"The emergency did not spoil the trip" - a foreign tourist about the events in Almaty

A tourist from India Sumit Nagpal and his family spent New Year's holidays in Kazakhstan. Just these days, rallies began in Kazakhstan, and later a state of emergency was introduced. Together with his wife and two daughters, Sumit arrived in Almaty on December 30 from Delhi. According to him, the children really wanted to see snow and mountains. Previously, the tourist has already been to almost all parts of the world, including Australia, the USA, Singapore, Thailand, Dubai and European countries. He loves exploring new places. "I knew very little about Kazakhstan. But when I arrived, I fell in love with Almaty. This is a beautiful city, so much entertainment, a lot of things for children and adults to do. And most importantly, there are no quarantine requirements for tourists from India, plus it's not that far away, and the flight does not take much time. I have only been to Russia from the CIS countries before. My tour operator organized the whole trip himself: accommodation, meals, transfers, entertainment. I heard that Almaty is very beautiful, and that's why I decided to go to this city. I also heard about Kazakhstan that many people go to this st рану, чтобы ходить по клубам и казино. Когда приехали, мне сразу понравился город, очень красивый. Фото Сумит Нагпал We like to travel in winter, because there is a lot of snow, a lot of winter entertainment, there is no such thing in our country. Previously, to ski, we always went to Switzerland. But Kazakhstan is only a four-hour flight from India, and this was another reason to go to Almaty. Фото Сумит Нагпал Our program was designed for six days. And everything that was in the program, we visited. We were on Shymkent, it's beautiful there: mountains, snow, the atmosphere is very pleasant. Kok tobe is also a very cool place. We also visited the local church (Ascension Cathedral - Approx. Author). And the children liked the dolphin show! Фото Сумит Нагпал We were also offered to visit the Charyn Canyon and caves, but we refused, because at the end of the trip we were already very tired and did not want to spend four hours on the road, just wanted to relax. Now we want to come a second time to visit these places. Also next time we will ski with the whole family, because this time the children did not know how to ski. Фото Сумит Нагпал Фото Сумит Нагпал The very first days of the riots, we didn't really understand that something was happening in the country. They explained to us that there are rallies in the city, but everything works and if you want to go somewhere, everything is open to guests. On January 5, we learned that the situation was out of control, the airport was seized and flights were canceled. We were at the hotel the whole time. At some point we wanted to go home through Nursultan, but we were not allowed, it was very dangerous, because we were with children. The hotel staff did not allow anyone to go out and enter. Some of the employees went to their families, but many stayed at the hotel. The service was at the highest level. We are very grateful to the staff, they helped us on any issue and did not stop working for a day. The only thing that overshadowed the rest was that I had a lot of work, but otherwise everything was at the highest level. There are wonderful, kind and hospitable people here. Most likely, we were just unlucky. Фото Сумит Нагпал We'll come again anyway. As we were told, such events are taking place in the country for the first time in 30 years. This fact convinced me that the country is safe. Such events happen both in the USA and in Europe, and they have not become less attractive for tourists. So why should we be afraid to return to Kazakhstan? Most importantly, in two days we were able to stop everything and the city began to return to normal life. We talked to those who were stuck in the hotel these days, it brought us together. There were Russians, Americans, tourists from the UAE and Europe. We have created a WhatsApp group and continue to stay in touch. Everyone says they want to return to Kazakhstan again. Фото Сумит Нагпал We can't live without Indian cuisine. Our travel company and the hotel staff have done the impossible by delivering Indian food to us all days. And they organized a lot of entertainment for children. They sent games and balloons so that the children would not feel in danger, despite the sounds of gunshots and the situation outside the window. We felt completely safe. We got calls all the time and were interested in our well-being. It was nice. Not to say that we were scared. We did not create panic, and the staff calmed all the guests. The children were playing with each other and didn't notice any disturbances. They thought we were just prolonging our journey. The hotel staff played and drew with them all the time. Фото Сумит Нагпал At the moment when it was necessary to leave, we were not charged for extra days' accommodation at the hotel. The travel agency took care of everything. Relatives in Delhi were worried. They saw the news on TV and didn't know what was wrong with us. But on one of the days I managed to send an SMS saying that everything is fine with us," said the tourist Sumit. The company of the tour operator, which organized the trip of Sumit and a group of tourists, told how they coped with panic and made the stay as comfortable as possible. "At first, tourists started to panic, but we contacted the embassy and explained that if they didn't get out anywhere, they were safe. We calmed them down and advised them not to go out. All the time we kept in touch with the guests, wondering if everything was all right with them. They calmed down on the second day. We have also been in touch with Air Astana all the time to know immediately when some information about the resumption of flights will appear. We took care of the tourists in the hotels, delivered them food, games for children and everything they needed. In general, all the guests enjoyed the trip, they say they will come back again," said Vishal Jain, a representative of the travel company. Информация взята с сайта Tengritravel.kz