just4kix
Well-Known Member
Last week, I was fortunate to visit Kazakhstan (KZ), a breakaway nation from the former USSR. Here are some details and impressions ...
Visa Process:
Getting a Visa is a lengthy process. For a business visa, a registered KZ company has to officially invite you. The invitation has to be registered in KZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). The registration and acceptance takes at least 5 working days. MFA will then intimate the local embassy that visa can be issued. Actual visa process takes a further 4-5 days. The embassy in India at New Delhi issues visas and returns passports on Mon, Wed and Fri only. The embassy demands all kinds of proofs of income and sustenance including payslips, bank statements, IT returns, foreign currency holding or International Credit Card, etc. They also insist on confirmed flight tickets and hotel bookings. On top of that, they also insist on an HIV- certificate from their recognized government/private hospitals.
Travel
Fortunately, there is a direct flight from New Delhi to Almaty operated by Air Astana. Almaty is the largest city in KZ and from Almaty, you can get connections to rest of the cities in KZ. Astana in the north is the capital. The flight time is 3 hrs.
Geo, Time Zone and Weather
KZ has two timezones - UTC+5 and UTC+6. Almaty and Astana are in the eastern part and in the UTC+6 time zone. The country is mountainous to the south and plains in the north. Summers and autumn are fine but winters are very severe with temperature going to as low as -50C at night.
People, Language, etc.
Original KZ people are very mongoloid in features and you may sometimes mistake them as Chinese. KZ used to be labour camp destination during the Stalin era and there is significant Russian/Eurasian population as well. Kazakhstan is very rich in minerals, oil and gas. It has a unipolar, single party democracy - whatever it means. The current president (forgot his name - can google him) has been running a tight ship since the formation in 1991. People speak the local Kazakh language and also Russian, both of which are official. They speak very little else and hence communication can be a real problem.
Economy
In my short stay, I could not make a definite impression. But Almaty was full of the world's best cars/SUVs. I could only find some trace of the Russian Lada's but most people drove large cars - from Hyuandai to BMW/Mercs. Toyota Landcruiser Prado is very popular. Infrastructure is very good - good roads, rail, etc. 92 grade Petrol was KZ Tenge 110 while 95 grade was KZT 150 (1 = KZ Tenge 201, KZ Tenge 1 = INR 0.43). Hotel and food was expensive. Decent hotels (like the equivalent of Holiday Inn Express, Best Western, etc.) are nothing below 175 per night. A meal in a decent (not 5-star) restaurant would mark down the wallet by KZT 2500 (same meal would not cost you more than Rs. 500 in India). JW Mariott charges Rs. 8,000+tax per night in India on an average and a buffet lunch/dinner in the JWM restaurant is Rs. 850+tax.). Electronics is twice as expensive as in India - the Samsung Galaxy S4 was KZT 129,000 and a typical laptop was KZT 160,000.
So, either KZ people are well paid or inflation is very high out there.
Note that KZ is not a place for vegetarians. Other than salads and potatoes, very little grows out there.
For the foreigners
Life seems to be very peaceful and stress-free - at least to me during my short visit. Country appears to be quite safe. But not knowing the language is going to hurt badly. You can't communicate, you can't buy items you don't know, you can't go anywhere, you can't watch films and TV, etc. People are friendly and helpful. Even though it is a Muslim dominated region, I didn't see too many mosques or Namaz sessions. Whiles taxis and local transport is very good, ordinary citizens seeking a lift/ride and car owners giving them is quite common. People who offer rides expect compensation like a taxi and they will go out ouf their way to drop you where you want - basically you ask for a ride, someone will stop and ask where-to, you agree to a fee and the ride is done. It seems that this practice is common throughout Russia/CIS.
----
If you have specifics to ask, please give a shout.
Visa Process:
Getting a Visa is a lengthy process. For a business visa, a registered KZ company has to officially invite you. The invitation has to be registered in KZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). The registration and acceptance takes at least 5 working days. MFA will then intimate the local embassy that visa can be issued. Actual visa process takes a further 4-5 days. The embassy in India at New Delhi issues visas and returns passports on Mon, Wed and Fri only. The embassy demands all kinds of proofs of income and sustenance including payslips, bank statements, IT returns, foreign currency holding or International Credit Card, etc. They also insist on confirmed flight tickets and hotel bookings. On top of that, they also insist on an HIV- certificate from their recognized government/private hospitals.
Travel
Fortunately, there is a direct flight from New Delhi to Almaty operated by Air Astana. Almaty is the largest city in KZ and from Almaty, you can get connections to rest of the cities in KZ. Astana in the north is the capital. The flight time is 3 hrs.
Geo, Time Zone and Weather
KZ has two timezones - UTC+5 and UTC+6. Almaty and Astana are in the eastern part and in the UTC+6 time zone. The country is mountainous to the south and plains in the north. Summers and autumn are fine but winters are very severe with temperature going to as low as -50C at night.
People, Language, etc.
Original KZ people are very mongoloid in features and you may sometimes mistake them as Chinese. KZ used to be labour camp destination during the Stalin era and there is significant Russian/Eurasian population as well. Kazakhstan is very rich in minerals, oil and gas. It has a unipolar, single party democracy - whatever it means. The current president (forgot his name - can google him) has been running a tight ship since the formation in 1991. People speak the local Kazakh language and also Russian, both of which are official. They speak very little else and hence communication can be a real problem.
Economy
In my short stay, I could not make a definite impression. But Almaty was full of the world's best cars/SUVs. I could only find some trace of the Russian Lada's but most people drove large cars - from Hyuandai to BMW/Mercs. Toyota Landcruiser Prado is very popular. Infrastructure is very good - good roads, rail, etc. 92 grade Petrol was KZ Tenge 110 while 95 grade was KZT 150 (1 = KZ Tenge 201, KZ Tenge 1 = INR 0.43). Hotel and food was expensive. Decent hotels (like the equivalent of Holiday Inn Express, Best Western, etc.) are nothing below 175 per night. A meal in a decent (not 5-star) restaurant would mark down the wallet by KZT 2500 (same meal would not cost you more than Rs. 500 in India). JW Mariott charges Rs. 8,000+tax per night in India on an average and a buffet lunch/dinner in the JWM restaurant is Rs. 850+tax.). Electronics is twice as expensive as in India - the Samsung Galaxy S4 was KZT 129,000 and a typical laptop was KZT 160,000.
So, either KZ people are well paid or inflation is very high out there.
Note that KZ is not a place for vegetarians. Other than salads and potatoes, very little grows out there.
For the foreigners
Life seems to be very peaceful and stress-free - at least to me during my short visit. Country appears to be quite safe. But not knowing the language is going to hurt badly. You can't communicate, you can't buy items you don't know, you can't go anywhere, you can't watch films and TV, etc. People are friendly and helpful. Even though it is a Muslim dominated region, I didn't see too many mosques or Namaz sessions. Whiles taxis and local transport is very good, ordinary citizens seeking a lift/ride and car owners giving them is quite common. People who offer rides expect compensation like a taxi and they will go out ouf their way to drop you where you want - basically you ask for a ride, someone will stop and ask where-to, you agree to a fee and the ride is done. It seems that this practice is common throughout Russia/CIS.
----
If you have specifics to ask, please give a shout.
