Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
FOOD & DRINK
The food culture of Kazakhstan is rooted in the
Kazakhs' nomadic past, where the most readily
available food was usually horses and sheep.
The Kazakh national dish is beshbarmak, chunks
of long-boiled mutton, beef, or perhaps horse-
meat, served in a huge bowl atop lat squares of
pasta with onions and sometimes potatoes. The
broth from the meat is drunk separately.
In bazaars and some restaurants you'll come
across horsemeat in various forms. menus may
ofer a plate of cold horsemeats as a starter,
and horse steak as a main dish. Kazy, shuzhuk/
shuzhak and karta are all types of horsemeat
sausage, in horse-intestine casing. Kuurdak (or
kuyrdak ) is a fatty stew of potatoes, meat and
ofal from a horse, sheep or cow, boiled in a pot
for two to three hours.
Across the country you'll also ind ubiquitous
Central Asian dishes such as shashlyk, laghman
(long, stout noodles), manty (steamed dump-
lings), plov (pilaf) and samsa . Kazakhs make
a sweet plov with dried apricots, raisins and
prunes. In summer open-air beer and shashlyk
bars, with glowing (or laming) grills out front,
spring up in every town.
A favourite local snack is baursaki, fried dough
balls or triangles, not unlike heavy doughnuts.
Kazakhstan is reckoned to be the original source
of apples and wild apple trees still grow in parts
of the southeast.
The cuisines of some non-Kazakh groups -
Russian, Korean, Uyghur, Dungan - are also
prominent. A sign in Arabic script usually indi-
cates a Uyghur restaurant and good laghman to
be had inside. The major cities have their share
of international restaurants too.
Kymyz (fermented mare's milk) is a popular
drink. It's mildly alcoholic with a sour, slightly
izzy taste. You can buy it, as well as shubat
(fermented camel's milk), in many supermarkets
as well as in markets and the countryside.
For more information on regional food and
drink see p465.
Dining Out
most midrange and top-end restaurants add
10% to 15% service charge to the bill, which
doesn't go to those who provide the service, so
you should provide a tip as well - around 300T to
500T is standard. The 'business lunch' (biznes
lanch, kompleksny obed) ofered by many restau-
rants is usually a good-value set meal, typically
comprising soup or salad, main course, dessert
and drink.
INTERNET ACCESS
Public internet facilities are fairly abundant,
generally charging 200T to 300T per hour.
Nearly all backpacker hostels, and midrange and
top-end hotels, and some cafes and restaurants,
have wi-i (usually free).
KAZAKHSTAN¨
EMERGENCY¨NUMBERS
Ambulance ( % 103)
Emergency¨(general) ( % 112)
Police ( % 102)
MONEY
¨ Prices are usually quoted in the national
currency, tenge (T), but occasionally US dollars
or euros.
¨ ATms abound at banks, shopping centres,
supermarkets, hotels, some train stations
and elsewhere. Look for 'Bankomat' signs.
most accept at least maestro, Cirrus, Visa and
masterCard.
¨ You can make purchases with credit cards
(Visa and masterCard preferred) at a fair
number of shops, restaurants, hotels and
travel agencies. There is often a surcharge
for doing so.
¨ Exchange offices (marked 'Obmen Valyuty')
are common on city streets.
PUBLIC HOLIDAYS
New Year 1 and 2 January
International Women's Day 8 march
Nauryz 21-23 march
Kazakhstan Peoples Unity Day 1 may
Victory Day 9 may
Astana Day 6 July
Constitution Day 30 August
Independence Day 16 December
REGISTRATION
For citizens of the 28 EU states, Australia,
Canada, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Norway,
South Korea, Switzerland the USA and a few
other countries, registration is occasionally car-
ried out when visas are issued at a Kazakhstan
embassy or consulate, indicated by a large
round stamp on a migration card that is supplied
together with the visa. If it doesn't happen there,
it normally happens automatically when you
arrive at the country's international airports.
Two entry stamps (one is not enough) on your
migration card are the indication that registra-
tion has taken place and is valid until you leave
the country.
Travellers entering by land or sea, or who for
any reason don't get registered on airport ar-
rival, have to register with the migration police
(migratsionnaya Politsia, Koshi-Kon Politsiyasi,
OVIR) no later than the ifth day of their stay in
the country if they are staying in Kazakhstan
beyond that day (counting the arrival date as the
irst day). If you leave the country before day ive
is inished, registration is not necessary.
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