Almaty Qalasy Travel Forum

I am traveling to Almaty for business and staying through the weekend. I figured that I should take the opportunity to go to the mountains and Medeo. I read on this forum that there is a very cool hotel there, where the rooms are in jurts. Does anyone know the name/have the contact for this hotel? Any other recommendations of neat places to stay would be most appreciated! Thanks!

Hello,
what is the possibilities to go from Almaty to Karakol for 12 persons? It is possible to reached Karakol not going to Bishkek direction?

Thank You

3 friends and I are travelling to Almaty in early June and we need to find a hotel.
All the agencies, websites etc we have tried name the same 10 or 12 hotels, all of which are already booked on our dates or are very expensive.
There must be more hotels in Almaty. Can anyone help with the names and/or contact details of any two or three star hotels. Anywhere in the city or near the airport will do.
Please help.

Hi we are flying in to Almaty arriving at 5:10am on the KLM flight. Local (UK) time that is midnight so we will be very tired. Are there hotels we can check in to at that time to get some sleep?

Also if we decided to catch a train somewhere instead, how quickly could we get from Almaty airport to Alma-Ata-2 train station? Does immigration take a long time?

Thanks for your help!

Looking for a dry, pleasant June destination linked by a discount airline from Dubai

I am spending the Spring in Iran, and in June I am changing flights in Dubai to somewhere dry, and pleasant serviced by one of the discount airlines operating in the UAE.

My research shows Air Arabia flies to

Almaty, Kazakhstan (near beautiful Kyrgyzstan)
Lebanon
Nepal

All three of these destinations appeal to me but Nepal's rainy monsoon season begins in June, and I don't want to be there when it's raining.

Lebanon, and Kazakhstan have the nicest weather during summer, but I think Canadians need a visa to go to Kazakhstan, like a real visa (pre-arranged at the Kazakh embassy either in Tehran, or Dubai). Also, it sounds difficult to arrange, and really expensive. Does anyone know the cost of 1 month tourist visa for Canadians going to Kazakhstan? I am only interested in Almaty, and then I want to cross the border to Kyrgyz, then Uzbek, and Tajik. I'd like to do a little circle, and end up back in Almaty again, only because Air Arabia flies from there. I could also be interested in a land crossing entering Tibet, but I don't know if that's possible for foreigners. Regarding a Kazakh visa, perhaps a 3 day transit visa is enough? See Almaty, and then hop the border to Bishkek?

Air India Express flies Dubai to Amritsar, India, and I know India is HOT in June, but if I start in Amritsar, and head NORTH to Kashmir, maybe there is an international border/crossing (along with land transport) to Tibet? Of Course, then I need a Chinese visa/permit, and where to get that in Amritsar, or Kashmir?

If I go to India, I prefer to go high in altitude because it is June, and I don't want to be at sea level, especially in a big city like Mumbai or Dehli. I just hope Northwestern India is relatively dry in June.

Ok so Air Arabia, or Air India Express, and there are a couple other airlines flying to really HOT places like Phillipines, but since it's June, I didn't include any tropical destinations.

So, please let me know which destination you think is best for June, and then from there, into the Summer.

Lebanon, Almaty, Kazakhstan, or Nepal (rainy?) on AA
or Northwestern India on AIA

I also have the option of entering Turkmenistan, or Armenia by road after Iran (I think June could be a good time in either place), but Turkmenistan doesn't seem to have any Couchsurfers, which is how I travel. No hotels, ever.

Let me know your thoughts about June.

How I can travel from Almaty to Shymkent by bus or minibus? and what's aprox. rates

What are my options if I want to travel between Almaty to Tashkent? I'd rather not fly. any information about buses, trains and shared taxis would appreciated. thanks

How to travel from Almaty to Urumqi?

Can we travel by plane or by train?

How often are there flights ?

Sincerely yours


Bjørn Myrvang

i am preparing for a business trip to Almata at the end of Nov. 2007, would you please advice regarding the weather condition, rate of money exchange and shall i have Tenge or US dollars?

Hi, I am going to Almaty, Kazakhstan, at the end of May. I am a keen mountain biker and unfortunatly I will not be able to travel with my bike. Anyone knows if you can rent a decent mountain bike in Almaty for a week or is there some mountain bike fanatics I could contact.......I am not afraid of steep climbs and rocky single tracks. Will bring my helmet, automatics pedals and shoes anyway....

Where can you rent a mountain bike in Almaty?

Ive been hearing mixed reports on going about getting a new L visa for China in Almaty. I will be coming from Kyrgyzstan and only have about 5 days before I need to get to China, so I'd need to get a visa pretty quick. Ive been hearing this thing about needing some letter of invitation or something from a chinese company to get back to china?? Or is the application strait forward like in other chinese embassys/consulates abroad? Would I be able to re-enter china by land with a double entry visa? I wonder if I can even get a double entry visa in Kathmandu (Im going from china to nepal to china (tibet) again to kyrgyz to kazakh and then back to china). Thanks

In month time I will be moving to Almaty, I want to know about the facilities to play Squash in Almaty. If any body knows about the details of Squash courts in Almaty please let me know.

