Kazakhstan

Entering Kazakhstan is no longer the hassle it used to be. The Kazakh government is keen on opening up Kazakhstan to the rest of the world, and most people can enter the country without a visa.

Entry requirements

Citizens of the following countries (ordinary passport holders) may enter Kazakhstan without a visa for up to a certain number of days:

The national currency is tenge, denoted by the symbol "₸" or "T" (Cyrillic: тенге, ISO code: KZT). On Wikivoyage we use tenge to denote the currency, e.g. 100 tenge. Coins come in denominations of ₸1-, ₸2-, ₸5-, ₸10-, ₸20-, ₸50-, ₸100 and ₸200. Banknotes come in denominations of ₸200-, ₸500-, ₸1,000-, ₸2,000-, ₸5,000-, ₸10,000 and ₸20,000.

]] You can travel within the country using taxis, buses, trains and planes, it depends on your budget and demands.

By bus

In Semipalatinsk (Semey) a marshrutka costs 35 tenge, and a large bus costs 35-40 tenge. In Astana it ranges between 60-65 tenge.

Kazakh and Russian are the two official languages of Kazakhstan. Of the two, Russian is the more useful language. Kazakh is a Turkic language and shares a high degree of mutual intelligibility with Kyrgyz.

Generally, Kazakh cities are safe during the day, but certain parts of major cities should be avoided at night to reduce risk, namely, all parts of Almaty below Tashkentskaya street and all microdistrict areas within these zones, certain other remote microdistricts, and areas with high concentrations of shabby private houses (such as Shanyrak) and all smaller towns such as Shar, Stepnogorsk, and Temirtau may present a higher risk of mugging and violent crime.

In general, the level of health care and hygiene is not up to Western standards. When travelling to smaller places, it is a good idea to bring your own medical supplies. There may also be a shortage of medicines.

Phone numbers

Phone numbers in Kazakhstan begin with +7 (6xx) xxx xx xx or +7 (7xx) xxx xx xx. The country code +7 is shared with Russia.

Kazakh people have more pride than most Westerners would expect. Therefore, insulting or negative comments about Kazakhstan or local Kazakh people will often result in arguments and possible threats of physical violence. It is not recommended to get into an argument with locals, as Kazakhstan is a nation where physical power is part of the local culture, and can occasionally lead to a fatal last argument.