Kazakhstan Travel Forum

Hi,
I have a few questions for those who have been to Kazakhstan via China and Uzbekistan recently:

1. can I buy visa to KZ in Urumqi?
2. which visa is better to buy -twice time transit (how many days does that visa allow to stay in country) in two different embassy/consulate (ie. once in Urumqi and for second time in Toshkent) or better buy double entry tourist visa in Beijing (or Urumqi if possible). I plan to stay in KZ no longer than month altogether - probably.
3. do I need to make fixed dates and border point of entry when I apply for visa? If I decide to go there earlier than visa says would that be impossible?

I checked for most of answers with KZ MOFA webpage... but still I am not having all answers there.

4. Antoher question is: is it possible to rent a yurt for 1 week or more, somewhere nice but it doesn't have to be tourist place?

5. What would be more interesting way to get to Russia - train towards Moscow or local buses towards Volgograd, Which landscape is more interesting (february to may?)?

6. What kind of local food can I expect in KZ? Any names and what it is like?

Thank you for any helpful hint and/or comment. Regards
Vesna

Forgot to explain why I need that visa: I will go from China overland to Uzbekistan through KZ (going through Tdjikistan or Kyrgyzstan in winter makes not much sense to me - it's too mountainous) and back through KZ to Russia then somewhere (not yet decided)back into EU (maybe through Ukraina or Belorus or Baltic).

Little question: where are you now physically - I hope in SLO, otherwise you won't get Russian visa. Better: make sure you have a multiple-entry one year RU visa.

Other interesting details:
- some trains will cross RU/KZ border several times, you will need multiple KZ visa anyway to cross RU/KZ border. There are mixed reports about "westerners" being successful or not.
- I wasn't there, but the landscapes seem to be fairly dull. I like them and was many time north of the route you will go, but it really depends on.
- Many things are "possible" with KZ which seem to be officially not and the opposite is also true. The border checks - in particular on the KZ/CHN border are sometimes in expectation of bribes.

For the same reason I would be rather careful about busses. If you looking, how to travel the cheapest you should probably get a through ticket in SKK or SRB, depending what is closer to you. Wasteels in BG and every station in Slovakia sells tickets much cheaper than they are sold in Russia or KZ. The ways are different tough and if you want to be very creative with your route, than only Wasteels will remain because they issue tickets "by hand", in Slovakia everything is computerized and what is not in computer, that does not exist.

If you have no visa a through ticket will really impress everyone at embassy (tried in San Fran!) and you can get transit visas to Russia without much hassle. Do not count on Chinese to be helpful with the tickets. Getting most of your tickets in Slovakia or Srb is 1000 times better than in China or even Russia. Don't ask why - that's the stupid train tariff....

Finally - as said - assume everything possible and impossible on the Kazakh side of the Chinese-Kazakh border. And if you are taking pictures on the border - be very careful and ask or give some little gift!

forgot to tell: before running to Slovakia or Serbia, first look at www.jizdenka.cz for the prices. Not the most easy program to handle, but I can help.

If you go through maps and border crossings and such, you can cut your time at Wasteels or Slovak station to several minutes only. If you do not know precisely and can't handle the "jizdenka", the Slovaks and Serbs will say only "Whaaaat you need"?

Don't be tempted to get the tickets anywhere else, only at Wasteels. The "Regular" ticket agency even at the BG station are idiots and can't read the tariff books if it's a more complicated issue than LJ-Vienna or BG-Sofia. Miodrag Popovic at Wasteels is a real professional.

Bratislava said to be good, I did buy few times in Sturovo, it's OK, really depending on the agent.

I will try to find some good agents in Chop (Ukrainian side of the border between HU and UA). Hungary is good for round-trip tickets only.

But even Miodrag can help only if you know precisely the border crossings and such.

Hi Gyuri!
Thanks a lot for your info. In fact I thought about getting Russian visa in Tashkent, later. I don't know yet when I get there excatly because I am leaving to Laos in November and gonna spend some time there before I go on. Thus I was afraid my visa to Russia would expire before I even get there. Here visa to RUS cost about 90 eur together with 'paperwork' - that means some papers from the travel agency + visa. I was therefore thinking about getting these papers from some of the agencies on-line and apply when I know better on my dates of arrival, but not in Slo... Ah! I'll try. On the other hand if it's too difficult - I'd go through via Iran via Turkmenistan (transit visa easy to get if you have Iran visa already)... would be a bit longer but maybe I'll then celebrate Norooz there :)

I checked jizdenka.cz. Has good price Moscow-Praha for 97 eur (via BY). It has train from moscow to ljutomer but it doesnt say price. or Volgograd-Ljutomer (5 trains via UA). Anyways, it looks like a great programme. But I didn't see chinese or KZ trains there.

your tips on buying tickets are very good, as usual. But I have problem here (or maybe not a problem at all, haha) because I fly there - in fact to BKK, then back through China and some STAN countries (and RUS - if I can get visa there). There's some things I need to do there and I think it will take some time before I'll move on. Which may mean I cannot plan everything very precisely, maybe 1-2 month ahead from now :(

On the other hand, would I be able to buy tix on wasteels for the route CHN-Slovenia if I go to office in Belgrade? It's not that far for me and I have some friends there who could be of help.

