can fish there, swim, if you're cold resistant 😊. But in summer water is warm. I'll name some places to visit in short. Later I'll describe these tours: Charyn Canoyn (300 mln. years), Turgen and Butakovka waterfalls, Turkestan (ancient town), Arystan Bab (Holy place), Ukush Ata (magic well), Lenger (magic stone), Kieli Agash (magic tree), Ungurtas (center of Earth), Tamgaly tas (Holy Scripture), Alakol (healing lake) and many others. Bus, train, taxi is available. Most places are near Almaty (within 100 km range) and some places are within 400 km. As for directions to Uzbekistsn, Kyrgystan and Turkmenistan you can go freely there by plane, bus, taxi. You need visa only to Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. I think these 4 countries cause more troubles to tourists because of their legislation and economic development. I don't want to boast Kazakhstan but I don't feel quite secure there in comparison with Western and Eastern countries.
And the last but not least. We have different beer both local and imported. The price ranges from $0.6 to $7 per bottle. By the way we have Guiness pub and Dublin pub where foreigners (tourists and businessmen) gather to drink a beer for health.
I hope that I answered partly to your questions. But I'm going to describe you different sightseeings which you can visit in Kazakhstan. If you have more questions don't hesitate to ask me. Thank you.
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