Kazakhstan - Central Asia - page 123

to buy. The same outlets often sell inexpen-
sive phones too, and will top up your credit for
cash or with PIN cards.
¨ KCell and Beeline are the best networks for
nationwide coverage.
¨ Typically 1000T credit gives you one to two
hours of talking to a combination of mobile and
landline numbers.
Telephone Numbers
¨ mobile numbers have 10 digits.
¨ Landlines have a three-, four- or five-digit
area code followed by a local number: the area
code plus the local number always totals 10
digits.
¨ The Kazakhstan country code is % 7.

citizens, €60 for most other Europeans, US$160
for Americans). Five-day transit visas are avail-
able without a LOI for US$20; processing takes
up to ive working days. At the Aktau consulate
you must supply one photo with a white back-
ground, and photocopies of your passport data
page and your last Azerbaijan visa (if you had
one). You pay the fee at a bank about 1.5km away
on the day you collect the visa, before going to
the consulate.
China
getting a Chinese visa in Kazakhstan is diicult-
to-impossible. Policy and practice change
frequently; at the time of writing, visas were not
being issued at the Chinese Almaty consulate
(p125) for non-residents, and only a few people
succeeded in getting tourist visas (in ive to
seven days) in Astana (p125), showing proof of
suicient funds (for example bank statements),
light bookings in and out of China, hotel book-
ings and an itinerary for their whole stay, and
proof of employment. No LOI needed but don't
say you are going to Xinjiang. The price is around
4300/6400T for single/double entry (30 days
per entry).
It's much better to get your Chinese visa
before you leave home (bearing in mind you
have to enter China within three months), or
in Hong Kong, where procedures are easy and
inexpensive.
Kyrgyzstan
For those who still need visas, the Kyrgyzstan
Almaty consulate's (p126) 'normal' processing
time is 10 working days, with most visas cost-
ing US$55 to US$80; but same-day express
processing is usually available for US$100 to
US$150. Take your passport, a photocopy and
one photo. Some nationalities also have to pro-
vide a LOI (see p309). You have to make three
visits to the consulate: one to put in the applica-
tion, one to come back with the bank receipt for
payment, and one to pick up the visa.
Russia
The Russian Almaty consulate (p126) and As-
tana embassy (p126) are practically impossible
for anything but transit visas. Travellers have
obtained transit visas in one or two days with-
out LOIs for around 14,000T. You may have to
show an onward ticket out of Russia and a visa
for the onward country. Visa duration is up to 10
days depending on the duration of your transit
in Russia; you may have to enter Russia within
three days of the visa being issued. Opening
hours for applications are just one or two morn-
ings a week: no one speaks English but if you
can manage to call ahead for an appointment
it should help. Application forms are available
online (only), at http://visa.kdmid.ru. Astana is
generally less unfriendly than Almaty.

TRAVEL PERMITS
A special border-zone permit is needed for travel
to areas near the Chinese border, notably the
Altay mountains and mt Khan Tengri. The only
way to obtain these is through tour irms taking
you to these areas, who will normally include the
permit charge (about 7000T) in their trip cost.
Processing can take up to 45 days, so plan well
ahead.
A permit is also oicially required for areas
near the Kyrgyz border in the mountains south
of Almaty. Local guides in Almaty know the
score.
Baykonur Cosmodrome and the Semipalatinsk
Polygon can only be visited on tours organised
through agencies. You need to start the paper-
work one to two months ahead for Baykonur and
about two weeks ahead for the Polygon.
Entry to nature reserves usually requires a
permit, normally arranged quickly through the
local reserve oice, for anything up to 2000T.
VISAS FOR ONWARD TRAVEL
Visa practices change all the time. See p32 for
some useful sources on recent changes, and
p125 for embassy contact details.
Azerbaijan
The best option is a 30-day tourist e-visa or-
ganised through an agency, costing US$100 for
all nationalities through Azerbaijan24 (www.
azerbaijan24.com) or Stantours (p68). You
receive the visa by email (currently within three
weeks), and there is no need to bother with any
consulate. But you do have to show conirmed
hotel bookings for all or most of your visit -
automated online conirmations direct from
hotels are acceptable.
Paper 30-day tourist visas are also available
within ive working days from the Azerbaijan
Astana embassy (p125) or the Aktau consulate
(p125) if you have a LOI. LOIs currently cost
US$60 from Azerbaijan24 and Stantours, but
the price can luctuate wildly. Fees for the visa
itself depend on your passport (US$118 for UK