TRAVEL TIPS FOR KAZAKHSTAN (Created March 30, 2009 by adoptive parents during their trip):
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Dear Readers:
The following tips were sent to me by parents
traveling in Kazakhstan. Though there are some things particular to the
Petrovalavsk region, most are general enough for all travelers. Some are
a bit comical but all are helpful.
1. Before you leave, call your credit card company(ies) and let them know you'll soon be traveling to central Asia (the exact dates if you can) so that they won't suddenly see an aberrant pattern in your credit card use and freeze your credit cards. We did this, and the credit card staff seemed very glad we notified them (they acted as if they absolutely would have frozen our accounts if they had suddenly seen charges popping up in central Asia).
2. Learn how to make your camera put the date on the actual photo as you'll need that for court - if you can't figure it out, they can do it here for a little more money, but it's less hassle just to figure out your own camera in this regard. Bring the user manual for your camera just in case, unless you know all this stuff already.
3. Waterproof your boots with some hiking/camping/silicone/etc type spray if you're coming in the fall or spring, as the melting ice gets really messy and muddy, hard to avoid the puddles.
4. In cold weather times, women can bring a very nice winter coat, as every woman here dresses to the hilt in the winter, virtually every woman has a fur trimmed coat, fancy hat, high heeled knee high leather boots (Though high heels would be fashionable, it'd be uncomfortable as lots of walking is done here). Ideally the walking shoes for visiting women coming here would be waterproof yet comfortable/fashionable. Don't panic on the fashionable part, though, because we both wore hiking boots most of the time and didn't feel stared at all. Just don't intentionally bring your worn out clothes thinking they'll get messed up anyway.
5. Other warm winter wear: a scarf is great for men and women and very commonly worn here (it's COLD outside!!!) - long underwear isn't a bad idea (my wife wore hers, but I never wore mine, even though I'm more cold natured than she is - hairy legs must've helped).
6. AIRPORT WARNING: For carry-on luggage you're not "checking," the security people will confiscate all your liquid containers that ORIGINALLY held over something like 3 ounces (call your local airport to find out their limit, and of course put all sharp things in your checked luggage) - , even if you've almost emptied the bottle such that only 1 ounce remains, they'll still confiscate it. That includes toothpaste! so you can pack it in the luggage you'll check, but NOT on carry-on luggage. So buy some little travel sized toiletries/shaving cream/etc or transfer some into a tiny bottle that is labeled as holding less than the required number of fluid ounces.
7. PREP FOR AIRPLANE PRESSURE CHANGES - this is probably obvious but bears mentioning - because any air that is in the bottles you're brining (shampoo, hand cream, whatever) will EXPAND at high altitude (even in the somewhat "pressurized" passenger area), you need to do the following: at home when packing everything, open each bottle and squeeze most of the air out of each bottle and recap it while squeezing, thus there won't be much air left in there to expand, and it'll just expand back to normal size rather than explode all over your suitcase. But do pack all such items in a zip lock (also with most of the air squeezed out, just to be safe. Realize that strong containers, like glass perfume/cologne bottles with strong tops (screw on tops or permanent tops) most likely can withstand the air in them trying to expand - you can't get the air out of them anyway, but if in doubt, zip lock it!!).
8. The men dress in dark shades for their coat and their pants, and often have a leather jacket on, but any dark winter jacket is fine. A number of people here dress in plain old blue jeans and tennis shoes (men only for tennis shoes) - many women wear jeans, just very tight and fashionable.
9. Bottled water is everywhere, don't bother bringing water purification systems (we did and it was a total waste of space).
10. If you've left any kids back in the States
old enough to talk with you on the phone (ours are age 6 and 8), consider
the following thought regarding how often you want to call them while you're
away from them: We realize every parent will have to decide this
for themselves, but we had been calling our kids every day, and often the
calls seemed to make the kids miss us more than if we'd not called and
reminded them how much they missed us! An experienced adoptive mom
and close friend emailed us her advice to consider switching over to just
calling our kids every 2 or 3 days, which is what she did when she did
her international adoption - So we took her advice and are glad we did
- it's been a little harder on us, but it's been a good change for our
kids. We think it's making the trip go by quicker for them and with
less tears.
Also, we found that calling them around their
bedtime was a bad arrangement - it upset the bedtime routine and caught
then when they were already worn out and had nothing to do after the call
but think how much they missed us while trying to get to sleep - many tears!.
A much better time to call was right after breakfast, because they
are more up-beat, and if they get a little sad, they quickly forget it
because the events of the day help fill the void.
11. Bring slippers - you have to wear them
in the orphanage (or buy some here)
12. Please schedule an appointment with your
doctor to talk. You'll want your doctor to advise you about vaccines you'll
need, possible help with sleep to overcome the time change and jetlag,
and to give you antibiotics you can carry with you in case of traveler's
diarrhea.
13. Pack some basic recipes for cooking stuff from scratch if you'll have a stove/oven where you're staying.
14. A little portable "USB memory stick" was invaluable for us in transferring photos for transport to the printing shop here, so that we could pick and choose which to print and when, and mix and match things (anyone with a clue about computer can help you get the right one) - hauling your camera to the photo store every day would be a thrash - it's much easier to use a USB memory stick. Of course, that means you need to bring a laptop too, which you'll want anyway for downloading your photos to it (and videos, if your camera will take them).
15. It's REALLY nice to be able to check your email from the comfort of your apartment, but that means you'll need to be able to use "dial up," - there's no wireless in Petropavlovsk that you can use (although the internet cafe, if you're close enough to walk to it, does have high speed internet you can use). IMPORTANT- since many new computers don't come with a "dial-up modem," you may need to buy an external one - they are tiny, they plug into your USB port, and cost under $50. It is an essential piece of equipment here!!! You may need to be sure you know how to set your computer up to actually use the dial up service - ask a computer-savvy friend if needed, we're sure glad we did, as it is a little tricky if you haven't done it in a while.
16. Bring stuff to do in the down time, as
there is lots of down time, especially once your 14 day visitation period
is over and you're sitting around waiting for your court date.
If any one else out there has some good hints
for future families please pass them on. JAN
