Astana Travel Tips

Little Man update: We visited LM at our usual time this morning. He looked very happy to see us. One of his caretakers told us that he was “waiting” for us. Apparently, the last couple of days he’s gotten up from his morning nap an hour early. He had just finished eating when we got there so they cleaned him up and put him in one of the spiffy new outfits we bought him. He had a little fever again today so we stayed inside and the Dr. requested that we only visit for 40 minutes – 1 hour. His big accomplishment of the day was that he figured out that if he puts his hands on the floor, he can sit up all by himself.

It being Friday, and us being the wild and crazy people that we are,we had an exciting evening cooking Macaroni Mania and eating delicious bread from the Turkish baker at the Ramstore.


Since we know a few of you reading will be traveling here soon we thought we’d put a few travel tips from our experience so far.

ASTANA TRAVEL TIPS:
Keep your airline boarding passes for each leg of the trip or your airline receipts. Our coordinator asked for them to show that we traveled from the US to Kaz.

There are many ATMs (Bankomats) in Astana if you want to bring a little less cash.

There are many places to change money. The first day, if you go shopping at the Ramstore, it’s a good idea to change $100-200 there, but after that change it someplace else. You will get 2.5-3.5 Tg more per dollar anywhere else in the city. Current exchange rate 115 @ Ramstore, 117.5-118.5 everywhere else.

You can buy a Nursat i-Card at the Ramstore and any of the many internet cafes. The price is the same regardless of where you buy the card. The i-Card can be used for both phone and internet. Internet is substantially cheaper between 2 AM and 8 AM.

If you have a computer (or anything else) with a 3 prong plug, be sure to bring an adapter for a 3 prong plug.
Using a 3-prong to 2-prong adapter from home will not work and will keep blowing the circuit in your apartment. Also, we brought 2 different surge protectors with us, both of them rated for worldwide use, but one worked fine and the other kept blowing the circuit.

The Ramstore (12 Samal on Republic at the end of the riverwalk) or Astana Market (near the new city hall) have lots of foods that will appeal to Westerners. It’s a bit pricey, but to save the weight and hassle of bringing a lot of unnecessary items from home, we’d suggest just buying things here. For example: shampoo (lots of US brands), soap, general toiletries, toilet paper, bug spray, batteries. It’s probably a good idea to bring a small supply of pain reliever, anti-itch medicine, Imodium, Tums (Zantac, etc), but don’t go crazy. There is a pharmacy (Aπteka) in the Ramstore and about every other block in the city. You will find comparable and in many cases the same medicines we have at home. (You’ll be able to tell some of the name brands by the packaging.)

Things that you should bring if you’ll miss them: grated cheese for pasta, peanut butter, granola/cereal bars, artificial sweetener. They have coffee here, but we’ve found the coffee pots to be very expensive compared to home. Our apartment only has a hot pot so we’ve been drinking lots of Nescafe instant (which has improved a lot over the years).

If you need your American food “fix”, try Neighborhood Café on the 2nd floor of the Ramstore building. The prices are reasonable and the pizza (and cheeseburgers, from what we’ve heard) are good. There are also many restaurants around Republic and the Riverwalk that have English language menus as does Shymkent in City Market. Next to the Ramstore is North Winds café. It has an English menu, but is a little pricey. A small Russian-English dictionary will help if there is no English menu.

Duct tape is a must. We put a large roll in our checked luggage and put a smaller roll in our carry-on. We found that both our old and brand-new piece of luggage required a few repairs when we arrived. A small flashlight and small toolkit (like a Leatherman) are good ideas, just in case. The large, flat drain stopper is a good idea if you’ll want to fill a sink or tub with water. Ziploc bags are useful and not available here. We’ve used the 2 gallon size for everything from packing to storing the fresh bread from the Ramstore. Waterless hand cleaner is also a good idea, especially when leaving the baby house (lots of kids = lots of potential germs).

You will be asked to buy clothes for your child after you have committed to adopting the child. There are no bargains in Astana that we have found so far. Our agency took us to City Market (a “boutique” baby store). It’s pricey, but well organized and has a lot of selection. There are some other stores on and around the main street, but the prices were just as high and the selection not as good.

If you think you will need a stroller for your child, it’s probably worth it to bring an inexpensive one from home. We’ve seen some very nice strollers here, but you will pay a premium for them.

Bring a blanket or “Neat Sheet” from home if you want to play on the ground (inside or out) with your child. Also, if you are reasonably sure of the age of the child you are adopting, bring a couple of small toys. They are no bargain here either.

Gifts are given when you leave the baby house with the child. If you are making 2 trips you won’t need the majority of your gifts until the 2nd trip. We hauled a lot of heavy perfume and a large Wilmington book with us that could have waited until the 2nd trip. In the Astana baby house the children (at least the babies) have 3 doctors, 6 care givers (nurses) and a director. On the first trip you will only need 3 gifts. It was suggested that we bring perfume or fancy bath items. You will also need to provide a gift for the baby house on the 2nd trip. It was suggested that we ask our child’s caretakers what they need for the kids.

While they have had a couple weeks of unseasonably warm weather, the temperatures during the day are high 60’s to mid-80’s and in the 50’s or 60’s at night. It’s a good idea to bring a jacket because it’s been breezy, especially at night, a lot of the time we’ve been here. A small travel umbrella is also a good idea, just in case.

Get a map of the city at the Okan Inter-Continental Hotel (113 Abai Ave.). They didn’t have any maps in English when we went, but that’s OK since I think it would have been harder to translate the English map to the Russian street signs anyway. Next to the concierge desk is a Xeroxed copy of the Almaty Herald to which they’ve added helpful information about the city (where to shop, entertainment, etc.).

Be sure to bring comfortable shoes for walking. You’ll be walking everywhere.

And, finally, bring a calendar. You’ll be amazed at how the days run together (as another family said, think Ground Hog Day) and you lose track of time.