On a visa extension quest!! Only having until September 2nd to leave isn’t enough time to cross this country.  After the insightful talks with some local, I haven’t seen Kazakhstan without heading west. Almaty and Astana are like modern European cities, with diverse cultures and nationalities. While the west is were the local cultures are. Unchanged by modernization.

The only place I can imagine extending my Kazakhstan visa, will be at Migration Police office, where I had to check-in within 5 days of arriving here.  With pretty much no English, she wrote the date of a piece of paper, and “hand signs” for me to fly away before that date, Sept 2nd. That is the date that my visa expires, that I must leave this country. Luckily there is a lady behind me that speak a little of mandarin, and reconfirmed it.

Funny they tell you one thing to get you to leave the office, while alternatives are there if words can be spoken. The lady that spoke mandarin managed to ask where else I can, possibly extending the visa, and pointed it on the map with the help of a few more people that were lining up.

Knowing this will be hard to find,  I asked the lady to write down where I should be going. She then ask if I want it written in English? I asked for Russian instead, would you?

She wrote the visa office name possibly, as I was able to show this to strangers and get pointed to the right direction. Im glad I choose Russian.

Although I managed to find this place, left my name of on the line up list.  It looks like I don’t have a visa that I can extend. As I entered Kazakhstan visa free, with 14 days tourist visit. I will have to leave Kazakhstan and come back if I like to continue traveling west. With 7 days before Sept 2nd, will try getting visa for the neighboring southern countries of Kazakh. Hopefully that goes well. If not, backup will be heading to Russia or back to China?