Kazakhstan (A) - general (Fri 07/09/12)

[pineapple stu]

Post away on this trip.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Spoken to a very good travel contact who says this won't be a cheap trip. Ireland's most ever expensive game costing at least €1000 for travel, hotel, food & drink. The latter not being necessarily alcoholic.


On a mainly unrelated point, was also very downbeat about The Faroes being financially viable.

[pineapple stu]

Don't think it'd take a travel expert to work out that going to the centre of Asia - to one of the biggest and least dense countries in the world at that - would be expensive.

[paul_oshea]

Definitely going on this. Flybmi fly from london i believe.

[pineapple stu]

BMI go to Almaty. The game will be in Astana. Austrian Airlines fly via Vienna.

[Junior]

BMI go to Almaty. The game will be in Astana. Austrian Airlines fly via Vienna.

I hardly ever flew with Austria before this current campaign and I've now flown with them for the last 2 away trips to Armenia and Macedonia - They have been good too and reasonable fares.

Just had a quick look at flying LHR-VIE-TSE (Astana) - Staying a Saturday night (which I think is important for keeping the cost down) I just picked June2012 and you can get an economy return for £625.

I couldnt get any REDticket fares which are their cheapest ones but Austria Airlines do regularly email offers and ArdeeBhoy posted a 20% discount voucher code when we booked Armenia so I think its one to keep your eyes out for special offers and spread the word people (even if by PM!)

[Junior]

England played there in 2009, some info on Visa application here. http://www.fsf.org.uk/freelions/news/kazakhstan-visa-advice-free-lions.php Also states the games was confimred as Almaty. Though not sure if more recent games have been held in Astana.

Watch the offensive chanting lads and lassies......
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1190723/Chanting-England-football-fan-shot-Kyrgyzstan-ahead-World-Cup-qualifier.html


Looks as though Charters were doing a DAY TRIP for the England game for around the £850-£950 mark
http://www.thomsonsport.com/tour.php?id=732

Even for the hard core this one is going to require digging very deep in to the pockets. I have to say I fancy it but it will come down to the $$$ in the end.

[pineapple stu]

Also states the games was confimred as Almaty. Though not sure if more recent games have been held in Astana.
I was going off the ever-reliable wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazakhstan_national_football_team#Recently_played) , which has all 2010 games played in Astana.

Almaty is the old capital; Astana was pretty much in the middle of nowhere until the head man decided to spend millions transforming it into the capital because Almaty was too near the Chinese border. Maybe that's why the games have only recently changed? The new ground in Astana opened in 2009 - photos here (http://www.fussballtempel.net/uefa/KAZ/Astana_Arena.html). Fairly run-of-the-mill modern ground.

[paul_oshea]

Id say ill head if i can convince someone else to come with me.

But i think its a place where i would have to consider doing a little trip or something. Even for me #650 is a lot to justify, not for you though junior :)

[ArdeeBhoy]

Don't think it'd take a travel expert to work out that going to the centre of Asia - to one of the biggest and least dense countries in the world at that - would be expensive.

The point is it costs more to fly there than Japan or Australia/NZ/S.America.
Go figure....

[pineapple stu]

Economies of scale obviously.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Obviously.
:rolleyes:

[pineapple stu]

Lots of people go to Japan/NZ/Australia. Not many people go to Kazakhstan. Fewer passengers means you have to pay more to cover the costs. Basic economics like. The same reason flights to the Faroes are so expensive.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Well, yes.

That was my original point.
Like I said then, go figure....

[pineapple stu]

I did go figure. Economies of scale is the reason. I even explained it for you.

Back to Kazakhstan so. Astana looks like something out of the Jetsons!

http://www.astana-oslo.com/astana.jpg
http://vigilantcitizen.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/82673az_foster_astana.jpg
http://www.pictureninja.com/pages/kazakhstan/astana-ministry-of-communication.jpg

[Spudulika]

There is a very cheap and decent land service from the old to new capitals. The country is well worth taking a holiday in, great skiing, amazing scenery and the food can be great in places. I wouldn't talk bad about the president, or his daughter though. Might not be too healthy!

