Trip Report: Kazakhstan
Visited in July 2022
There are cities in this world that can be described as weird. These include, for example, the North Korean capital Pyongyang or the capital of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat. The latter even takes the absolute top place in my personal ranking. Another city that makes it into this category is the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan. A bizarre city that has not even existed long.
Thousands of government workers probably could hardly believe it when Kazakhstan’s president Nursultan Nazarbayev moved the capital from the largest city, Almaty, to the Kazakh steppe in 1997. The officials must have been anything but happy to leave their home in Almaty to a place in the middle of nowhere almost 1,000 kilometers away.
Astana was the name of this newly founded city, which in Kazakh means nothing other than capital. Let’s fast-forward 22 years, because since 2019 the city already has a new name: Nur-Sultan, named of course after Nazarbayev, who is now no longer president of the country. This is all the more surprising because Nazarbayev was actually the “lifetime leader of the nation”. However, after leading Kazakhstan with an iron grip for nearly 30 years, he stepped down in 2019 and, of course, chose his successor directly himself.
In the meantime, the city has also grown massively. Where there was nothing but a tiny village just over 20 years ago, you will now find a gigantic city. Moreover, the many skyscrapers and the modern architecture make sure that Nur-Sultan is sometimes referred to as the Dubai of the Steppe.
Astana, respectively Nur-Sultan, was also my first stop in Kazakhstan, my 138th country and the second to last of the so-called Stan countries. I was in Turkmenistan in 2019, in Kyrgyzstan in 2020 and in Uzbekistan in 2021. I could also mention Afghanistan here, which strictly speaking also belongs to Central Asia, and which I had visited in 2018. All of these trips were excellent and ensured that Central Asia became one of my favorite regions in the world.
One day in Nur-Sultan
Air Astana, the national carrier of Kazakhstan, took me together with my buddy Matt on a direct flight from Frankfurt to Nur-Sultan. The flight took seven hours, which has been a little longer since the beginning of the year because the airline no longer flies over Russia but via a detour over Turkey. It was a long trip, since we also had a 3-hour train ride to Frankfurt before the flight. Besides, it was already about 3:30 in the morning when we left the airport and took a Yandex cab to our hotel in the city center.
Our hotel, one of two in Nur-Sultan called Bon Mary Hotel, turned out to be a bit creepy. It was in one of the city’s many skyscrapers, with only the top two floors being hotel rooms. The rest of the building was a shopping center and probably some office buildings. While there were still some creepy people sneaking through the shopping center at 4am, the two hotel floors on top looked like an abandoned place.
Somehow, it hardly seemed as if anyone had been here in recent years. Besides, up there you were sealed off from the lobby and everything else in the building. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see a rat running through the hallway. The rooms were then basic, but clean. And the biggest selling point of this hotel is the view it offers over the city. For just under $30 per night, it was still a good deal.
These were my first impressions of Nur-Sultan. The next day, we had enough time to get more impressions when we explored the capital city of Kazakhstan.
So, what kind of city is Nur-Sultan? It is a fairly large one. More than 1 million people live here and the city also stretches over quite a huge area. In Nur-Sultan, everything looks pompous and overdimensional. Here you can see eight-lane highways, lots of top-modern skyscrapers, other pompous Soviet-style buildings (Kazakhstan was part of the Soviet Union) and extremely long pedestrian boulevards.
However, you see less of the 1 million inhabitants than you might think. We were in Nur-Sultan on a Friday and the city did not seem particularly lively. This is perhaps because the capacity of the city would be enough for much more than one million people. Anyway, Nur-Sultan seemed as if the population density in the city was rather small. The city is not a ghost town like Ashgabat, but it was still remarkable that we did not see a lot of people on the streets.
All the glamorous and also artificial in combination with little life on the streets makes Nur-Sultan a bizarre city. Nur-Sultan is a planned city, but also in some way still an unfinished one. Somehow this place seems surreal and that is exactly what makes the fascination of the capital of Kazakhstan. An absolute highlight if you are enthusiastic about unusual destinations. In any case, I liked the city immediately.
Nur-Sultan is likely to be a city that attracts significantly more business travelers than tourists. Nevertheless, there is plenty to see and do in the city for visitors. The first main place for tourists is the boulevard where the city’s main landmark, the Baiterek Tower, is located. The tower, which always reminded me of the World Cup, symbolizes a tree on whose crown is a nest with a bird’s egg.
Furthermore, at the end of this boulevard you will find the presidential palace behind two golden towers. The area is guarded by soldiers and we were given permission to walk to a fountain at most, which was still easily 100 meters away from the palace. Since already at the airport a corrupt policeman wanted to fine me the equivalent of €90 for a completely ridiculous offense, I did not want to tempt fate this time and refrained from taking photos of the palace. And before you ask, I did not pay the fine at the airport either.