Flat landscapes - I love flat landscapes, especially if there are swampy and has many birds:)
Thanks again...

Hi,

You can get a Russian transit visa without much hassle if you prove, you have a living permit in Laos.
Getting Russian visa in China is very difficult.

For "visa support" look at www.waytorussia.com - you should get all your paperwork within 24 hours - but please check, what Russian consulate will accept.

They will NEVER issue a 10-day transit visa anywhere simply because it's now nearly impossible to get real through tickets - unless you know special places, where they can do.

The KZ trains are there in Jizdenka, even North Korean ones. Druzhba(Granica)->BG or Tumangan(Granica)->BG is not a problem.

For instance, BG-Tumangan(Gr) round-trip is 220 Euro, BG-Druzhba(Gr) is more.

Look for "Drujba GR" in jizdenka, this is Chinese-Kazakh border. Try Drujba(GR)-Zahony(GR) and you will get 154.40 Euro.

If you go to Tashkent, you can try to let the ticket be issued via Sary-Agatch which very close to Tashkent. I got Druzhba-Aktogay-Alma Ata-Arys-Sary Agatsh(GR)-Ozinki-Moskva-Kiev-Zahony(GR) for 178.60 Euro (price in Czech Republic or Slovakia). In Srb it could be about 220 Euro, this is a regular ticket there, not a discounted like in Slovakia - but much less problems to issue.

Same price in Budapest. In the fact, add Zahony-Budapest for under 20 and Budapest-Ljubljana for 29 Euro and you are home. BP-BG is 15 Euro, by the way, BG-LJ is 29 Euro.

Hmmmmmmmmm.... that's really interesting; probably I didn't write right names. Saw way to Russia page - I think it's not gonna be possible to get RU visa then, so I will need to go the Southern way. Look like it will be easier to get STAN visas than RU visa and Iran shouldn't be that problem either.

BTW - do you need visa to Russia?

yes - but hope not for long. And it's free, no matter what visa (special case) + no need for work permit. Not that I need right now, I working in SRB without one (I mean, without permit). :-P

You can get RU transit visa with the train/airplane ticket , but ask the consulate, each has different (nightmarish) rules.

BTW: Don't challenge the Pak/IRN border area, I was told.

BTW: if you are in Laos now and show the local RU consulate a through Druzhba-Chop ticket I am sure they will give you a transit visa for 10 days and no invitation will be necessary.

I can send you such ticket, but keep in mind, it is valid for 60 days from the day you tell me as the first day of validity. To get such ticket will take me no more than one hour or so, but not sure how can I deliver to LAO. Before committing to it, ask the consulate about it.

Make a printout from jizdenka.cz and show it to the consulate. If they say, they will issue you the visa if you show them the original ticket, I will send it to you.

Good morning...
thanks a lot for your help and advice. I will re-think the whole plan again:)Maybe I can try first with jizdenka - like you suggested.

Do you know if it's any easier to get UA visa (transit or tourist) for a Lao if he has EU visa stamped in passport already?

Also - I was always wondering about this: if you enter BY via Russia without BY visa end exit to EU what happens... they don't really check passports on RU-BY border, do they?

no passport checks on BY-RU border but leaving BY can be a problem. Theoretically you can enter BY from RU, stay there "black" without BY visa and leave BY back to RU. No problem for CIS / "Western" citizens, but LAO citizen could be singled out by milicija on the street.

BTW: you did not say, both of you are going, than JIZDENKA won't be the best because for a couple CITY-STAR will give 50% discount from the already low price.

CITY-STAR Russia is sold in Bulgaria, Slovakia and Serbia only, no other countries. There is "Sparpreis Rußland" and "Sparpreis Kazakhstan" from Germany, but they cost more and you have to travel via BY.

In your case actually BY could be a better solution, that really depends on the Ukrainian visa situation.

Ask http://www.visatorussia.com about Lao + Ukraine if he has Schengen. Most likely everything is fine as long as he has a transit ticket (like CityStar, for instance). Not sure, where is the closest UA consulate. Maybe in Bangkok?

I am thinking, that if you just travel to Bangkok and fly one-way with Eva Air to Vienna that could be at the end cheaper than all visa problems because of Lao citizenship. I think even flying with Aeroswit (Ukrainian) is not good because true, you can get through till Budapest, but AFAIK, for Lao citizens the Ukrainians demand visa even for Airport transit area. :(

Yes, that's right! But we wanted to travel overland first - now it seems more complicated, because we have this visas in question. But then again - southern way may be nicer for winter period.
Anyways - we'll see in couple of months. Having these information in mind maybe we need to corrupt someone there , hahaha...