[pineapple stu]

There is a very cheap and decent land service from the old to new capitals
And very time consuming! About 20 hours by train (if this search link (http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query2.exe/dn?ld=96242&seqnr=1&ident=fv.010814242.1312558685&rt=1&rememberSortType=minDeparture&HWAI=JS!ajax=yes!&HWAI=CONNECTION$C0-0!id=C0-0!HwaiConId=C0-0!HwaiDetailStatus=details!;~CONNECTION$C0-0!HwaiMapStatus=UNDEFINED!HwaiMapNumber=UNDEFINED! HwaiMapSlider=UNDEFINED!HwaiDetailHimMessage=UNDEF INED!;) works)

[Spudulika]

PS, think of the drinking time, and if John Delaney is on board......... :-) I'd recommend it if you plan a week long stay, Kazakhstan is really worth it!

[pineapple stu]

Ah I know; I had plans for a trip to Kazakhstan this summer, but they fell through. The train was part of it. Would really like to make this trip.

[Spudulika]

You'd love it, as a country it is stunning, mountains, desert, great cities, history and just a very alien culture. It's cheap to stay over in regional towns and reasonably clean and comfortable too.

[Junior]

Id say ill head if i can convince someone else to come with me.

But i think its a place where i would have to consider doing a little trip or something. Even for me #650 is a lot to justify, not for you though junior :)

Hey, one things for sure a long break will be out of the question for me and £650 for a flight is pushing the limits (the mrs would say its way off limits) but personally I'd possibly forfeit trips to Austria and Germany to try out Kazakhstan, which would broadly (I use the term loosely) even itself out in cost.....

The problem is, when the Germany and Austria games come around, Ill be itching to get there as well...........................

Any chance of the sub Paul?

[ArdeeBhoy]

I did go figure. Economies of scale is the reason. I even explained it for you.
Well thank you for such insightful input. Though it was neither needed or wanted.
:rolleyes:

[ArdeeBhoy]

One for the train travelling constituency.
http://www.seat61.com/SilkRoute.htm

Unsure how viable it is, apart from Moscow? Or northern China, FFS.....

[pineapple stu]

It's not viable at all unless you have a lot of time. It's a 2-day train journey from Moscow to Astana, and longer from China. If you want to maximise your time in Kazakhstan, then while the train would allow you see the scenery (as Spud noted), you're better off flying into Astana.

Plus the train from Moscow presumably means you've to get a Russian visa on top of the Kazakh one.

[Spudulika]

Good point PS about the visas - you only need your Russian visa and can pick up a Kazakh one in a day in Moscow - it's very, very easy.

Also flying to Moscow might work out cheaper - if you use, say, BMI. There are lots of direct flights down from Moscow.

I've taken the train only once from Russia down, it was an experience I'd repeat but I'm used to doing 36 hour round trips by train of a weekend, so no biggie. It's a good way to chill, catch up on reading, meet some new people and basically enjoy yourself. There is the Russian Railways site - www.rzd.ru - on the upper left you'll see what in any lingo is the origin-destination-date spot, after that just have a dictionary handy :-)

Very cheap by train, also airfares out of Moscow (earlier this year) were 120e return.

[paul_oshea]

Is it relatively safe?

[pineapple stu]

Kazakhstan? It is, yeah. Probably the most stable of the Stans. For an insight, try reading In Search of Kazakhstan, by Christopher Robbins; really enjoyable book. You could argue the author spends a bit too much time getting a biased view from chatting to the President, but I think it'd be nit-picking to mark it down too much because of that.

[paul_oshea]

Ya I meant, that and also the actual train(s) as a form of transport, not the actual trains themselves!

Certainly fora 20 hour journey both ways for a saving of 500 it would be worth it. How much would the train itself be?

[pineapple stu]

It's a 50-hour journey each way per bahn.de.

seat61 is also excellent for train info; it gives £200 for Moscow to Astana (http://www.seat61.com/SilkRoute.htm#Moscow - Almaty)

Edit - that's just for the train of course. A flight via Moscow could well be a good call.

[Junior]

Not looked in to this but based on the above posts, if you could nick a return flight to Moscow for say £200 - £300, then a return to Kazakh for say £150 (based on spuds €120 comment) - That would be a fair saving on the £650 price from UK (which has connections anyway in Vienna).

