Video Skype from Kazakhstan

Given the up and down nature of the Internet connection here at the Hotel Skif, we hadn’t really tried to do a Skype video conference with home as of yet. Also the timezone isn’t really conducive to it as the only real overlap is early in the morning eastern standard time unless we drag ourselves out of bed really early.

But we gave it a shot on Saturday night and Sam was able to connect with friends back in the Boston area. I was surprised how good the connection quality was…so we can call this test a success. You can in fact video Skype from Northern Kazakhstan.

Samantha catches up with the news at home

Shopping in Petropavlovsk

Before we left for Petropavlovsk, we really had no idea what is and is not available to buy locally. We have since found out there were things we really didn’t need to bring and our balancing act with baggage weight would have been easier.  Toiletries – bring only the the little sample sizes.  Once you get here, you can buy just about any mainstream brand of shampoo, conditioner, lotion, toothpaste, etc. you want.  No need to cart multiple weeks’ worth with you.

The Blue Mall which is within walking distance of the Skif Hotel and on the way to the Baby House is like a farmer’s market on the street level where you can buy fresh and dried fruits, vegetables, nuts, cheese, sandwich meat, baked goods, etc. etc.  For those who are doing their own cooking, there is a large fresh meat section.  On the upper levels of the mall, you will find kiosk after kiosk jam packed full with toiletries, clothing, shoes, kids toys and clothing, kitchen stuff – the list goes on. It appears that each kiosk is individually owned. The prices are all very reasonable.

So save your luggage weight allowance for stuff you cannot find here.  It would have been really helpful to have had this information when doing our packing.

Hotel Skif – Floor Plan

As I’ve mentioned before, I was pretty frustrated when we were planning out trip over here that I couldn’t find any information on the Hotel Skif (given that it is the the main hotel that is used by adoption agencies who are working with the Baby House). We had to take it on faith that it would be adequate and that the rooms would work for us.

I found this floor layout for the second floor (the only floor that has western style rooms from what I have been told) on the wall this morning. So if you are planning a trip, at least this will tell you where your room is assuming your agency will tell you which one has been reserved (which they should – make sure to ask). We’ve got 201 and 211 for this trip which are the two largest.

Keep in mind that the current Internet wireless attenna is pretty much in the middle of this diagram on the first floor so the outer rooms have no usable WiFI within the room – you need to go out into the hall.

Found a chocolate shop

We found a pretty good chocolate shop today and loaded up on sugar. It is right across from the bakery I posted about a few days ago (GPS: 54.866002, 69.142828‎). Worth a stop in if you have a sweet tooth.

Laundry at the Hotel Skif

(not really but you get the idea)

We were told a number of times there was laundry available at the hotel so we were counting on being able to do some wash and didn’t pack enough clothes for the full week (not that we could have anyway with baggage weight limits being what they are these days). To us, laundry meant machines we could use. Unfortunately “laundry is available” actually means that they will do your laundry for you which sounds great except that it is ridiculously expensive – about US$30 a load if you have a jeans and sweaters.

So we dropped to the backup plan and only sent out the minimum (still rather expensive) and did most of it in the tub. Luckily Heather brought some soap (Woolite works well for cold-water washing) and we invested in a portable laundry line which we have hung in the bathroom. That and a plug for the tub and we were good to go.

Travel Tip: Guyot Designs Squishy Bowl and Cup Set

One of the things I hate when I travel is having to head down to a restaurant for breakfast every morning. It is fun for a few days and then the time it takes and the general hassle just gets on my nerves. Give me my coffee and a bowl of cereal and I’m happy. Plus try convincing a two year old to sit still every morning waiting for breakfast. It cuts into valuable playing time.

For this trip we brought the Guyot Designs Squishy Bowl and Cup Set and these things rock. The bowl is great for cold or hot cereal (I’ve been making instant oatmeal in it) and it cleans up fast. Plus given that both our bags were just under the 50lb international limit, the fact that these two weigh nothing was helpful.

Recommended – worth the 15 bucks. Add a Light My Fire Spork and you are self sufficient in the breakfast department.

Credit cards…not so much

A word of warning to those of you (like me) who hardly ever carry cash and rely on your credit cards to get you by. No one in Kazakhstan seems to take them with rare exceptions. I did manage to charge our hotel to a Visa card but only after being told for three days that the credit card machine was down. Funny thing is that I was told the same thing when paying for our overweight luggage charge in the Almaty airport. Either the credit card infrastructure here is pretty creaky or people just like cash (guess which one is true).

So bring a wad of cash and switch it to Tenge at the first opportunity. You are going to need it. The good news is that there are a lot of places in Petro to exchange money so it is pretty painless.

Instant coffee…ugh…

For those who are not quite right in the morning until they have had their cup of coffee, keep in mind that Kazaks drink instant. I have yet to see a place to get a proper cup of coffee, never mind the mind-numbing combinations you can get at your local Starbucks (there aren’t any in Petro…in case you thought otherwise…no Dunkins, no Tim Horton’s, no coffee shops that I’ve been able to find).

The restaurant at the Hotel Skif will serve you a coffee in the morning (for free, breakfast is included) but it will definitely be instant. We had been forewarned about this travesty so I brought a pound of ground coffee with me and an REI French press mug. Add to the portable coffee kit a Bodum travel kettle and you are good to go. The one mistake we made was the kettle is not dual voltage so I had to also bring a 2000W transformer with us. A bit of additional searching in the Internet just now came up with dual voltage options which is the better path to take.

So plan ahead and you can get a good cup of coffee in Petro despite the best efforts of the locals.

Turkish Chuck’e'Cheese

We had dinner a couple of nights back at the Petro version of Chuck’e'Cheese. Otherwise known as the “Turkish Restaurant”, it served a combination of Turkish food and a good selection of “American” food like hamburgers and pizza. Everything is just slightly off though as if they couldn’t resist adding a Kazak spin to it. It was decent food though.

The highlight for our daughter Sam was the playground where she spent most of the meal.

And just for fun the Google map via GPS (54.873458,69.131320):

Internet at the Hotel Skif

My...desk

Prior to leaving for Kazakhstan I asked a number of times whether or not the Hotel Skif (or Skify as they call it here) had Internet access. I was finally told that they did in fact have Internet service in the hotel. Imagine my surprise when I got here and was told it was dial-up and handed a telephone number (I use a Macbook Pro…no modem). Contemplating trying to communicate with work crammed into an hour a day down at an Internet cafe for three plus weeks definitely caused my blood pressure to rise.

After a quick recheck with the front desk our translator learned that they had in fact put in wireless just a day before our arrival. So I can confidently say that the Hotel Skif now has wireless. Unfortunately wireless here means a DSL router and wireless access point down at the front desk. All the decent rooms are on the second floor so the only way you get wireless up here is to either sit in the hall or in my case shove myself as close to the inner wall of the room as I can – and then can I only just get a signal. High speed it ain’t.

The connection also tends to drop occasionally (2-3 times per day) but we’ve now managed to teach the front desk how to reboot the DSL modem. I had to endure numerous deadly stares from the staff and the security guard when I calmly reached over the desk to reset it after being ignored or dismissed while trying to explain that their DSL connection was down. They even complained about me to our translator (few of the staff here speak English).

I did learn yesterday that the manager is thinking of adding another antenna – hopefully on the second floor as it would be nice to be able to sit on the couch and stay connected. So we are keeping our fingers crossed that it actually happens. Always on Internet no matter where you are has definitely not come to northern Kazakhstan. I’m going to appreciate those access points on every floor in the hotels I stay at back in the US that much more after this (not to mention my cell modem!).