Kazakhstanis in general have a generous two-to-three-week vacation each year, which they usually spend with their families, visiting relatives, or traveling to beauty spots or health resorts. Time out, Kazakh-style, is all about entertaining and being entertained—getting together with family and friends. Dinners at home with at least a dozen guests, birthday parties in a restaurant, and bigger celebrations, called tois, are all typical ways of spending weekends and holidays. The parties are all alike in their essence, with a great deal of eating (mainly of beshbarmak—see below), drinking (mainly of vodka), toasting (the longer the better), and dancing—the ultimate indicator of a party’s success. On the rare occasions when there is no birthday or wedding to celebrate, leisure hours may be spent on cultural pursuits, sports, and outdoor activities. Then, of course, there is the Friday night phenomenon: nothing beats a glass of beer with your close circle of friends at a café, bar, or restaurant.
The Kazakh diet has been heavily influenced by the traditionally nomadic way of life. Authentic Kazakh food involves meat—mutton, beef, and horsemeat. The quintessentially Kazakh dish is beshbarmak, which is pieces of slow-cooked meat served with flat squares of pasta and chopped boiled onions. The meat stock is drunk separately but is considered part of the dish. Some other popular dishes—plov (stir-fried rice with mixed vegetables and meat), laghman (long noodles in a beef and vegetable soup) and manty (steamed meat mixture dumplings)—are of wider Central Asian origin and not exclusive to Kazakhstan. Russian cuisine has also been part of the local flavor for long enough to become integral to the general Kazakh family diet: pirozhki (small pies with various fillings), bliny (thin pancakes), pelmeni (little round dumplings filled with meat), and pickled tomatoes and cucumbers are favorites in every home.
There is no shortage of restaurants, most of which offer a mix of Russian and Central Asian food, though the best local cuisine will be found in private homes. In the bigger cities eating out has been popular long enough for restaurant fare to rival traditional homemade dishes. At the upper end are international restaurants, with Italian and French being the most popular. Turkish and Georgian restaurants offer less expensive, heartier portions, and thus are great for family dinners. The popularity of Chinese, Japanese, and Middle Eastern cuisine is also on the rise, but most would struggle to survive on serving such exotic food alone, so they offer local dishes too.
Popularity in Kazakhstan seldom means that a restaurant is packed, so a reservation is not normally necessary, even in the biggest cities. Overcrowded places are rare, with the exception of restaurants that serve a set lunch, and the most popular bars on a Friday night. Having breakfast out is not in the local culture, and cafés serving early breakfasts are found only in Almaty’s city center, catering to tourists.
When eating out in Kazakhstan the main difficulties for the foreign visitor are usually the lack of menus in English and the lack of an English-speaking wait staff. Thus many foreigners just order by pointing to random items on the menu. What you may find pleasing, however, is that you can always count on having a hot meal, whether you’re in a coffee shop, café, restaurant, or bar. Alcoholic drinks are usually available as well. Water does not come free, and asking for tap water isn’t common.
For a quick hot snack, nothing beats the students’ favorite, the small twenty-four-hour döner shops, where you get a döner kebab (small pieces of grilled lamb or chicken) wrapped in a roll of thin lavash (tortilla-like bread), with sliced carrot and sour cream. Turkish-style fast-food cafés, budget laghman places, and small pizza stops are another good option. Many local fast-food restaurants are located in shopping malls, alongside international chains such as KFC.
Most eateries, including coffee shops and cafés, are open from noon until very late at night. Just note that if a restaurant or a café carries a name in English, German, or any other language (except perhaps Chinese), it doesn’t necessarily mean that the staff will speak that language.
Credit cards are accepted in most international restaurants, yet Kazakhstan is still a predominantly cash society. Foreign currency isn’t accepted, so make sure you have enough Kazakh tenge with you when you go out. ATMs are available at banks and supermarkets.
