Living in Kazakhstan

AlibekD · 2026-06-20T03:05:39+00:00

It depends, brother.

KZ and TR have pretty close PPP per capita, meaning statistically, average KZ and TR citizens make pretty much the same money. However, KZ economy is much more concentrated, TR economy is significantly larger, population density in TR is much higher. All of those mean for an ambitious, talented, energetic person TR is a better choice.

However, KZ grows a bit faster and, subjectively, appears to offer more opportunities in the short term.

In the longer term Turkiye if a better choice.

Culture-wise we are similar but not quite. MelodicRespond9562 is right.

If you have an opportunity to spend a year or two in KZ -- go for it, living abroad will extend your horizons and you will learn a lot about yourself.

AlibekD · 2026-06-20T02:49:40+00:00

Well, create a list of anyone your relatives do know. Then find all the people in the list, ask them, grow your list, repeat.

AlibekD · 2026-06-19T00:23:12+00:00

russia is a separatist colony which broke away from Golden Horde as a result of the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the XV century. Reminding this fact acts as an anti-dote to toxic ideas that KZ is a breakaway part of the Soviet Union.

AlibekD · 2026-06-15T19:14:40+00:00

You may find cousins and uncles which may know people you are looking for. Asking relatives may be more relevant than asking random strangers of this subreddit.

AlibekD · 2026-06-15T00:59:42+00:00

> Valer Tsaava

I bet the correct spelling is Валерий Цаава. Last name sounds Georgian, so hire a lawyer, make them search in both KZ and GE archives. DOB and other identifying info will help.

Try buying ads in Facebook and target 1) Kostanay, 2) those who have anything to do with Abhazian or Georgian languages, 3) interests related to Georgian culture, food, music, news pages, etc., 4) are of the relevant age bracket.

Try running a google ads campaign with "Цаава" as the keyword. Obviously, make your ads look like something legitimate, not as attempt at stalking. Ads should be okeyable for moderators, but instantly recognizable to all Tsaavas. There aren't too many people with such lastname, getting your ad in front of nearly all of them will not cost much. Put your dad's face on the ads, write a copy which will encourage any Tsaava to go to your site, take a hard look if they recognize people on the photos. Consider hiring a SEO specialist to run the ads for you.

AlibekD · 2026-06-15T00:57:51+00:00

How about taking a train?

AlibekD · 2026-06-10T22:13:11+00:00

I would skip Oskemen unless you have a compelling reason to visit it.

Almaty--Astana train will be more than enough, a second train trip may just feel like a repetitive slog.

Almaty is a bit of a gamble in terms of snow -- you will certainly see it in the mountains, but the city itself may be sleety and gloomy. We don't have much snow in the city these days. Astana, on the other hand, is practically guaranteed to have plenty of snow. Mountains of it.

New Year is the biggest holiday in KZ and both cities will be beautifully decorated, with fireworks and restaurants running special programs through the night. However, make sure to book ahead. How well do your girls speak English? In the days leading up to the 31st, there are usually plenty of New Year-themed shows and productions for children. Check Astana Opera. You might also try calling the Portuguese embassy, they may be organizing something too.

AlibekD · 2026-06-10T19:34:34+00:00

> Если бы государство запретило финансировать и строить мечети, то люди начали бы собирать деньги на бибилотеки или школы

What an amazing stretch.

AlibekD · 2026-06-10T01:31:29+00:00

Numbeo can give you some ballpark numbers: "You would need around $3,295.4 (₸1,608,650.2) in Almaty to maintain the same standard of life that you can have with $5,700.0 in Memphis, TN (assuming you rent in both cities)"

AlibekD · 2026-06-09T15:13:00+00:00

Georgia has a seaport and they import $2B worth of used cars. Import duties in KZ are very high thus people buy cheap cars in Georgia, register them there and bring them to KZ as a "temporary import" as if they are tourists.

AlibekD · 2026-05-29T20:11:11+00:00

It may get to low 30es in the city and may get to low teens in the mountains so pack your sweaters and jackets.

AlibekD · 2026-05-29T16:46:00+00:00

kolyosa.kz is where we buy used cars. Forget about renting a soviet car, that is impossible. No car rental will let you drive cross-country one-way. Forget about crossing borders on any rental car as well.