The second place of interest for tourists is on the other side of the river that divides the city into two parts. This refers to the area where three sights of the Nur-Sultan are within walking distance of each other. The Hazrat Sultan Mosque, Independence Square with its Kazakh Eli Monument and the National Museum of Kazakhstan.
A Yandex cab took us to the Hazrat Sultan Mosque for just under 1,000 tenge, which is about two dollars. Cabs are generally extremely cheap in Kazakhstan, as the country is rich in oil and produces its own gasoline. 1,000 tenge was usually the standard rate for a 15-minute ride. From the airport to the city and back, on the other hand, cost about 3,500 tenge, or 7 dollars.
The Hazrat Sultan Mosque is a massive building and the largest mosque in Central Asia. We didn’t enter the mosque (I rarely enter religious buildings in general), but inspected it from the outside before walking on to Independence Square. This square is also gigantic like everything in this city and without a doubt worth a visit.
However, what I found most exciting in this part of the city was the National Museum of Kazakhstan. Museums are rarely places I visit when traveling. However, before this trip I read that this museum is partly dedicated to the personality cult around former president Nursultan Nazarbayev. For this reason, I wanted to see the inside of the museum and I was not disappointed.
It may not come as a surprise, but of course this museum is also gigantic. Museum lovers could easily spend half a day or maybe even a full day here. We took a quick tour and spent about an hour inside. The museum exhibits pretty much everything that has to do with Kazakhstan: the history of the country, fine arts, the Baikonur space program and much more.
Of course, there are several paintings and statues of Nursultan Nazarbayev in the museum. In addition, there is an entire hall dedicated to the former president. For example, he is pictured with the who is who of global politics (mainly other dictators) and no opportunity is missed to portray him as a noble statesman and father of the nation.
The National Museum of Kazakhstan, just like the city of Nur-Sultan, is an impressive but at the same time bizarre place. Thus, this museum fits perfectly into this city. Anyway, I can recommend this museum to everyone who visits Nur-Sultan. Even if, like me, you don’t usually go to museums.
In the evening we continued our journey from Nur-Sultan to Almaty. Since we did not have a full day in the capital, it was not quite enough to see everything. However, one day should be enough for the city and even if you have only half a day like us, it is enough for the highlights of the city.
The highlights around Almaty
We then spent the next three days in the national parks in the Almaty region. Originally, the plan was that we would spend one day each in Nur-Sultan and Almaty and then three days in nature. A change in the flight times of our Air Astana flights then shortened our trip again, so we had to choose between the two cities. Since we really wanted to see Nur-Sultan, we decided against Almaty in the end with a heavy heart. As a result, we didn’t really see anything of this city except for the airport.
To be honest, at first I wasn’t sure I wanted to see the National Parks east of Almaty either. The reason was that this area looks very similar to the Issyk-Kul region in Kyrgyzstan, which is only a few hours drive away. Therefore, I had a feeling that the things to see here would be very similar to what I had experienced in Kyrgyzstan less than two years ago. Nevertheless, in the end, the decision fell on this region. Because if you want to see as much as possible in a short time, this area is probably the best in the whole country.
For that, we booked this three-day private tour with the company Kazakhstan Guided Tours. I found this company via Google and after getting a quote from a few other providers, Kazakhstan Guided Tours turned out to be the cheapest ($790 + $80 single supplement, so $435 per person, all meals and accommodation included). Additionally, the positive reviews on Tripadvisor ensured that the decision fell on this company. It turned out to be a good choice. So, if you are looking for a tour operator in Kazakhstan, I highly recommend Annat and his company.
So, what can I say about this tour? We drove about 1,200 kilometers in three days, which meant about five hours in the car per day. Kazakhstan is a gigantic country, the ninth largest in the world and more than four times the size of France. This means long distances if you want to get from one place to another. Our accommodations were simple but clean and comfortable guest houses where an old lady cooked for us and the food was not bad.
We also saw a lot during these days, and especially very diverse places. Our tour included the Altyn-Emel National Park with its singing dune, the three big canyons (Charyn, Yellow and Black) as well as Kolsai and Kaindy Lake. What is outstanding about this region is that you can see such different places in a short time, as if you were traveling in different countries.
What we missed were the Aktau Mountains. Unfortunately, the weather during our tour was not quite perfect. It was mostly cloudy and also rained from time to time. Although this was still the better option than temperatures of 40°C that they had two weeks before our tour. However, it also meant that the roads to the Aktau Mountains were impassable.