Even the big cities in Central Asia don’t really buzz as you might hope. Undoubtedly, the best place to have a night out in Kazakhstan is Almaty. Evening entertainment venues are scattered around the city, and although there is not much variety there are several to choose from. New themed bars, lounges, and discos are cropping up, while many of the old ones are making changes to accommodate the city’s vibrant student presence and twenty-somethings, as well as a richer, thirty-plus clientele. The number of professional DJs is growing, bringing the city’s club culture on to a new level, and there are frequent festivals, special music events, and parties. The annual Ibiza Mega Dance outside the city at Lake Kapchagai is the most popular of all, featuring DJs from Western Europe.
Astana is a beautiful place at night, with its illuminated modern architecture. Its bar and club scene is gradually developing, and there are several options offered, such as, for example, a disco called Shokolad (Chocolate), popular with local folk, Guns N’Roses Café, which has live music, and the new Mojo bar, with its more sophisticated decor. In other parts of the country, Shymkent could be the choice for those who want to taste southern-Kazakh-style hospitality. The combination of delicious Uzbek cuisine and cheap drinks makes this city especially attractive to students from all over the country.
A 10 percent service charge is added to a restaurant bill, and on top of that you are usually expected to tip the waiter. However, the tip does go to the individual rather than into a shared fund. Depending on the quality of service, you can tip 5 to 15 percent. Leaving no tip for the waiter is acceptable if you feel the service wasn’t satisfactory.
Tipping taxi drivers—especially unofficial ones—isn’t common. You simply bargain and agree on your fare before boarding the taxi, and that is it. If, however, you have heavy luggage that requires the driver’s help, or if you ask for additional favors on your way (such as stopping at a cash machine or a corner shop), or if you find the driver is helpful in answering questions and giving practical advice, then giving him an additional 500 to 1,000 tenge (approximately 3 to 6 US dollars) is a good and generous way to thank him.
The same principle applies to tipping hotel staff. If someone on the administrative staff is particularly helpful throughout your stay, you can tip up to 5,000 tenge (30 US dollars), or even give a small gift, with a smile and a few words of appreciation. As for cleaning and other support staff, there are no rules.
In city centers, when parking a car on the street, you will be helped by people in a yellow or blue uniform, and you will be expected to tip them 50 to 100 tenge. On trains, marshrutkas, buses, and planes, however, there is no tipping.
Late-night cinema is another favorite of Kazakhstan’s city folk. Hollywood movies dubbed into Russian form the main repertoire. In Almaty there is an IMAX cinema at Essentai Mall and another cinema (Tsezar) specializing in art-house films. Some art movies are also screened at the Arman cinema in Astana’s Aziapark mall.
Gambling is legal in Kazakhstan, but only in special zones. The legal casinos are located either on the shore of Lake Kapchagai near Almaty or at Lake Borovoe in the north of the country. These zones aren’t really popular, and much of the business has gone underground in the cities. Both Almaty and Astana are generously sprinkled with illegal gambling halls.
The Kazakhstani love of the classical arts was nurtured during the Soviet period. In the major cities—especially Almaty and Astana—there are plenty of opportunities to see opera, ballet, and concerts of classical music and more. In Almaty, look out for performances at the Abay Opera House (110 Kabanbai Street; www.gatob.kz, Web site in Russian and Kazakh), which stages both Western and Kazakh opera such as Kyz Zhibek and Abay. There is also no shortage of classical, jazz, and other concerts at Kazakh Concert Hall (83 Ablay Khan Street), Kurmangazy Conservatory Hall (86 Ablay Khan Street; www.conservatoire.kz, Web site with limited English) and the State Philarmonia (35 Kaldayakov Street; www.fil.kz, Web site in Russian only), which also often puts on concerts of organ music. In the local classical music scene there are world-class performers, such as the Kamerata Kazakhstana chamber orchestra, the Bekova Trio, the violinists Marat Bisengaliyev and Ayman Musakhodjayeva, the pianist Zhaniya Aubakirova, and many others.
