{"id":24939,"date":"2020-07-15T11:17:18","date_gmt":"2020-07-15T09:17:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/againstthecompass.com\/?p=24939"},"modified":"2025-11-07T08:42:54","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T06:42:54","slug":"visit-astana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/againstthecompass.com\/en\/visit-astana\/","title":{"rendered":"How to visit Astana in 3 days"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Wanna travel to <\/strong>Kazakhstan with Against the Compass?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Join a group of like-minded travelers in our next scheduled tour in Kazakhstan on:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

June 11th to 20th, 2026<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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learn more<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Astana, today Nur-Sultan, was described as the weirdest capital in the world by CNN and I agree. Enter the city into Google Maps and you will see how far away it is from anywhere. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kazakhstan is the same size as Western Europe but it is mostly unpopulated and nearly completely covered in flat, arid steppe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traveling to Astana by plane is surreal. There is nothing as far as you can see until you literally find yourself over the capital. There is nothing – not a mountain, not a tree, no other city or suburbs \u2013 nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is difficult to believe today that when the capital was moved from Almaty in 1997 this was just a dusty little village. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then it has gone through a building boom turning it into a futuristic city full of modern, quirky architecture all funded by the country\u2019s vast oil and energy resources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

18.3 million people live in Kazakhstan and although the general standard of living is reasonable I question whether the money could have been better spent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This article contains everything you need to know to visit Nur-Sultan<\/strong>, former Astana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n