I was curious to know if any FTers might have any travel-related info. on Kazakhstan (esp. Almaty)...
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travelmad478
Jun 3, 03, 9:17 pm
My info is extremely dated (I lived there in 1994) but I'm interested to hear what is going on now! I spent my time in Almaty, Zahmbyl--which I think is now called Taraz--and Zhambylskaya oblast.
j379pa
Jun 3, 03, 11:16 pm
I've got a cousin who is currently in Almaty (also spelled Alma Atta). Is there a question or two I can e-mail him for you?
JP
Tartegnin
Jun 5, 03, 3:09 am
I go a couple of times a year on business. Decent hotels (especially the Ankara), decent retaurants, nice people, horrible international flight schedules (need to leave for airport at about 2 am). Ugly architecture but nice scenery. Anything particular you wanted to know?
Spent_All_My_Miles
Feb 20, 04, 1:35 am
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by avek00:
I was curious to know if any FTers might have any travel-related info. on Kazakhstan (esp. Almaty)...
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Beware the cops of Almaty. I was there in the summer of 2002, and three of them told me to pay up or they would take me to their police station. They wanted US $50 (total for the 3), and we ultimately settled at $40.
My alleged crime, for which they were gracious enough to look the other way by my paying them money under threat of visiting the local police station, was that I had not gotten my visa registered; one has 3 or 4 days to do so, it was only my 2nd day in Kazakhstan, and I was leaving on the third day anyways.
The countryside is nice. Turgen Gorge is nice. If you have the time when visiting Almaty, take a bus ride to Bishkek (formerly Frunze), Kyrgyzstan and then double-back to Lake Issyk-Kul.
travelmad478
Apr 14, 04, 6:32 am
The countryside is nice. Turgen Gorge is nice. If you have the time when visiting Almaty, take a bus ride to Bishkek (formerly Frunze), Kyrgyzstan and then double-back to Lake Issyk-Kul.
Spent_All_My_Miles, I'll be in Almaty for a long weekend next month. Would LOVE to zip over to Lake Issyk-Kul, where I went via helicopter one day ten years ago, and/or Bishkek. How does one go about getting a trip set up? I won't have a lot of lead time in Almaty to do this--can you recommend a tour company? Do you have any recommendations for Almaty itself?