Astana has its own grand opera and ballet theater (www.astana.anshlag.kz, Web site with English) housed in a new majestic building in the administrative district of the city known as the Left Bank. Among other newly built halls there is the large Kazakhstan Central Concert Hall, with 3,500 seats, and the opera hall at the Pyramid of Peace (Palace of Peace and Reconciliation) designed by the English architect Sir Norman Foster.
Traditional folk music concerts should not be missed. Someone once called the Kazakh Steppe a “sea of music,” with good reason. Vocal and instrumental music has played an enormous role in the lives of ordinary Kazakhs for centuries. You will be surprised at the variety of original Kazakh musical instruments, many of which have been revived since the fall of the Soviet Union. Chief among these is the dombra, a slender, long-necked, two-stringed lute. The kobyz, another ancient stringed instrument, is played with a bow, and is closer to the violin. Keep your eyes open for folk orchestras such as the Kurmangazy Orchestra, the Otrar Sazy Folk Orchestra, Sazgen, and Sybyzgy Sazy. They perform on a regular basis in Almaty and Astana concert halls, and also make frequent tours across the country.
Kazakhs and Russians alike are eager theatergoers. Since Kazakhstan is a bilingual country there are Russian theaters, where all plays are performed in Russian, and Kazakh theaters, where all are in Kazakh. There is an audio translation from Kazakh into Russian at Auezov Kazakh Theater in Almaty, and that is pretty much it. Unless you are a fluent Russian or Kazakh speaker you will not get much out of local theater.
Kazakh aytis—a musical–poetic duel based on improvization between two bards—is another local favorite, but this again is quite an isolating experience if you are not a fluent Kazakh speaker.
You may have difficulty in finding information about what is going on, when, and where. Most events are advertised in the local press in Russian, and some in Kazakh. A few Web sites, such as www.afisha.kz and www.timeout.kz, give a good overview, but again the main language used is Russian. Knowing the language, or having someone handy who knows it, is critical if you want to find information, or in fact to get anywhere, in Kazakhstan.
There is a variety of art galleries and museums that will give the visitor an excellent insight into the country’s astonishing traditional culture and modern arts. The Kasteyev State Museum of Art in Almaty (30A Satpayev Street; www.gmirk.kz, a Web site with some information in English) offers an exhaustive overview of paintings and sculptures by local artists, including a considerable collection by Abylkhan Kasteyev, the first professional Kazakh painter. A separate room displays Kazakh traditional handicrafts, including rugs, jewelry, and nomadic household utensils.
The best places in Almaty to see the work of modern artists are the Ular Gallery (92 Panfilov Street; www.artular.kz) of the Kazakhstan’s Union of Professional Artists and the private Tengri Umay Gallery of Modern Art (103 Panfilov Street; www.tu.kz), which acts as a center for a wider regional area and holds frequent art events.
In Astana the Museum of Modern Art (at 3 Respublika Street; www.msi-astana.kz, Web site in Russian and Kazakh only) puts on frequent exhibitions of work by local contemporary artists. Its permanent collection is rather small but well worth a visit if Astana is your only stop in Kazakhstan. Some modern art is also on display on the top floor of the adjoining Presidential Culture Center. Its main attraction, however, is a section on Kazakh history, which, among other things, features examples of the magnificent gold and silver jewelry of the Sak period (approximately the fifth to the second century BCE) and a replica of the “Golden Man”—a costume of a Sak/Scythian warrior made of gold pieces. The original pieces were found at Esik, fifty kilometers from Almaty, in 1969. The Golden Man has become a symbol of modern Kazakhstan, and there are replicas in museums all over the country.
The best place for an overview of the country’s history and culture is the Central State Museum in Almaty (44 Samal-1; www.csmrk.kz; this Web site’s English version is not updated regularly). It houses a large collection of archaeological finds, weaponry, horse gear, clothes, and more. There are also a number of souvenir shops that sell traditional carpets. A visit to the Museum of Folk Musical Instruments is another must if you are in Almaty, especially if you don’t have a chance to listen to traditional Kazakh music at a concert, because you will be able to hear some of these instruments being played at the museum.
