World Heritage Site

In 2017, Jarek wrote on the Forum “I guess that during next years Kazakhstan will develop a little bit their touristic infrastructure (I found it completely insufficient in many places) and adjust prices towards budget travellers (let's hope as right now they tend to overprice the services offered).”

Oh boy, was he wrong! I spent 11 days there in June 2024 and I am glad I went as it broadened my view of the country and its WHS are worthy, but tourist friendly it still isn’t. Below are my Top Tips for Travel to Kazakhstan as a WH Traveller.

1.      Don’t be put off already beforehand!

Usually when preparing for trips I get more and more excited about the destination. Kazakhstan is the only country I can remember from my recent travels where the more I learned about it, the less enthusiastic I got. It all seemed such a hassle with sights few and far between. I couldn't even finish reading the Bradt Guide on Kazakhstan as it was so boring.

2.      Its cities are a pleasant surprise

Visiting the main Kazakh cities certainly made my outlook on the country more positive. They seemed pleasant to live in, as there is lots of green, the streets are very pedestrian-friendly and they have plenty of coffee shops with terraces to watch the world go by. A wide range of cuisines is available, so it will be easy to steer away from the Central-Asian staples (which I do not like) to more common Asian, Turkish and Western options. Both Almaty (Soviet modernist) and Astana (neo-futuristic; photo 1 shows the Khan Shatyr Shopping and Entertainment Center) are worth a full day. The people generally are friendly and honest and it feels very safe.

3.      Providing transport to travellers isn’t their thing

Hurdle #1 for travelling in Kazakhstan on your own is the lack of modern public transport. The cities in the South (Almaty-Taraz-Shymkent-Turkestan) aren’t that far apart, but it can be a hassle to get between them. There’s one “fast” train per day, a bus or two on an ungodly hour, and for the remainder, you have to rely on marshrutkas or shared taxis that will make the trip when full. I always used the latter two options. When you have an early start (before 8 am) you won’t have to wait long, but especially marshrutkas aren’t that frequently available later during the day. You need to bring a certain experience in travelling this kind of way as it’s all very informal.

Renting a car is seriously discouraged (probably instigated by the tour company maffia, see #4), but to me, it all seemed doable, especially for those WH travellers who have driven ‘everywhere’ already (about the same difficulty level as Tunisia I'd say). Car rental companies will charge you by the km, so costs can add up if you’re doing a road trip. Traffic police are notoriously active. Gas is heavily subsidized and extremely cheap.

4.      The prices of established tour companies are a joke

Hurdle #2 is getting to any destination that lies more than 10km outside of a major city and is not covered by the already sketchy public transport. Unfortunately, two of the Kazakh WHS belong to this category (Tanbaly, Saryarka). If you approach a local tour company (for example those recommended in the Bradt guide or those with a strong online presence), they will shamelessly come back with a quote of 500 USD per day. I was quoted 500-600 USD for a day trip to Korgalzhyn from Astana by 3 different companies. Pricing is even more ridiculous than in the Caribbean, where the ‘cruise factor’ is incorporated into everything.

The high cost may be caused by the English-speaking guide they are always trying to add on even when you did not request it (speaking English well is a highly valuable skill in Kazakhstan, as it is rare). But it seems there’s also a cartel at work, as their prices were all remarkably similar. The cheapest alternative may be to arrange a car+Russian speaking driver via the place you’re staying at. I played it a bit safe (to be sure a car was available on the right day and I ended up at the right place with a good visit to the WHS) and arranged both Tanbaly and Korgalzhyn (Saryarka) via Indyguide.com, which is an online marketplace for freelance driver/guides.

5.     Despite its size, consider it as a small country 

As a destination, Kazakhstan seems to either be tremendously overrated or totally underrated. Due to the enormous size of the country (it’s the world’s 9th largest), from their land surveyor perspective Nomadmania has split the country into 14 regions and MTP even has 18 KZK locations. It’s all the same steppe, guys! For reference, Uzbekistan has only 7 MTP locations and Turkey has 12.

On the other hand, the infamous Lupine's 5 ‘Stans Tour allocates only 1 day out of the 14 to Kazakhstan – on that they drive from the border with Kyrgyzstan to Almaty, where they have a city tour that afternoon.… So they even miss out on that fabulous Khoja Ahmed Yassawi Mausoleum (photo 3).

I think the WHS are a fairer representation of the country, both in subject and in geographical spread. Kazakhstan has 3 WHS of its own, plus 2 transnational sites, which are as good or probably better seen in the other participating countries. The 3 Kazakh-only WHS are nicely spread across the regions of Almaty, Shymkent/Turkestan and Astana. Any future WHS will be very niche: some Turkic rune stones maybe, or the Mangystau Region with its natural features and rocky mosques (a nomination is being prepared apparently). Kazakhstan will participate in upcoming Silk Road serial nominations, but its components do not stand out on their own. Baikonur Cosmodrome is on our Missing List, but it is technically an exclave on Kazakh soil leased out to Russia.