Caravanistan

Hi, I am considering a flight to Semey for one weekend (Friday afternonn - Sunday afternoon). I mainly want to do the trip because of the the old An-24 aircrafts, which are still in use between Almaty and Semey (Jushnoe Nebo Airlines). However, I´d like to know, wether there is anything special to s...

I don´t know about submitting the application, but I picked up the passport of my girlfriend along with mine without problems.
I´d just try.

So I´ve done the trip with a friend, who is doing business there. While we had our private transport, there should be marshrutkas from Avtovokzal Sayran in Almaty: http://сайран.kz/news/394/ Price is supposed to be 440 tenge and the bus leaves at 11.30 pm. There are trains from Astana and Almaty as ...

Hi there, i am not sure what to think so I´d like to hear your opinion: I visited the Special Economic Zone at Khorgos on the border to China. While I received both an exit and re-entry-stamp from Kazakh customs, the didn´t take away my old migration card and they didn´t give out a new one. Since th...

Hi Steve, if you already booked some accomodation, they might offer to book your train ticket in advance (for a fee, obviously). I know one hostel in Samarkand which did that for us. I prefer platskart when travelling alone, because it´s more interesting and not that less comfortable. If you are ver...

If you are already familiar with these kinds of trains and only looking for scenic views, I would doubt that the journey is very interesting. At least for the part between Almaty and Chu (first 6 hours) there is not much to see. Mainly hills, meadows and occasional cattle grazing there. The big moun...

I have no idea. My theory would be, that the train agencies have some new agreement on cooperation, since the kazakh-uzbek relations are being pushed right now. In such countries, that means top-bottom-decisions. And since there usually is a lack of professional business-communications, the "ne...

Interesting!
How did you go there (from Almaty by Marshrutka or taxi?). Can you recommend any transport fro and to Almaty?
And are there any cool things to buy or is it only the usual stuff which you can get in any mall, only cheaper?

Are you referring to a kazakh or chinese stamp?

I also never heard of any problems. If you want to be sure, book a space on the lower bench. The lower benches can be opended, so you can store your belongings inside. After that you can sleep on top of them. (Unless some old babushka asks you to switch places because she cannot climb onto the upper...

Maybe another thing: Bribing "Provdniki" seems to be a regular thing in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. A kazakh friend of mine once convinced a provodnik to let him sleep on the floor of a full night train and sometimes you see locals "relaxing" in the chamber of the provodniki, too....