Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Atyrau lies on the Moscow-Volgograd-Uzbekitan rail route. Within Kazakhtan, trains
go daily to Aktau (Mangyshlak; 3520T, 21 hours), Aktobe (2830T, 16 hours) and Almaty
(9660T to 30,250T, 36 to 50 hours); for Uzbekitan there are trains to Nukus, Samarkand
and Tashkent (29,390T, 45 to 50 hours) four times weekly; for Russia, trains head to Atra-
khan (7900T, 13 hours), Volgograd and Moscow (28,960T, 41 hours) several times weekly.
Buses (2800T, nine hours), minibuses (4500T, ive hours) and shared taxis (7000T, ive
hours) leave for Uralsk from the bus tation until early evening.
Uralsk¨(Oral)¨¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨
УРАЛЬСК
(
ОРАЛ
)
Beautiful traditional Russian architecture adorns the leafy centre of Uralsk (population
203,000), which sits on the European bank of the Ural River. The cheaper rooms in
Hotel¨
Oral
(Hotel Uralsk;
%
7112-50 79 32; Kurmangazy 80; s/d with shared bathroom 3500/3800T,
with private bathroom 6000/7000T;
pa
)
are an acceptable, basic, central budget option;
the nicet sleep is the
Pushkin¨Hotel
(
%
7112-51 35 60; www.pushkinhotel.com; Dotyk 148b;
s/d incl breakfat from 16,000/20,000T;
paW
)
.
There are trains to Aktobe (2560T, 10 to 13 hours, two daily), Almaty (10,328T, 51 to 58
hours, one daily) and Moscow (25,122T, 27 hours, every two days). Note that trains to or
from Aktobe (including those to/from Almaty) duck into Russia en route: reports are that
you can travel on them with a single-entry Kazakhtan visa and do not require a Russian
visa for that tretch, but do conirm this before travelling. Minibuses to Atyrau (4500T, ive
hours) and shared taxis to Aktobe (8000T, ive hours) leave from the train tation. The
road to Aktobe tays inside Kazakhtani territory.
Aktobe¨¨¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨
АҚТӨБЕ
This city of 370,000 has experienced an inlux of oil and gas companies and an accompa-
nying facelift.
Hotel¨Ilek
(
%
7132-96 01 01; www.ilek.kz; Ayteke-bi 44; s/d from 4800/6000T;
naW
), two
blocks from the train tation, has a range of accommodation tarting with small but neat
and clean 'tandard' rooms with private bathroom. Top digs are at the modern, well-run
Hotel¨Dastan
(
%
7132-90 10 00; www.datanhotel.kz; Bogenbay Batyr 2; s/d incl breakfat from
21,000/24,360T;
pnaiW
).
Trains run daily to Aralsk (2680T to 5610T, 10 to 12 hours), Almaty (8320T, 41 to 48
hours) and Moscow (33,680T, 34 to 36 hours); and several times weekly to Tashkent
(22,620T to 28,860T, 31 to 36 hours) and Bishkek (23,250T, 40 hours).
There's no public road transport south to Aralsk and Kyzylorda. The local motorbike
club,
Asar¨Motor¨Aktobe
(
%
701-339 7714, 7132-22 83 53; zobenko1969@mail.ru;
Aviagorodok 124), near the airport, ofers a helpful free checkover of travellers' motorbikes,
cars or 4WDs, space to work on vehicles, and information on road conditions. Ask for
Gennady Zobenko.
Petropavlovsk¨(Petropavl)¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
ПЕТРОПАВЛОВСК
(
ПЕТРОПАВЛ
)
The mot attractive city near the northern tretch of Kazakhtan's border with Russia,
Petropavlovsk was founded in the 1750s and is older and architecturally more diverse than
many cities in Kazakhtan.
Hotel¨Kochevnik
(
%
7152-46 01 31; Amangeldy 163; s/d from 3500/4000T), basic but
clean and in a quiet but central location, is a good budget bet. Well-run
Hotel¨Skif
(
%
7152-46 88 07; www.hotelskif.kz; Parkovaya 118; s/d incl breakfat from 8500/12,000T;
pWs
), with large, contemporary rooms and an excellent 24-hour retaurant, is a ine
midrange choice.
The fat, comfortable Talgo train No 152 to Atana (tourit/business class 4590/7600T,
six hours) and Almaty (16,215/23,750T, 19 hours) runs every two days. At leat two other
trains head daily to Atana (2560T, eight to 11 hours), and daily trains head to many Rus-
sian cities including Moscow (47,800T, 39 to 45 hours) and Omsk (7350T to 11,108T, 4½
hours). Rail timetables here use Moscow time.
