KazakhstanKazakhstan is vast – the ninth-largest country in the world – yet there is relatively little information available in English about the attractions of this remarkable country. With the Kazakh government seeking to promote the development of tourism, publication of the Bradt guide is timely. Located between Russia and China, the state of Kazakhstan possesses an incredible diversity of natural beauty; this guide includes arrangements for visiting natural parks and reserves and special features such as singing sand dunes and the Sharyn Canyon - Asia’s equivalent of the Grand Canyon. Key historical and archaeological sites are also given due prominence, Kazakhstan having been inhabited since the Stone Age. |
Contents
conservation 4 History 6 Government and politics | 13 |
Economy 15 People and culture 16 Language | 19 |
When to visit 23 Highlights 24 Tour operators | 25 |
Red tape 28 Embassies 31 Getting there and away | 33 |
Health 36 Safety 40 What to take 41 Money | 42 |
Eating and drinking 49 Public holidays and festivals | 52 |
Shopping 53 Arts and entertainment 54 Media | 62 |
Chapter 4 | 103 |
The East | 213 |
The North | 243 |
The Northwest | 279 |
The West | 303 |
The South | 337 |
Language | 381 |
Glossary | 390 |
| 399 | |
Common terms and phrases
Abai Ablai Khan Abulkhair Khan accommodation admission Air Astana airport akimat Akmola Aktau Aktobe Alatau Almaty Altai apartment blocks Atyrau Auezov Avenue Baikonur Balkhash Borovoye Bradt building bus station Café central Asian centre century complex corner cosmonauts decorated depicts dishes display dombra dome Dostyk Dzhungars east entrance ethnic flight floor focused further head Hotel houses Kabanbai Batyr Karaganda Kazakh kobyz Kokshetau Kostanai Kyzylorda Lake Lenin located Mangistau mausoleum menu microdistrict monument Moscow mosque Mountains offers option Otrar painted park Pavlodar petroglyphs Petropavl photographs President Nazarbaev railway station range restaurant River road rooms route runs Russian Satpaev Semey Semipalatinsk shashlik Shevchenko Shymkent side Soviet period Soviet Union square stands statue steppe Street summer Taraz taxi Tian Shan tour town Tsarist Turkestan Uralsk Ust-Kamenogorsk village walls western wooden yurt Zhabagly Zhambyl Zhezkazgan