Anyone been to Almaty. From what I read, KZ is one of the more progressive countries in FSU.
I couldn't help but notice that it's pretty difficult to get to:
I travel to Hong Kong often enough and it's a whopping 15 hour flight from HKG to Almaty and tix cost about 2 grand. Wow! It's about 24 hours direct from here in Seattle for 1500. I could fly to Bejing and take a train but still it takes a day and a half and I hear crossing the China-Russia border via rail is pretty time consuming and treacherous (search and seizure type stuff).
Well, I'm going to Almaty on the 28th of August. Taking the train from Hong Kong to Guangzhou, flying to Urumqi and taking the train to Almaty. This will take about 20 hours and cost about 1000$US.
I spoke with a travel agent in the PRC and he said that I shouldn't have any problems crossing the border but it is very important to search your cabin and keep all of your possessions locked up and in sight, obviously don't transport items for anyone across the border. Smuggling is a big problem on this route and penalties are harsh.
A visa is required to enter Kazakhstan: I was able to obtain a business visa and opted for the Multiple Entry 2 Year - Visa for 465$USD. I used my local travel agent to obtain this and it only took a little over a week. For this visa, I had to provide an HIV test certificate though, for shorter periods this is not required.
I'll be staying for 4 nights in Almaty, if anyone else will be there, let me know and maybe we can meet up.
Shark - Would love to hear more about your trip when you return. Sounds interesting and that is an area I would like to know more about.
Your Visa cost seems very high ???
Yeah, I ended up with the most expensive visa: There are single entry tourist visa's that cost less (around 100$USD), but I needed a business visa anyways and decided to get the 2 year - multi entry, so I could return as often as I want/need.
Almaty was nice, there is a very diverse population, Asian, Russian, Middle Eastern.
It's really very beautiful there, very green and the city is clean. If it wasn't so difficult to get to, I'd expect quite a few more Westerners would vacation there.
There were a few travel agencies that offered romance tours, but I didn't really investigate them too much, I had plans to meet up with a lady I've been talking with for the past month.
I was kind of expecting to be flocked by tons of hot women from the time I stepped off the train, but no such luck, it was really just like every other city I'd been in.
When I got to the hotel though, a striking blond hostess greeted me, and helped me get checked in, we flirted a bit and she gave me some local sightseeing tips.
I called my lady and we decided to meet up in the city center. When we met up it was pretty awkward, she was pretty shy, which I expected. But once we started walking around and taking in the city and loosened up a bit and it was better.
She looked different than her picture, I barely recognized her, I think that as we chat and write letters we create a mental image of what our lady looks like, when we met I felt like she was a total stranger. She was attractive, very fit and was wearing a skirt and colorful top (the clothing there was very colorful, had a very South American flavor).
We didn't connect very well, but I have a much better understanding as to why she would join an agency. Almaty is a very nice city but the apartments are tiny, dirty and worn down, just like most cities in Asia. I figure that a decent salary in KZ is around $1200/month USD. She lived w/ her family, worked full time and didn't have very much freedom.
I think a romance tour in Ukraine would be a much better option for meeting someone, but Almaty is a great place to visit.
that's pure speculation. More HIV in New York than Almaty. I have been there - 8 weeks - and the culture is not for free sex as we are here. check your facts.
I found Kaz to be fascinating, much better than the baltics. The people and culture are more generous, friendly,kind, much closer in famioly tiesn raising children. A good wife would come from Kaz, easily.