Chemists and Healthcare.

An international health insurance policy is required by law for foreigners travelling in Kazakhstan (see Insurance section). Local doctors can be relied on for general diagnosis; technical equipment in surgeries, clinics and hospitals is poor compared to Western standards,however, especially in the provinces - serious diseases or complicated operations always require treatment back home. The nationwide telephone number for medical urgencies is 03.
Major hotels have their own emergency systems. The Kazakh word for a chemist or pharmacy is derikhana (apteka in Russian). They are found on most street corners and in every shopping centre in cities and towns, even in larger rural villages.
All general necessities can be obtained, even without a doctor's prescription. This liberal attitude requires care by those who have allergies, eg to certain antibiotics. In Almaty (+727), medical assistance can be sought from the following addresses:
Central Chemists, 51 Furmanov St/Gogol St, tel: 2 710 271
Doctor Narymbetov Clinic, 115 Abay Ave, tel: 2 503 164
Doctor-U, 42-44 Abay Ave, tel: 2 924 333
Medical Centre/Interdent, 15 Gogol St, tel: 2 306 690
Interteach, 83 Ayteke Bi St, tel: 2 588 100
Dental clinic Daris-TTE, 8 Tulebayev St, tel: 2 794 151
Denta Lux, 140 Zheltoksan St, tel: 2 624 618
Private clinic of Dr Dieter Seitzer, Mikrorayon Miras, building 54, tel: 2 96l 200/210

International SOS. 

Expatriate and National doctors, English-speaking staff.
Family clinic with pediatric care, 24/7 emergency care, ambulance car, pharmacy, medical emergency evacuation/repatriation.
website: www.internationalsos.com
International SOS  in Almaty.
Address: 11, Luganskogo str  corner Satpayeva str
Tel.: +7 7272 581911
Mob.: +7 701  7441111
Email: alaopsmed@internationalsos.com 
International SOS in Astana.
Address: 62A Kosmonavtov str, Renco bld  
Tel.: +7 7172 476 911  
Mob.: +7 701 745 98 76
Email: astana.reception@internationalsos.com
International SOS in Atyrau.
Address: 55 Aiteke Bi Street, River Palace Hotel
Tel.: +7 7172 476 911  
Mob.: +7 701 722 8335
Email: atyrau.reception@internationalsos.com
International SOS in Aktau.
Address: Microdistrict 26, Bld 17/1
Tel.: +7 7292 41 86 61  
Mob.: +7 +7 701 733 1054
Email: sos.aktau@internationalsos.com

Insurance.

Basic health insurance for all visitors, and car insurance if you will be driving, are obligatory in Kazakhstan. It is highly recommended to arrange a full travel insurance policy covering your entire trip and including global health care, travel accident and personal liability, baggage and personal belongings, and repatriation insurance.

Health Resorts in Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan is full of salt lakes, hot springs, medicinal mud sources and mountain valleys with clean air. This offers plenty of opportunities to improve one's health. Not all sanatoriums are up to Western patients' expectations in terms of comfort, and communicating with doctors is often difficult but prices are all the more attractive for it.
Most sanatoriums charge from US$120 to US$550 for a 20-day stay plus treatment costs. Health cures can be booked through Akmolatourist (www.tourist.astanainfo.kz) in Astana, and Silkroad Adventures (http://silkadv.com) in Almaty.

Entry by Train in Kazakhstan.

As early as 1930, the "Turksib", as the east-west line across Central Asia was called, was connected through the Altai with the Trans-Siberian railway. Sixty years later, the Druzhba station on the border with China was opened, and with it the link to the Chinese city of Urumqi.
The train ride from Urumqi to Almaty takes around 40 hours; the border crossing is at Dostyk, where the train stops, sometimes for several hours, then on past the southern shore of Alakol Lake to Aktogay and south to Almaty.
You cannot get a visa at the border going in either direction, so make sure your documents are valid before buying your ticket. There are rail connections from Europe via Moscow to Almaty and Astana. Seats need to be booked well in advance.
Stopovers are possible in around 50 cities, towns and other stops. The trip to Astana takes four days and to Almaty five. From Russia you can enter via Samara and Orenburg, through Aktobe and down past the Aral Sea to Kyzylorda and Shymkent; from Novosibirsk through Semey and Aktogay to Taldykorgan and Almaty; from Kurgan to Petropavlovsk and on to Astana; or from Astrakhan in the far west through to Atyrau.

Authority:
The guidebook across Kazakhstan . Authors Dagmar Schreiber and Jeremy Tredinnick.   Publishing house "Odyssey". 2010.