Kazakhstan

[GallardoOwner]

Does anybody do do business in Kazakhstan and in particular do you travel there for business ?

May have to go to Atyrau soon so some advise would be great on where to stay, what to do, who to travel with etc etc

[dudleybloke]

You have to go to this eaterie when you're there.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g6...

[ringram]

Is nice, yes.

http://www.internationallovescout.com/gallery/euro...

[Panthro]

Lived there for a year, working on a Kazakh project now. Atyrau is a bit of a dump, but if you're out there for work then it's livable. Plenty of restaurants, bars and sports clubs to go to. It gets very hot in summer (+40) and very cold in winter (-40). Bring lots and lots of mosquito repellent with you in the summer. It's the worst place I've been to for mosquitoes (and that includes south east Asia and Africa). The people aren't very friendly at all until you get to know them. Learn some Russian as that will help. You could try and learn Kazakh but Russian is an easier bet. Don't offend their local cultures or food because they are very patriotic people.

[QROPS]

Lived in Atyrau for 6months before and echo the chap above. It was my first ever job offshore and bloody daunting when I first landed!

[GallardoOwner]

Bringing this one back up !

I am hoping to get some advise on travel from UK to Atyrau.

Can I get some advise please on best routes, airlines to use.

It seems that Air Astana are the main ones, Anybody use these ? Any experiences of business class ?

I believe the planes are Airbus A321, wonder what their business class is like, as there is business class and then there is business class.

I am really not keen on having long stop overs so it seems that independent travel to Amsterdam and then onwards to to Atyrau is best option, would anybody agree ?

The costs are fairly high at almost 5000 EUROS return without the UK to Amsterdam part ( seems best option to get to Amsterdam rather than book a package from Uk to Atyrau ) , any tips, tricks , hints to reduce the costs ( apart from going Economy of course ! )

Many thanks

[Whoozit]

Air Astana is pretty nice in business. Not fully flat seats but comfy. Little in flight entertainment, take your own ipad/book. Other option would be to fly to Astana or Almaty then a quick domestic flight. Lufthansa also fly to both via Frankfurt.

Seconded - respect the culture. Try the local foods. Beshbarmak is a horse meat and noodle soup, which is rather nicer than it sounds. You'll get a fair amount of respect for getting stuck in and not insisting on Western food.

[Rangeroverover]

I worked there in 92, buying and sorting the us embassy, the only thing I remember liking was their chocolate, apart from that a hellhole, might be better now