The Kazakh love of football was inherited from Soviet times. There is a joke that the number one national sport is watching football, and, indeed, most Kazakhstanis are now devoted fans of the leading English, Italian, and Spanish clubs. Playing amateur football is very popular, especially on weekends, with frequent tournaments between various amateur teams. Kazakhstan’s national football has seen lots of sponsoring, but on the international football scene the country is struggling.
Ice hockey is another spectator sport that has long been popular in Kazakhstan, unlike professional cycling, in which interest has been generated over the last decade or so by the international Astana cycling team. The team has achieved impressive results at world level, and is heavily sponsored by a number of government-owned Kazakh companies.
The most popular active sports around Almaty are skiing and snowboarding—natural for a city lying within a thirty-minute drive of the mountains. There are four ski resorts near Almaty, with Chimbulak being the best equipped, most popular, and most expensive. The skiing season lasts from late October through April. Ice-skating is a favorite and less expensive pastime of Almaty dwellers in winter, and the Medeu ice rink just outside the city is one of the largest speed-skating rinks in the world. The Astana and Karagandy plains, and especially the Altai Mountains in the northeast of the country, are renowned for cross-country skiing.
The sporting preferences of those with money to spare often depend on the interests of President Nazarbayev and his close circle. His favorites—golf, tennis, and skiing—are now the most popular with the Kazakh elite. One sport that has always been popular is the Russian version of billiards, which uses fifteen numbered white balls and one red. The balls are big, which makes it difficult to get them into the smaller pockets of the Russian billiard table, and, all in all, it is quite a demanding game.
The Tien Shan and Altai mountains also offer great opportunities for hiking. Areas around Almaty, certain spots between Shymkent and Taraz, and Rakhmanovskie Kluchi in the northeast of the country are best for that purpose. In warmer seasons the Ili River, north of Almaty, offers easy rafting and canoeing. All of these are especially popular with local Russians who love an active type of leisure, and pretty well everyone—Russians, Kazakhs, and others—loves fishing and simply picnicking.
Gyms are very popular, and vary in price from 50 to 500 US dollars a month, depending on the facilities they offer. Finally, yoga has made its way into local minds, especially women’s. In most cities there is a wide choice of yoga classes available.
Southern Kazakhstan once prospered from the historic Silk Road, a trading corridor between China and Europe, and the modern markets and bazaars in the south are reminiscent of that earlier trading spirit. The Green Market in Almaty is probably the closest reminder of the fabled route, and its main hall is an impressive sight. There are rows of stands laden with dried and fresh fruit and vegetables, herbs, massive chunks of meat, fish, flowers, honey, and ready-made “Korean” salads, which are much appreciated locally. Seeing large quantities of caviar on a market stall might take you by surprise—a pleasant one, if you look at the prices and remember those at home. A lower hall has more stalls of fruits and vegetables, nuts, cheese, sausages, and dairy products. Outside you can find clothes and pretty much everything else, including small workshops for the repair of shoes and clothing.
If you want a bargain, go to Almaty Barakholka, on the outskirts of the city, which is known for its sensationally low prices on everything from food to furs. Bargaining is appropriate, and if you are lucky enough to be accompanied by a local friend make the most of it: try not to expose your foreign origin to the seller, or you may push up the price!
Elsewhere in Almaty, and in fact in the whole of Kazakhstan, shopping is rather expensive in comparison to the rest of Central Asia, especially neighboring China. For luxury international brands such as Gucci, Dolce and Gabbana, Burberry, Fendi, Louis Vuitton, and many more, go to the newly opened Essentai Mall in Almaty. It also houses the American department store Saks Fifth Avenue. For a less pretentious shopping experience try the “trade and entertainment centers” in most of the major cities. Astana’s shopping centers are very popular with the locals, especially in winter, for they offer much more than just a shopping experience. The recently opened Khan Shatyr (The Khan’s Tent) is more like a city than a shopping center, complete with its own beach resort. Yet Kazakhstan can hardly be called a shopper’s paradise, with its slightly overpriced market and limited range of choice.