We had the hope until the end. Our guide was told at the last moment by the office of the Altyn-Emel National Park that we would not get a permission for the Aktau Mountains. As another option he offered to show us the road to the mountains, but we would have had to pay for the towing service if the car was stuck in the mud. And where exactly the point was to visit a road, we did not understand either.
Even without the Aktau Mountains, the tour was great. My fear that it will be too similar to Kyrgyzstan in the end was not true. The places in southern Kazakhstan look different from the Issyk-kul area. I cannot even highlight any place. All the places we visited were pretty good.
The only thing I would definitely recommend is to visit Yellow Canyon as well. It doesn’t seem to be on every itinerary, but it impressed me even more than the famous Charyn Canyon. Also, unlike Charyn Canyon, you will not find many tourists there.
What I would not recommend is to do Charyn Canyon and Kolsai and Kaindy Lake in one day. There are tours, including from the tour operator we had, that offer day trips from Almaty to the canyon and lakes. Such a day takes about 16 hours and I feel that it is clearly too much for a day trip.
At the end of our third day, we arrived back at Almaty airport in the evening, from where we flew back to Nur-Sultan. Our guide Annat still had the idea to drive us to the center of Almaty for dinner. However, we felt that one hour in Almaty would not have been worth the 45 minute ride from the airport to the center and back.
Is Kazakhstan worth a trip?
So, what is the conclusion about Kazakhstan? With four days, our time in the ninth largest country in the world was quite short. However, we made the most of it. We saw the weird capital Nur-Sultan plus all the sights around Almaty. That we didn’t have enough time for Almaty itself was a pity. But at least I now have a reason do go back someday.
Kazakhstan is anyway a country I can well imagine taking a longer trip to someday. Although the country is incredibly large, it may not offer enough sights for a month (at least not for my taste), but a 10-14 day trip would interest me in the future. I would especially like to see the Mangystau region in western Kazakhstan. The landscapes there look like from another world.
Besides Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan also offers other weird sights. For example, in Semey you can visit nuclear testing sites with a tour. Those who have seen the Netflix series Dark Tourist may remember the atomic lake where locals swim and go fishing. If you have enough money, you can also watch a rocket launch in Baikonur, technically a Russian enclave within Kazakhstan.
As you can see, Kazakhstan offers a lot for an exciting and adventurous trip. In addition, Kazakhstan is also a relatively cheap country. Maybe not as cheap as Kyrgyzstan or Uzbekistan, but you can find reasonably good accommodation for 20-30 dollars per night, cabs are also pretty cheap and you don’t have to pay more than a few dollars for lunch or dinner.
Speaking of food. Central Asia has never been a region whose food has impressed me during my travels. The cuisines there are too meat-heavy for my taste. Moreover, the quality of the meat is not always very high, and because many vegetarian dishes are fried in mutton or lamb fat, a lot of it has a somewhat smelly taste, as if a sheep farted into your nose.
However, we ate quite well in Kazakhstan. The food on our tour was, as already mentioned, cooked by the hostess of our guesthouses. Furthermore, the food of the restaurants we ate in Nur-Sultan and near the airport in Almaty was not that bad either. Still, I would claim that Kazakhstan is not a country whose food is particularly memorable. But it was okay, all in all, and we always got our fill.
Writing something about the people is a little difficult. On our tour, we had not spoken with particularly many Kazakhs. That leaves the hotel staff and the cab drivers, who were actually always nice. Especially the cab drivers often asked us what we were doing here, if we liked the country and so on. Despite the few interactions, however, I had the impression that people are basically friendly and open-minded towards tourists.
How does Kazakhstan compare to other Central Asian countries? A direct comparison is actually quite difficult. Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are completely different types of countries. I found Kyrgyzstan to be the most similar to Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan certainly has the advantage over Kyrgyzstan in that the country offers all in all more. The size of Kazakhstan is at the same time a disadvantage, because the country certainly needs more time than the others in Central Asia.
If you want to experience Central Asia and you can only choose one country, Kazakhstan might not be such a bad choice, as the country still offers a bit of everything that characterizes this region. If I had to compare the Almaty region with the Issyk-Kul region in Kyrgyzstan, it would also be relatively difficult to favor one route. However, I think if a gun was held to my head, I would choose the Issyk-kul area in Kyrgyzstan. Somehow Kyrgyzstan is still a bit wilder than Kazakhstan and you can see a few more interesting things on a tour there than east of Almaty.
Nevertheless, Almaty region remains a cool place to travel. Just like Kazakhstan. Therefore, I would like to say clearly at this point that Kazakhstan is worth a trip. For me, after this trip, one more country in Central Asia remains: Tajikistan. I will most likely visit this country next summer or the summer after.
First, I’m heading west again, where countries number 139 and 140 are awaiting me…
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