Kazakhstan. THERE'S SO MUCH MORE to Kazakhstan than Borat! In this video, my first video from Kazkhstan and Central Asia, I give you my first impressions of Kazakhstan and the largest city, Almaty. But not everything went to plan on this first day in this new, undiscovered country!
Flying In:
I flew with Air Astana that fly direct from London to Kazakhstan. Air Astana is your way in to the region of Central Asia and is a good starting point for any trip to CA.
Airport to Hotel:
This is where it all went wrong. Watch the video to find out why. But my advise is to download Yandex Go via your app store or APK files if you are not allowed to do this. Yandex Go is a Russian taxi company used in Central Asia and is their version of Uber/Bolt. It is very affordable, reliable and safe to use.
Accomodation:
Book ahead! For some reason, when I went most of the hotels were fully booked and so it was difficult to get a last minute reservation. In terms of Hostels, there are a few hostels which are nice and have friendly staff, I would recommend Wanderlust hostel, which is near to the Zenkov's cathedral and in a good central location.
Prices:
First thing that may shock you is that Kazakhstan is actually not as cheap as one may expect it to be! But more about that in the coming videos!
Overall, whilst I had a lot of problems and transport issues on my first day here in Kazakhstan, it is still definitely worth a visit!
But watch the video, learn from my mistakes so that you don't make them in your travels to Kazakhstan or the rest of the world. Or just watch for entertainment to see my stressful day and my exploration of this beautiful city.