Issues/hassles obviously with Transit Visas etc.. but would be worth looking in to properly.

I did the Trans-Siberian, 7 days on a train which was fabulous and would definitely do a long journey again in a heartbeat....problem as Stu says, not a cats chance in hell Ill get 7-10 days for an away game!!!!:D

[Spudulika]

POS, very safe on trains. I can verify this from an average of 2x36-40 hour round trippers each month, and never a bother. My other half headed off this evening on an 11hour trip down to visit her Dad and she's never had a bother. The Kazakh trains are surpringly better than ones to the Ukraine, one poster on here can rubber stamp this, but the Kazakh ones are grand.

Junior, it might be as cheap to fly in via Vienna, though for sheer adventure it's the only way. Also it's a brilliant way to catch up on reading, and do something totally different. I would love to do the Trans-Siberian, though I never have had the time though it's something I want to do in the next couple of years.

[paul_oshea]

Junior sure cant you bring your wife? you will need her to communicate with the locals in moscow anyway....

the trans-siberian i would love to do also, but i wouldn't really want to do it on my own. I don't read, as anyone here can tell ;) And i'd enjoy the company of another english speaking person :)

[pineapple stu]

Also it's a brilliant way to catch up on reading
Not a phrase commonly associated with Ireland away games...

[Spudulika]

Not a phrase commonly associated with Ireland away games...


Reading can be easily substituted by - drinking/chatting up members of the opposite sex/chatting up members of the same sex (if you're from Cork)/chatting up livestock (if you're from Connacht) etc.

In June I was on an overnight trip with a work colleague who was taking his first long journey on a train (on his 2nd time in Russia). He booked into 1st class, so he had a 2 bed cabin all to himself. I was in platzkart (open plan 60 bed) and he was laughing out loud when I told him. He strolled down with me for a visit, and saw a bevvy (real Benny Hill word isn't it?) of ladies in short shorts and small tops had him looking to swap. And the sad thing is, I didn't notice - I guess I should put down my book every so often!

[Junior]

Junior sure cant you bring your wife? you will need her to communicate with the locals in moscow anyway....

the trans-siberian i would love to do also, but i wouldn't really want to do it on my own. I don't read, as anyone here can tell ;) And i'd enjoy the company of another english speaking person :)

Haha - you've a good memory Paul - I can see I'm gonna have to be careful what I tell you!!!!

The one thing for sure on the Trans Sib, there will be no shortage of English Speakers down in the buffet carriage. Its quite popular now on the back packing trail and you get all nationalities in there, we even met 3 Dubs, one with a fiddle with him - Great Craic.

Anyway, sorry to pull this off topic. 30 odd posts on a fixture yet to be arranged in probably about 2 years time !!!!

[pineapple stu]

Anyway, sorry to pull this off topic. 30 odd posts on a fixture yet to be arranged in probably about 2 years time !!!!
Pfft - well on topic. This is how the Faroes thread started, and that turned out to be about the best trip ever!

[paul_oshea]

http://breakingnews.ie/ireland/dublin-protest-to-be-held-in-solidarity-with-striking-kazakh-oil-workers-516273.html

Doesn't sound like the place ye were describing above...murdering a trade union leader, jailing their lawyer etc etc. Wasn't it Kazahk where Prince Andrew made a serious Gaffe basically saying how corrupt they all were.I gather this happens in a lot of the stans, especially those rich in natural resources.

[pineapple stu]

England doesn't sound like how you'd normally describe it either. Yes, oil firms are corrupt. You won't be near them anyway, so I wouldn't worry about it. Sh1t happens everywhere. If we got worried about everywhere once it hit the news, we'd never leave our beds (until we read the report on bed bugs)

[paul_oshea]

Yes it does, if you saw my facebook updates over the last couple of days you would agree - dont let the media campaign to drive the London is a great city, best city in the world consume you stu. If you go conquering the world, you have to expect sh1t to end up on your door step. The indigenous and non-indigenous, disenchanted youth have been simmering along nicely. We just saw one example of the bile that can be created from this. London particularly is a broken society with divisions been driven further and further apart. They got multiculturalism and integration all wrong over here. I Would take America as a far better example of how to do something right, than wrong. We as a nation generally copy britain, i just hope that we don't in this instance and get it right early. But so far so good on that respect. I always feared the lower end of North Circ was going to end up in a little ghetto in Dublin.

