Introducing Western Kazakhstan
Most Westerners who come to Kazakhstan’s far west – so far west that the part beyond the Ural River is in Europe – are involved in exploiting Kazakhstan’s biggest oil and gas fields: Tenghiz (oil), Karachaganak (gas) and the offshore oil of Kashagan beneath the Caspian Sea. Oil has brought boom times to the region’s four main cities, though elsewhere the human population is pretty sparse and the landscape is chiefly desert, apart from marshy areas around the northeast Caspian coastline.
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For those with a taste for adventurous exploring, the deserts east of Aktau, dotted with underground mosques, ancient necropolises, abandoned caravanserais and spectacular rock formations, are just the ticket.
Western Kazakhstan is a gateway to Central Asia from Azerbaijan or Russia, and there are even flights from Europe to Atyrau and Uralsk.
The region is one hour behind Astana, Almaty and the rest of the country.
Last updated: Mar 24, 2009
Thorn Tree forum discussion
Recent posts
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Uralsk - Samara connections
by cavalcamondi 02 April 2010
Hi travellers In few days I ll be in Uralsk (western Kazakhstan) and I was wondering if there is some onward transport to Samara, Russia.…
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RE: train atyrau - aktau
by Giora 07 February 2010
Hi, I took a direct train from Aktau to Atyrau when I was in Western Kazakhstan about a year ago. I THINK that these trains were running…
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RE: Western kazakhstan: acommodation & tours in Volzhski-Atirau-Aktau-Aralsk
by Giora 30 March 2009
Hi, I made a recent post on the Kazakhstan branch entitled "Backpacking in Kazakhstan - Part 2": look it up and you'll get some advice…
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