Hi Codeforces!

As it is already nearing time for world finals I'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations on where to visit in either Astana or Almaty as I will be travelling there before the world finals. Also any help on other things related to keep in mind in Kazakhstan would be appreciated :)

Also wishing a safe trip to Astana for all other participants :D. Hopefully the jetlag isn't too bad.

Update (September 6th):

During my search for resources when traveling I found some of these sites useful:

• https://esimdb.com/kazakhstan (for finding e-sim in Kazakhstan)

• https://mobimatter.com/travel-esim/sparks-central-asia-10-gb-esim (the e-sim I am personally using, you can find plans with more/less data depending on what you need)

• https://taxi.yandex.com/en_am/ (for finding cabs)

I'll update on how well the e-sim works when I get there. I am using this particular e-sim because I have an overnight transit in Uzbekistan and I don't really want to buy a separate e-sim for that.

Update (September 7th):

I am currently on my overnight transit at Tashkent, Uzbekistan, the e-sim works great (imo the connection is reasonably good, at least in Uzbekistan). Beware of taxi scams, there was someone offering taxi for 15 USD (although it should cost 1 USD) and someone trying to take me to some place right out of the airport. If you want to run from scammers go to the departure terminal and order your online taxi from there.

Yandex took a while to set up, If possible set this up before arriving as for me it took well over an hour to troubleshoot. The OTP was the thing causing the most troubles. It is more convenient to use card for Yandex but bring cash just in case (my card payment failed and I had to rely on cash).

Be sure to bring small quantities (preferrably exact amount) of USD/EUR if transitting through Uzbekistan, there is a small counter on the left after immigration that has relatively good exchange rates. Otherwise you will have to use an ATM which is fine. If the ATM in the arrival terminal isn't working you can go to the departure terminal where there are 2 ATMs at the international departure area, right next to the vending machines.

I'll update on the e-sim in Kazakhstan when I get there.

Update (September 9th):

The e-sim works great in Kazakhstan, definitely recommend as the price of the e-sim is not too expensive.

Something to note for ATMs in central asia is that some of them only accept debit cards with 4 digit pins. Apparently they can accept contactless cards but all of my contactless cards (from Canada and Indonesia) declined. I only had 6 digit pin cards which made me unable to buy anything for the first night in Astana as currency exchanges already closed and it was a Sunday (if you're desparate like me you can always go to McDonalds/I'm or other major international chains and pay using your 6 digit pin card there). Definitely recommend changing some money at the airport first or immediately exchanging currency when you get to the hotel.

The ICPC team also provided me transportation to the hotel for free (even though I'm not living at an ICPC hotel) which is a nice touch, they mistakenly sent me to my ICPC hotel but eventually they got me to my current hotel. I don't know if it was a mistake or not but it is what it is.

Also I'm no longer going to Almaty because I am a bit ill, probably just going to go around Astana for the week. Most people here can't speak english from my experience so having google translate is a must.

If anyone is looking to exchanging to local currency, USD is the best compared to all other currencies. The spread for USD is less than 1%, for other currencies it is more than 4%. I exchanged money at a local bank, you should be able to get by without speaking any russian/kazakh, just show them your foreign money and they should understand.

Update (September 12th): I just moved hotels to the eastern part of Astana. Definitely something to keep in mind is that different regions in Astana have very different english abilities. People in the northern parts of Astana tend to have much worse english then the central/southern parts of Astana.

Here are some of the places I visited in the last few days:

Palace of Peace and Reconciliation

National Museum

Kazakh Musical and Drama Theater

Unfortunately I only had time to visit the national museum which is very large. I spent around 3-4 hours there and I couldn't even visit half of it. The entrance fee is also relatively cheap, 1700 KZT (~ 4 USD).