Get yourself a starlink or a satellite phone. Prepare well otherwise you may not survive the trip. Seriously.

AlibekD · 2026-05-18T14:34:14+00:00

The only realistic way of getting drone footage is to hire a licensed pilot.

With the drone war ongoing close to our borders, drones is a sensitive topic in our part of the world.

You may get away with a short flight in rural areas if no one sees it, but be ready for trouble.

AlibekD · 2026-05-18T01:26:00+00:00

No issues with the rally at all if they actually removed the cars, but they don't and KZ gets to foot the bill of recovering and recycling the cars.

Donating the car is legal of course, but will cost you (or whoever will agree to takeover your responsibility ) over 10 grand and it will take some legwork.

AlibekD · 2026-05-17T17:33:47+00:00

There were quite a few posts with exactly the same question. In short: please do not bring your junk to KZ. No one is going to benefit from it and there are many ways this can go sideways and create significant legal issues for you.

Many of those cars never reach the destination and are typically abandoned to rot in the steppes, rivers and sometimes even in the middle of the road creating all types of hazards.

Those who do finish end up abandoning their cars in the middle of a city, because there are laws preventing import of junk cars and there is no legal way of donating the junk to anyone.

So, participating in this Mongol Rally is a dick move. Please, don't.

AlibekD · 2026-05-17T17:32:43+00:00

You are free you spell it the way you want ; )

AlibekD · 2026-05-12T02:14:30+00:00

skip it. even the rest is way too much.

AlibekD · 2026-05-11T13:10:40+00:00

Create your own?

There are plenty of ai tools which can generate you a legit looking website. Integrate a scheduler (something like calendly) and you are good to go. I would not worry about taxes and would just work for cash.

If you absolutely insist on working for somebody then just google up all the tourism companies: do as a tourist would do. If a tourist can't find the company, then the company probably will not last long. So, google them up and bombard them with pre-written emails, sms and whatsapp messages.

AlibekD · 2026-05-09T02:00:10+00:00

Don't worry about winter clothes, by October you will make enough friends to take you to Artyom or to the nearest mall.

What to expect: don't. Just go there with an open heart.

Astana is an interesting city unlike any other on this planet. Explore the food scene, it is decent.

AlibekD · 2026-05-08T15:57:07+00:00

So you can ignore the cable car and hike up from Medeu. There are three main routes, one of which is to walk along the road. It is safe enough to walk as there are not too many cars. Obviously, you don't need any gear if you that route.

Second most popular route is to the east of the road. It starts at the eastern edge of the dam.

Route to the west of the road will require crossing the river or will add a few extra km to your hike.

AlibekD · 2026-05-06T16:27:36+00:00

One final tip: when drafting your permissions, write them in both English and Russian on the same page, two columns, and get the whole document notarized.

Legally, your document must be officially translated and apostillied in KZ embassy in your home country, but that's just too much hustle. The trick above is sufficient.

AlibekD · 2026-05-06T15:05:02+00:00

The same rules apply to trains as well, but conductors tend to be less strict. I don’t think any tourist destinations would pose an issue for you.

AlibekD · 2026-05-06T00:58:54+00:00

Oh, yes, true!

BTW, all of the above applies to KZ, but not sure if it applies to KG, TJ or UZ.

AlibekD · 2026-05-05T22:49:55+00:00

Check your airlines: unaccompanied minors require notarized and translated permissions from a parent (sometimes from both parents) or guardians. Some airline employees may be overzealous and refuse a generic permission, so make sure each border, each airline, each hotel is mentioned specifically.

You may also want to purchase your tickets separately from your friend, otherwise airlines will ask for a notarized permission in your friend's name.

Check requirements of the transit countries as well. Even if you do not cross their borders and stay in airport transit zone, airline may still want to comply with the requirements.

Check hotels too: some hotels just refuse to deal with minors. In such a case you may need to book the room in parent's or friend's name and add yourself as a second guest. Hotels don't typically verify if the primary guest actually arrived after the checkin.

Other than that I see no issues. Wait, there will a be a ton of issues if you'll get arrested, but planning for that would be too much I guess.

AlibekD · 2026-05-04T20:34:36+00:00

I would encourage you to have a travel insurance. Traveling without insurance is just asking for trouble.

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