Btw your point above, I had a feeling your retort would be something along those lines. I don't believe what i read all the time, but from what was posted above it was a very peaceful, serene almost naive and innocent country you guys were describing. If i go im sure Ill enjoy myself, unless I'm working for an oil company by that point....:D

[pineapple stu]

All very lyrical, but if we had drawn England, I wouldn't be worried about going to Wembley in two years' time.

[Spudulika]

POS, Kazakhstan is like any other country - the elites will let blood, the ghetto dwellers likewise. Ireland: Dublin - upper class toffs stomp a rival schoolboy to death, Limerick - rival crime families kill those who cross their paths. Russia: Moscow - challenge the powers that be, get locked up in prison (possibly die), Sverdlovsk region - don't pay debts to local gangster, your village is attacked and a person killed.

Kazakhstan is as safe a place to visit as Ireland, or anywhere else. Safer than many/most Med resort countries.

I posted on another thread a profile of the country - it's as corrupt and bent and wodnerful as any other country. The ruling elite rule, the ruled are ruled. Simple as that. However I'd not have many worries as a tourist in Kazakhstan. In Russia (outside of Moscow 100%) I'd feel very safe. The worst spots (as has been proved with recent crime stats) in Moscow for crime are, apart from outlying ghetto suburbs, Novy Arbat and areas near "gentleman clubs".

[Closed Account 2]

There is apparently a quicker train between Alma Alta/Almaty and Astana, it's high speed and only takes 9 hours!

No launches from Baikanour at that time incase anyone was thinking of going:
http://spaceflightnow.com/tracking/

[Closed Account 2]

Kazakhs are coming off some indifferent form... On the 1st June they beat Kyrgyzstan 5-2 at home, but then on the 5th they lost 3-0 out in Yerevan against Armenia. They also drew 0-0 with Latvia in a friendly played in Turkey in Feb. Last 3 competitive results are L 4-1 in Belgium, D 0-0 home to Austria, lost 3-2 in Baku to the Azeris (all Sept / Oct 2011)

[paul_oshea]

Thank you for your recent enquiry for tickets for the Kazakhstan v Republic of Ireland away match on 7th September 2012.

Kick-off Time: 22:00 hrs (Local Time) 17:00 hrs (Irish Time)

Venue: Astana Arena, Astana

Ticket Price: €12.00 each including booking fee.



5:00 kick off for those stuck at home...

[Junior]

Are you heading over Paul?

[paul_oshea]

I am yes. Meself and conor - the guy from leitrim. You should come along forthe craic. Bring a spare passport, you be sound.

I hope those dundalk lads who left me to foot the drinks and food bill over in poland are over there....

[Junior]

Fairfux to ya. Of all the games in this group this is the one I wanted to go to most - I would have put money on it being the first away trip!! Sods law - Its just too close to Poland unfortunately. Im gonna aim for Stockholm instead.

You can direct yer passport gags at your travelling partner I've heard he's fond of mislaying the odd travel document and by all means if you want me to look after your basic travel logistics then let me know before you go heading off to irrelevant airports........

It's only a matter of time Paul before another little mishap comes your way, you're slowing digging a big mother fcuker of a hole there:eek:

Anyway, suppose we shouldnt clutter the thread with $hite talk.

[brendy_éire]

Thank you for your recent enquiry for tickets for the Kazakhstan v Republic of Ireland away match on 7th September 2012.

Kick-off Time: 22:00 hrs (Local Time) 17:00 hrs (Irish Time)

Venue: Astana Arena, Astana

Ticket Price: €12.00 each including booking fee.



5:00 kick off for those stuck at home...

You get that email from the FAI, Paul? Nothing meself yet.

[paul_oshea]

ya i emailed them a few times brendy

[Claret Murph]

Lads
You will get a mail from the tickct office today , it seems that the tickets will be free of charge but need to pick them up in Astana , well happy with that idea I must say . :lashes: