Wanderings of those who left for Kazakhstan: “We are sitting in a pioneer camp on suitcases”

Crossing the Kazakh border is only the first stage of the journey. The second is to get to one of the Kazakh cities and try to accommodate.

The crossing point I passed through is about 20 kilometers from Uralsk. Even on the territory of Russia, while people were fraternizing in line on a wide field, jumping on the spot in the hope of keeping warm, volunteers not only distributed food, but also disseminated information about temporary accommodation centers in Kazakhstan.

It was possible to stay at the Atameken camp, the price of accommodation was 2,000 tenge, which is about 250 rubles for Russian money. For those who could not afford this, free beds were offered.

“As soon as you cross the border, you will be met by free buses and volunteers,” such information was circulated in the queue. A piece of paper with the coordinates of the temporary residence center had to be photographed and sent on to nearby people.

I crossed the border early in the morning. Apparently, for this reason, no buses and volunteers were observed on the other side. But there were many taxi drivers who wanted to take guests from Russia to Uralsk.

And here both the self-interest of taxi drivers and the swagger of some Russians showed themselves to the fullest extent. It is sad to admit, but wealthy Muscovites turned out to be the most greedy. Having found out on the Internet the usual price for a taxi in Uralsk and without being tied to their own rather hopeless situation, they began to build taxi drivers, knocking down the price and showing their awareness of the pricing issue.

Asian and European mentality clashed. The first, after the obligatory and beloved “bargaining”, dropped the price of a car for 4 thousand rubles (a thousand rubles per person, which roughly corresponds to the capital price to the airport in Russia), which, in general, looked quite adequate. Ours insisted on 4 thousand tenge – this corresponds to about 550-600 rubles.

As a result, one group managed to negotiate with the driver so that he decided: we are talking about rubles, they decided: about tenge, and only the amount for both parties remained the same – 4 thousand. Proudly declaring to the rest that they are suckers and do not know how to talk with the locals, the “winners” left. A little later, we found them on the side of the road, about three kilometers from the border, to sort things out with the driver: apparently, the epiphany of both sides happened along the road.

Many of those who crossed the border try to leave on the same day. They choose Alma-Ata, Aktau, Astana and other large cities. Someone is waiting for relatives, someone friends, someone is trying to rent a house.

The prices were as follows: to Aktobe (about three hours drive) 3 thousand rubles per person, to Aktau (5-6 hours drive, resort town on the Caspian Sea) – 8 thousand rubles per person. It would have been too long to get to Alma-Ata by car, only a train or plane could help here.

Having issued a SIM card with the help of a volunteer, I began to look for an overnight stay. However, there were no places in hotels from the word “in general”, prices for private housing started from 5 thousand rubles per night. While I was “rummaging around” on housing sites, time was rapidly flowing away.

Then a volunteer came up: “Do you have a place to spend the night?” “Not yet…” “Go there (he pointed to a place on the square), now we will form four people and send them by taxi to Atameken for free.

Atameken was outside the city – about 15 kilometers. It was an ordinary children’s camp, which was served by volunteers.

Arriving lined up at the fence. One of those waiting drew attention to himself: “Guys, let’s remember how we should behave. No garbage, no squabbles, no showdowns. Do not smoke! Do not shout! Do not stare at women, especially do not pester – remember, you are in a Muslim country! People should not have the slightest reason to regret their intentions.”

Everyone agreed. Just a few minutes later, the staff came out. “Women go first,” they ordered.

There were three women. In the camp, we were registered in a notebook, they explained where the canteen was and in which building we should go to be accommodated. “See an empty bed and just take it. It’s just a kids camp! Do not look for sockets in the rooms, they are not there. But we brought extension cords, and you can easily charge phones in the halls.”

Never in my life have I been to a pioneer camp – I did not think that I would be there at a pre-retirement age. However, I was very lucky – I found an empty ward for three places, one remained free. They fed in the camp: in the canteen you could have breakfast for 500 tenge (200 rubles), a full lunch and dinner for 1000 tenge (about 400). In addition, they always brought something free. So, in the evening they brought pizza, then a box of cookies – they put it in the building in the lobby and even ran through the rooms – eat while it’s hot. Volunteers also continued to issue SIM cards to those who wished.

It was possible to live in the temporary residence center as long as required, but of course people were asked to solve their problems in order to make room for the next ones. Most were looking for flights abroad. They flew mainly to Turkey, one of my interlocutors planned to go to India: “I have already been several times, it’s cheaper than here, I work remotely.” Up to 100 thousand tickets went to Turkey: they were booked, and they continued to look for something cheaper.

Uralsk itself is simply crowded with Russians. They sit in local cafes – excellent in cuisine and very inexpensive compared to Moscow ones – and work on their laptops.

“There are two or three locals here,” a waitress shared with me in one of these establishments, “the rest are yours. Let them sit, where do they go? Look at the street, all in suitcases.

I looked: several people were standing at the doors of the cafe, really with suitcases and backpacks. They really had nowhere to go: if before all the events the prices for a two-room apartment in Uralsk were about 60-80 thousand tenge, 100 with excellent repairs (9-15 thousand rubles), today the price has risen to half a million tenge (about 75 thousand rubles). And yes, there is no home. After all, local children also return, relatives come …

But the Kazakhs are not angry with the Russians. For people of a number of specialties, work is already being offered, despite the lack of a residence permit.

Read the report “What is happening on the border of Russia and Kazakhstan: solvers, cold, volunteers”