Kazakhstan - Central Asia - page 104

4 ¨Sleeping
Hotel¨Gratsia¨ HOTEL $
( % 41 24 59; [e-mail]; Voynov-Internat-
sionalistov; s/d with shared shower 3500/5000T,
r with bathroom 6000-8000T) A decent-value
budget place, the Gratsia has well-used but
well-kept and clean rooms. It's painted salm-
on pink and its sign just says 'Gostinitsa'.
Hotel¨Edem¨ HOTEL $$
( % 91 08 94; [e-mail]; Yermekov
29/4; s 7000-8000T, d 8000-16,000T; pW ) The
Edem offers plain but neat, clean rooms
with carpets, good wooden furniture and
thick wallpaper. It's not exactly accustomed
to foreigners but one or two receptionists
speak a bit of English. Breakfast is available
for 800T.
o Hotel¨Ar-Nuvo¨ HOTEL $$
( % 42 02 84; www.arnuvo.kz; Beibitshilik bulvary
4A; s/d incl breakfast 16,500/18,500T; paiW )
This attractive, well-run hotel provides cosy,
solidly comfy rooms with nice big white
bathtubs. Desk staff are welcoming and
there's a good 24-hour restaurant. As the
name implies, it has art nouveau touches.
5 ¨Eating
In summer, open-air shashlyk-and-beer
cafes are strung all along Abdirov.
Rational¨ CAFETERIA $
(Yermekov 58/6; mains 400-1000T; h 24hr)
Rational bills itself a 'business-class
stolovaya (canteen)' and serves up a range
of typical Russian and Central Asian sta-
ples that are indeed a cut above the general
run of self-service restaurants. It's bright
and popular and set in the side of the bus
station building.
Assorti¨ EUROPEAN $$
( % 91 17 07; City mall, Bukhar Zhyrau dangyly 59/2;
mains 1200-3100T; h noon-2am; nWE ) This
bright restaurant on the top floor of City
Mall is part of a quality national chain. It's
a fine place for pizzas, pasta, soups, salads
and grills.
Pivovaroff¨ INTERNATIONAL $$$
(Beibitshilik bulvary 1; mains 1500-3500T; h noon-
2am) Set in a stone-walled basement not un-
like a castle cellar, with high-back wooden
booths, Pivovaroff is a good choice for din-
ing on salads and grills (including shashlyk
and German sausages) and quaffing unfil-
tered Staronemetskoe beer.

3 ¨Entertainment
Svintsovy¨Dirizhabl¨ LIVE mUSIC
(http://vk.com/krglsd; Yerubaev 4A) Karaganda
is a Kazakh rock music hot spot and 'Lead
Zeppelin' is the top club for live bands. Gigs
typically run from about 7pm to 11pm, on
Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Name bands
from Russia appear every couple of weeks or
so. Check the website or karaganda.night.kz
for schedules and prices.
Elvis¨ LIVE mUSIC
( % 31 97 40; www.music-club.kz; Yerubaev 50A;
h 7pm-3am) Elvis is a fun place to listen to
live rock and roll, jazz or blues (nightly from
10pm), drink some beer and eat good food -
especially in the open air in summer.

8 Information
Internet Cafe Traffik (Bukhar Zhyrau dangyly
46; internet per hr 240T; h 9am-9pm) Efficient
place along a lane beside the Abzal shopping
centre.
Nomadic Travel Kazakhstan ( % 99 61 65;
www.nomadic.kz; Office 209, Bukhar Zhyrau
dangyly 49; h 9am-6pm mon-Fri) If you want
to explore the steppe heartland, climb its hills,
photograph saiga or birds, visit remote ar-
chaeological and historic sites and experience
vast panoramas, with English-speaking guides,
this dynamic group of young travel enthusiasts
is just the ticket. The office is a good place for
regional tourist information, and it has an ex-
cellent city and regional tourist map available.
Trips last from one to 10 days. Transport can
be by bicycle or minibus, with accommodation
in hotels, village homestays, tents or herders'
huts. most trips are arranged to order but they
do advertise a few open trips on their website or
Facebook. Typical prices for the longer trips are
20,000T to 30,000T per day per person, vary-
ing with group size. One- or two-day trips can
be anywhere from 10,000T to over 80,000T per
day per person.
Perhaps the most original trip is the six-day
'Back in the USSR' ofering, which includes the
Semipalatinsk nuclear polygon, gulag camps
and Russian civil war sites. Baykonur Cosmo-
drome visits are also ofered. Other destinations:
Kyzylarai mountains Around 300km south-
east of Karaganda, with walks, horse rides,
3000-year-old stone necropolises, the steppe's
highest mountain (1565m Aksoran) and home-
stays in the felt-making village of Shabanbay Bi.
Ulytau hills North of Zhezkazgan, with Bronze
Age petroglyphs and the mausoleums of Ching-
gis Khan's eldest son, Jochi, and Alasha-Khan,
who is considered the founding father of the
Kazakh people.