Ust-Kamenogorsk
Ust-Kamenogorsk (Russian: Усть-Каменогорск, Kazakh: Өскемен, Oskemen) is a city in northeastern Kazakhstan dating to 1720, and is the capital of Eastern Kazakhstan Province, with a population of about 350,000 people.
Understand
Get in
By plane
Air Astana and also SCAT airways have several flights to Ust from Almaty every week. SCAT also flies to Semipalatinsk and Bayaan Olgi, Mongolia, once a week.
By train
There are daily trains from Almaty and Astana to Ust-Kamenogorsk Zashita (защита) station every day. The trips take around 18-24 hr and tickets range from 1,500 tenge for 3rd class to 3,000-4,000 tenge for second class.
- 1 Oskemen-1 railway station.
By bus
There are daily buses to Ust from both Astana and Almaty. Buses leave Almaty from the Sairan bus station and arrive at the main Ust bus station on Abai st. The trip is overnight to both Astana and Almaty.
Get around
Ust has an old but very pleasant tram system and buses move easily around the city.
See
Стрелка (Strelka) Strelka is the arrow of land where the Irtysh and Ulba rivers meet. It is also the site of the Great Patriotic War Memorial. A nice place to stroll and have a "Limonad" on a warm evening, usually plenty of people hanging around.
- 1 Vostochno-Kazakhstanskiy "Museum of Art", Ulitsa Tokhtarova 56. daily 09ː00-18ː00. Some works of art here.
- 2 Museum of Local Lore, Kaysenov St 40. W-M 09ː00-17ː00. Lots of natural history and stone sculptures/monuments.
- 3 Ethnography Museum, Kirov St. daily 10ː00-18ː00.
Do
- Набережна (Naberezhna) – This is simply the promenade along the Irtysch river leading up to Strelka. Have a beer, find a spot or stroll, and hang out by the water as the sun goes down.
- Go to an ice hockey game – Ust-Kamenogorsk is home to Kazakhstan's most famous team: Kazzinc-Torpedo. This is where NHL-players Nik Antropov and Evgeny Nabokov started their careers. The team plays in the Russian 2nd league.
- 1 Zhastar park. Prominent park with gardens and walkways among fairy tale sculptures.
- 2 Etno Park, A-350, ☏ +7 7232 26 85 29. Tu-Su 10ː00-19ː00. A semi-kitschy place with replicas of traditional homes and an enormous mosque, collections of former Soviet military equipment like tanks and planes, flowers galore and a zoo. Might be better in summer than in winter unless you like to freeze.
- Ust-Kamenogorsk experienced the unfortunate discharge of a radioactive beryllium cloud in 1990 and has some rather serious heavy metal pollution levels stemming from significant industrialization and mining over the years, resulting in health adversities and cancer. Thus, it is probably best to pass on mud baths along the Irtysh River here.
Buy
The eastern oblast of Kazakhstan is at the base of the Altai Mountains and known for its honey. If you are in Ust in September ask around for the local honey fair, where vendors from surrounding villages show off their wares.
Eat
- Pizza Blues (Pizza Dostavka) (They have four locations in Ust-Kamenogorsk: Gorkiy Street 56 and 95, Abay Avenue 5 and Kazakhstan Street 64.). A chain of restaurants with good, reasonably priced pizza and beer. Great place to meet young people.
Some hotels also have restaurants.
Drink
Sleep
There are several hotels such as Irtysh and Tourist, but these usually provide poor value for the price. An old favorite is a small hotel in the large bright green "Nursat" building on Abai street, about 1 km east of the bus station. A room there can cost as little as 1,200 tenge per night.
- 1 Mereke Hotel, Novorabochaya Street 4, ☏ +7 777 350 6063. Cozy accommodations and pleasant dining area. Also, free breakfast. 15,081 tenge.
- 2 Dedeman Oskemen Tavros Hotel, Permitina Sokak, ☏ +7 7232 20 82 08. This relatively tall hotel affords city or Irtysh river views, and it has a spa and restaurant/lounge/juice bar. 33,095 tenge.
- 3 Shiny River Hotel, Astana St 8, ☏ +7 7232 76 65 25. Sitting along the Ulba RIver, this sizable hotel offers a complimentary breakfast buffet and has a terrace and spa. 33,932 tenge.
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