In this article, I want to share what might seem strange or even shocking to you in Kazakhstan.
Many probably watched the series of "The Game of Thrones" on HBO, and the fact that Dotrakians eat horse meat and drink fermented mare’s milk as an alcoholic beverage may seem to be a plot for someone, but in fact in Kazakhstan, as well as in a number of other neighboring countries, we really consume horse meat and drink fermented mare's milk, which we call "Kumys", moreover some products from horsemeat are considered delicacies in our country, in particular "Kazi" and "Zhaya".
I think a part of tourists, reading about Kazakhstan and its boundless steppes, represent our country as one continuous steppe with a waving feather grass, in fact, in view of the fact that Kazakhstan is the ninth largest country in the world, its landscape is more diverse, there are mountains on the territory of Kazakhstan with snow-capped peaks, deserts with real sand dunes, all possible forests, except of course tropical, we have our own small Switzerland, “Burabai National Park”, and our own great canyon, the “Charyn Canyon”, and even the sea – the “Caspian Sea”, which is considered the largest lake in the world. Of course, it should be agreed that the main territory of Kazakhstan is covered with steppes and semi-steppes.
When you are going to visit Kazakhstan, you will surely find information that most of the inhabitants of the country profess Islam, while in Kazakhstan you can easily find any kind of alcoholic products. Of course, there are restrictions on the sale of alcoholic beverages, products with a volume fraction of ethyl alcohol of 30% and above are prohibited from 9 pm to 12 pm of the next day, till 30% from 11 pm to 8 am, these restrictions It does not apply to cafes, restaurants and other entertainment facilities, of which there are many in major cities of the country.
In terms of GDP per capita, Kazakhstan were ranked 52-nd in the world in 2016, ahead of such countries as Turkey, Argentina, Mexico, Thailand and Brazil, while the subsistence level in our country is about 70 USD per month per person, according to the World Bank the absolute poverty line begins with income below 57 USD per month per person. Despite this, in such cities of the country as Almaty and Astana, quite a lot of expensive cars, large mansions, luxury boutiques and shops.
In general, we like to show our consistency and success, if you are lucky enough to visit the Kazakh wedding, then you can be surprised by the scale and pomposity of the celebration, which can be attended by 200 – 300 people, or even more, we do not make savings at such events, often for the wedding take large loans and mortgaged real estate.
Finally, despite the fact that Kazakh is the official language in Kazakhstan, in the north, north-east of the country, and also in cities like Almaty and Astana, the most commonly used language is Russian, and the level of English is quite low.
On this perhaps all, if in your opinion, I missed something, you can write about it in the comments to the publication.
