Can I still travel to Baikanur?

It’s a niche but a popular one; a visit to the town of Baikanur and the nearby Cosmodrome, center of Soviet space inheritage & travel. And still important for Russian space programl with regular launches of manned and unmanned Soyuz rockets. But then Putin started a war against Ukraine in February 2022. Taking Kyiv in […]

Young Russian men in Almaty

This turned out to be the case during my visit to the city in May 2023. As is known, hundreds of thousands of Russian young men left their country in a hurry when Putin announced a partial mobilization in September 20222. And who can blame them? It is better and, above all, safer to be […]

Almaty Marathon now on October 1st, 2023

In the past, the Almaty Marathon always took place in April, this year on October 1st. If you are interested in combining your favorite hobby with a visit to Almaty and Kazakhstan, we can offer you this travel package. Almaty is a cozy and modern city, pleasant to relax and walk, with a view of […]

Nursultan becomes Astana again

It was not difficult to predict after the violence in Kazakhstan in January 2022; the capital Astana, which was renamed in March 2019 after the country’s first president, Nursultan (Nazarbaev), has regained its old name as of today and is Astana again. After all, the violence in January was a direct result of a power […]

Travelling in Kazakhstan without visa once again

Indeed, from early 2022, and hopefully it will remain so, you will be able to travel to Kazakhstan without a visa, as was the case before the pandemic. However, you must still be able to show a covid vaccination certificate (digital or a document) upon arrival, or otherwise a negative (PCR) test certificate. Traveling in […]

Kazakhstan changes visa policy – several times

It’s not completely surprising that Kazakhstan has changed its visa policy in 2021, a few times. The reason of course is the pandemic, which for now refuses to disappear. The country has introduced a temporary visa obligation for citizins of many countries, and in September announced to abolish it. However, as the pandemic flares up […]

Kazakhstan reintroduces visa till November 1st to stop COVID-19

In order to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 in the country, Kazakhstan has decided to reintroduce the visa for entering the country. Visitors will have to show a medical certificate, not older than two days, proving they don’t have the virus. More information on this temporarily change of policy can be found here.

The Altai Mountains and the Austrian Road

One of the most beautiful parts of Kazakhstan is undoubtedly the Altai Mountains in the far away northeast of the country. In addition to high mountains, alpine landscapes, mountain lakes and wild rivers, even spectacular steppe and desert landscapes can be found in this area. However, not many travelers make it to the Kazakh Altai […]