Syed

I have to travel from Germany (Berlin, Frankfurt or Hamburg) to Almaty in Kazakstan. I alrready take a look with KLM, Air Astana,etc) But I did not find any good deal. I can travel on tuesday 13 but late in the night, but not after wednesday 14...! I am looking for something cheap arround 400 to 550 euros.
HEEEEEEEEEEELP....! s.o.s !!!!!!!

Does anybody know how much snow Chimbulak ski resort annually? Can I expect a lot of powder in March? Thanks.

Reference the previous queries regarding this topic, has anybody recently had any success on this route i.e. Urumqi - Almaty, has it improved at all? Lonely Planet currently says to expect 8 hours, with difficult officials and no plumbing facilities. To save all that, is it easier to fly from Urumqi to Almaty?
All views welcome.

I will have one full day (enough for a day trip outside the city) and one half day in Almaty in August (NOT consecutive - I have business in between). Please give me suggestions on what to see & do, food to try, art & music, shopping - anything that will give me a small slice of Kazakhstan in my short stay. Thank you!

Does anyone have a current streetmap of Alamaty that they would be willing to give me? I will be travelling there in a few months but I can't find any current maps online. Help!

I will be sending my fiancee to Almaty in December for her K-1 Visa interview at US Consulate.

We are having a difficult time trying to get info on some budget/low cost hotels (* Less than $55 per night) in Almaty as most of the internet listing for these hotels seem to be old and their phone numbers have changed.

For example: Hotel Issyk/Luch, Hotel Miras, Hotel Saltanat, Hotel Aliya, etc...

We have contacted; Uyut, Kazzhol, Zhetzyu --- but they all seem to want to charge more than their internet advertised rates.

If you know of something safe, decent, that may or may not have a continental breakfast and is not to far from city center and has single economy rooms under 6500 Tenge -OR- You can tell me the current phone numbers/email address of the hotels listed above, or any other budget hotel. IT WOULD BE A BIG HELP!!!!!!

Thanks :o)

Can anyone assist with info on making the trip by train in early Mar? I'm understand its still cold but wondering if too cold to make it a sensible trip at that time.

We are a Danish/Dutch family with 2 small girls who are maybe moving to ALMATY for some years (expat). We would like to get in contact with other expats which would give us useful information how it is to live there with kids etc.

Kindly mail to Fam. Kaas., email (KKR@CATTINAIR.COM)

are there any flights between Almaty and Bayan Olgii, Mongolia?
if so when

hi, i am planning a trip to almaty in november, and i would like to get some info on staying inexpensively in almaty. i also want to travel to the polygon area of the country because i am scouting locations for a friend who wants to make a documentary about the country. i would like to get info about in-country travel and if there are restrictions.
any advice would be most welcome!

I'm thinking about going to Almaty for a few days... but how many days is enough? is 2-3 days enough to the see the city & the mountains?

thanks in advance!

Hi There!

I'm planning a train journey this summer for a train trip that will start in Beijing and end in Athens (a little crazy, I know!) To exit China, I'm thinking that the best way is to take the Urumqi-Almaty train. From Almaty, it looks like I have several options. I can either go through Tehran and then from Tehran take the train to Istanbul and then into Greece. But the people that are traveling are a little aphrensive about cutting through the Middle East. Or, it looks like I can go from Almaty to Moscow and then from Moscow make my way into Greece.

I have several questions that I was wondering if fellow VT members can help with.

1) From Urumqi to Almaty, there are 2 trains in operation -- one operated by the China railway system and the other from the Kazakhstan side. Does anyone know which is the better one to use?

2) If I decide to go the Almaty-Tehran route, does anybody have any info on this train route? Cost? Duration? Where and how to book? Can I do it online or is it safe to book while I'm there?

3) How about the Almaty-Moscow route? Does anybody have any info on this route? Again...cost, duration and where and how to book.

4) Are there other routes that I am not thinking about?

Thanks for the help!

Amy

Hey gang, this is a long shot but I figured I'd ask anyway. I'm going to be in Almaty over May 14-15-16, and I'm free as a bird. Is anyone interested in getting together for a meeting/exploring? I'm really excited to see the city again, since I haven't been there for ten years. It would be great to have a sightseeing companion, especially a resident!

Please respond if you'd like to meet up. I have no idea where to meet besides the lobby of the Hyatt Regency, but I'm sure we can come up with something!

I am going to fly into Kazakhstan through Almaty. Can anyone advise what items I should not bring into the country besides the obvious, illegal drugs, etc. I have traveled many times to the Middle East and those countries are very strict on many things. Don't know if Kazakhstan is as strict as theMiddle East. Also, are Credit Cards widely accepted?

Can anyone recommend a good place to find a translator (English/Russian) and driver for a short trip to Almaty I'm taking in Sep-03?

Thanks,

J

Thanks to all who wrote about my question regarding traveling to St. Pete or Moscow. My sincere appreciation. After all that said, I am going to Almaty (Alma-Ata) Kazakhstan instead. Check my page.
Any pointers and tips on how to get there from Chicago? What is best way to get visa, through our own US embassy?
Thanks and regards.