Travelling in Kazakhstan – Part 1

About 100 taxi drivers swarmed up on me, trying to scam me with high prices for transfer to the city. I fended them off and went to look for an ATM because all bureaux de change were closed at that hour. I found an ATM and withdrew 20 euros’ worth of Kazakhstani tenge. Tenge is the Kazakhstani currency and the current exchange rate is at around 510 tenge for one euro.

I heard that ATM sound – »brrrrr« – which meant I was saved and didn’t have to overpay the taxi driver at his imaginary rate of conversion, one he would specify himself. I started negotiating and agreed to 2,500 tenge – 5 euros – to get me to the hostel. Of course, the taxi driver then tried to squeeze another euro from me, while we were talking in the car. He said: “I didn’t know your hostel was so far away,” and used other similar “techniques”, but I explained to him nicely in Russian: “Nyet, my tak dogovorilis’, i tol’ko eto budu tebe platit’« – which, translated, means “that’s what we agreed to and I’ll only pay you this much”. He gave up in the end and dropped me off outside the hostel.

Accommodation

The hostel, which was in the style of communism in the 1980s, was ok. Next to it, there was also a shop that was open 24/7. I went there after my check-in and bought some food and water. When it comes to food, I recommend russkiy salat, or Olivier salad in English, and morkov’ po-koreyski, which is julienned carrots covered in slightly hot Korean sauce. Everything cost less than a euro. I ate my dinner, took a shower and guaranteed myself a good night’s sleep until the next morning.

In the morning I got into a conversation with the receptionist, an older babushka, to find out how to get to the city. She told me which bus to take and gave me her bus card, which I had to top up. The nice lady explained to me that the bus ride was cheaper using the card than it would be if I paid with cash. I topped up the card with a few euros and went on a 30-minute bus ride to the city.

The capital, Nur-Sultan, previously known as Astana

The suburbs looked like in any other Russian city – communist panel apartment buildings and scattered one-storey houses –, but as soon as I approached the city centre, tall modern buildings and impressive government palaces and mosques started popping up. After all, Kazakhstan is a Muslim country. But I call them Russian Muslims because they all drink vodka and they don’t stick to such strict rules. Actually, they all look like Russians and behave just like them, save for their Asian features. And everyone can speak Russian, especially in cities. The Kazakh language is very similar to Turkish.

The bus crossed the river and I was in the city centre after two bus stops. The city’s grandness coupled with very few people on the streets makes you feel small and the city empty. Distances are great here. There was a person here and there by the large fountains, ice cream shops were at every ten metres and that was it on my way to the observation tower that was located in the city centre. The quiet coupled with the grandness of the buildings, the large fountains and majestic landmarks took me back into the bygone times of the Soviet era when a person felt small and unimportant when faced with the system and the state.

I arrived to the observation tower – the entry ticket cost three euros. Again, I was grateful for the Kazakhstani prices that were tourist friendly. There were five employees in the tower foyer – a lady who guided people, another lady who called for the lift, two souvenir vendors and a security guard. Another remnant of the Soviet era when everyone had a job, regardless of their job description, as long as they had one.

The lift took me up to the top where a nice view of the entire metropolis opened up. Again, two, three female guides, telling us about the tower’s history, and me and two more Russian tourists. I took a few photos and went on. I found a city bus tour not far from there, which takes you past all the major city sights on a hop-on hop-off basis. After a very long day, I went back to the hostel late in the evening and began my preparations to continue exploring Kazakhstan.

You can learn more about my trip outside the capital in the second part of my travelogue in the next issue of Globetrotter.