Kazakhstan 2014

Route

• Days: 16 days 
• Period: end of July - beginning of August
• Weather:  Warm and on some days quite hot (expecially around Almaty). We only had a few drops of rain and some days were clouded

General information:

• Currency: Tenge

• Internet: Available. You might have to look around in the smaller villages but in Almaty almost every restaurant has Wi-Fi.
  

• ATM's: ATM's for Visa in every city or village. Also many supermarkts have an ATM.

• Creditcards: Are accepted in quite a lot of fuel stations, restaurants and supermarkets

• Safety: We felt very safe travelling in Kazakstan. We bushcamped every night even in Almaty were we just stayed on a parking near a mall. We never had any issues.

Prices (July 2014)

• Value Money: €1 = 240 Tenge 

• Fuel: Diesel is 115 Tenge (about € 0,47 per liter). Price was stabil throughout the whole country.

• Camping: We only bushcamped for free so no data on this.

• Prices: As it come to restaurants and groceries Kazakhstan was the most expensive "stan" of all and also more expensive than Russia. So no need to stock up here. Assortment on the other hand is huge. In the large supermarkets you can find everything you need.

• Insurance: On the streets of Almaty you will be able to find may shops that sell  third party car insurances. We got one here. The price was 2000 Tenge for 1 month.   

Visa & registration

• Some countries do not need a visa for Kazakhstan and from the 15th of July 2014 10 new countries have been added to the visa free regime. For these 10 countries  the visa free period will last until the 15th July 2015. After this trial period of one year these countries might be added permanently. As Holland is one of the 10 countries we entered without a visa. The entry stamp that was for free allowed us to stay for maximum 15 days. As we wanted to stay longer we just crossed the border with Kyrgyzstan and returned a few days later. The new stamp that we got on entry again allowed us to stay another 15 days.  

• Registration: When you enter the country without a visa you also do not have to register. 

Border crossing

• Entry: At Qorday (coming from Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan). This border was very crowded and most of the time we just waited for our turn. As we could enter without a visa we just got a stamp on the border which was free of charge. Another challange is to get your custom declaration form. The form which we had to fill in was only in Russian. In the end one custom officer helped us out.  This form is very important and must be handed over to the officials when leaving the custom Union of Kazakhstan, Russia or Belarus. The car check at this border crossing can be a hassle as they have special places where the cars, which they random select, must be unloaded completely and checked. We had bad luck and were selected. Luckily we could talk our way out of it. In our case the car control was fast and easy in the end.
  Exit: At the Karkara valley (going to Kyrgyzstan). The very small border post is easy going and the officials are relaxed. The checked were quickly done and the custom officer even kept our declaration form when we told him we would be back in a few days.

• Entry: At the Karkara valley (coming from Kyrgyzstan). It was the same border post where we left the country a few days before. Getting is here was as easy as getting out. The entry stamp was given fast and the custom officer, who kept our previous custom declaration form, quickly made a new one for us. Car check was not diffcult and fast here.

• Exit: At Semey (going to Russia). Leaving the country is a fast and easy procedure here. Just not that before you enter the border area they try to sell you a Russian Insurance. Just refuse if you do not need or want one. The immigration, customs and car control is just routine here. Important: do not hand over you custom declaration form here which you received on entry. As Kazakhstan forms an union with Russia and Belarus you must keep it. They probably will not ask for it, but when they do just make sure you get it back. You need it when leaving the union.
  

Roads

• General: Many roads in the country are tarmac, but despite the fact that Kazakhstan is the richest country in Central Asia the roads are quite bad. Most of the tarmac roads are bumpy and full of potholes. In many places they are working on new roads.

• Border in the Karkara Valley: The last 10 km before the border with Kyrgyzstan is offroad.

Fees for Toll roads, briges, tunnels and ferries

• No toll or fees paid

Highlights or not

• Almaty: very modern but expensive city. After a very basic lifetyle for quite some time we really liked the city with its modern restaurants and bars. 

• Alatau NP: nice park to camp for a few night. The big lake far up in the mountains is beautiful but if you go walking here make sure the police does not see you. Officially it is forbidden. We had big problems when the caught us. Costs = 770 Tenge per car (regardless the number of days you want to stay).
• Eagle Farm located next to the gate of Alatau NP: Costs = 1400 Tenge per person for the Eagle show (daily at 5 pm except on Mondays). Although very touristic we liked it.
• Singing Dunes: to see the dunes you must enter the NP with a guide that will be going with you in your car. As we have no extra seat we skipped this trip. Going with a local jeep is also an option. 

• Naryn Canyon: Beautiful canyon. Nice place to visit.

GPS-waypoints

Grid: Lat/Lon hddd°mm.mmm"