Changes

Hitchhiking in Kazakstan isn't predictable. You can get 4-day rides with trucks or just rides of a few kilometers kilometres to the next village. People often offer rides out of cities when they see you walking.

The road between Aktobe and [[Aralsk]] is terrible! Trucks , with little asphalt. Vehicles get stuck in the mud all the time. Going into [[Almaty]] you will often get dropped off at a big truck area about 10 km South of and crossing the actual city, so if it's possible wait it out for a car when you get close to [[Almaty]]country this way can take days.

People are sometimes asked for moneySome drivers of small cars, especially around the Chinese border.  According to [http://www.spiegel.de/unispiegel/studium/0typically only going a short distance out of cities,1518,522634,00will demand money.html this German article]However, hitchhiking in Kazakhstan is a normal way of traveling and public transport. Some students regularly hitchhike to University in [[Almaty]]. Drivers long-distance lifts are payed a bit for the ride they offer and according to the guy interviewed didn't know about any issues with hitchhiking in Kazakhstantypically free.

* [[Almaty]] (the former capital , called ''Alma-Ata''in the Soviet era, biggest and the country's largest city)