Souvenir shops can be found in all major hotels, shopping centers, and the large museums in Astana and Almaty. In Almaty the artisans’ guild organizes a market of Central Asian handicrafts on the last weekend of each month in front of the Zhetisu Hotel (55 Ablay Khan Street). During the warm season Sheber Aul, a handicraft community in Kokshoky, on the road to the Big Almaty Lake, is worth a visit. This community, in the picturesque setting of the Tien Shan, aims to support and promote traditional Kazakh handicrafts as a potentially profitable business. In Almaty, Zangar department store (formerly known as TSUM) also offers a good range of souvenirs, including felt rugs on the third floor. Nearby, on Zhibek Zholy Street, you can wander through a street market of oil paintings. Most are copies, and the prices will tell you that you aren’t buying an authentic work of art, but you might find something you like for a souvenir.
The most interesting tourist attraction in Kazakhstan is the late-fourteenth-century mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yassawi in Turkestan, the present-day town in southern Kazakhstan that was built on the site of the ancient town of Yassi. Constructed on the orders of Tamerlane in honor of the twelfth-century Sufi mystic and Turkic poet Hodja Ahmet Jassawi, its vault, dome, and glazed tile ornamentation mark the beginning of the new Timurid style of architecture (see this page). A two-hour drive away is the historic excavation site of the ancient town of Otyrar and a number of tomb–mausoleums (see right). All these attractions are around 600 miles (almost 1,000 km) from Almaty, so plan accordingly.
The once nomadic Kazakhs give special significance to the horse, and the various competitions on horseback are greatly loved. Check the local hippodrome for contests open to the public on certain weekends and public holidays. The Almaty venue is the Central Hippodrome on Akhan Sery Street.
There are a few people who still practice the traditional Kazakh art of training hunting eagles (berkut). You can meet some of them at the Nura Eagle Hunting Museum near Almaty on the way to the border with China, a popular road taking you to the Charyn Canyon. Contests in hunting with birds take place every year near here, and also in the Turgen Valley, near Almaty. Check with one of the local travel agencies. The famous canyon is an attraction in itself, presenting magnificent views of the rough gorges cleft by the Charyn River. Locals like to compare it with the Grand Canyon. The trip may cost you up to 200 US dollars, and takes a day.
Keep an eye open for concerts by the orchestras that play Kazakh music on Kazakh instruments: the Otrar Sazy Folk Orchestra, the Kurmangazy Orchestra, the Sazgen, and the Sybyzgy Sazy. They regularly perform in both Almaty and Astana, and frequently tour within the country.
Although the traditional Kazakh semi-nomadic way of life no longer exists, in summer you can find Kazakh yurts in many steppe valleys across the country and on mountain pastures. If, while on a journey, you see a yurt and would like to meet and visit its owners, you will be hospitably greeted. You are sure to be offered some tea or a bowl of kumys—the traditional Kazakh drink made of fermented horse milk—with some bread and sweets. A full stay at a Kazakh yurt can be arranged through a local travel agent.
You can barely claim to have visited Kazakhstan unless you have been out in the steppe. The steppe is the essence of everything Kazakh. If you flew into the country you will have seen it from the air and realized the vastness of it, but its full impact can be experienced only on the ground, with nothing but the sky and a sea of grass around you. A twenty-hour Almaty-to-Astana journey by train (not the high-speed one called Talgo) may suffice to give you the feeling of it. If you are an experienced traveler you may want to take a car trip through the steppes of central Kazakhstan, featuring, surprisingly, not just the grassland, but beautiful lakes, hills, and woods.
