Survival kit · What to pack
Every Kazakh home kept a sandyq: the ornamented chest that held exactly what the season needed. Tell this one who you are and how long you're staying; it fits the list, counts the socks, and knows the customs rules for your NFDP kilograms.
August in Astana runs on two temperatures: t-shirt afternoons, jacket nights. Seasonal averages for early August in Astana.
The fitting
Six answers fit the whole list: quantities, ceremony wear, the NFDP kilograms, post-GA gear. Everything stays on this device; change an answer any time and the trays refit instantly.
Optional: it flies your flag on the final manifest.
Officials carry extra plenary wear; trainers pack session kit.
Tours add wear-days: the quantities follow.
Pack light halves what you can wash mid-week.
Fitted for 7 wear-days41 items in the chest
The trays
Tick as you pack: the chest remembers on this device. Tap any item's name for the full story: how the count was fitted, which bag it rides in, and the rules behind the flagged ones.
The tray you check three times. Everything here stays on you or in the cabin: never in the hold.
Six months' validity is the safe rule: and it's also your SIM-card key: Kazakh law wants a passport to register one.
If your country needs one: the External Relations support letter from registration, printed. Check the visa page for your region.
Registration and accommodation confirmations on paper: immigration desks and check-in counters both love paper.
Covering the whole stay, pre- and post-GA included. Policy number and the assistance hotline live in your wallet, not your inbox.
One paper photocopy of passport + visa packed apart from the originals, plus photos in your phone. Boring until it isn't.
Visa and Mastercard work almost everywhere in Astana; ATMs are easy to find.
Tenge (₸) for markets and small shops: exchange at the airport or Mega Silk Way. Carrying over US$10,000? That must be declared.
Plenaries and both ceremonies carry a dress code, and Cultural Night is the most photographed evening of the GA.
Plenaries and the opening and closing ceremonies have a dress code: at least one outfit that means business.
The Cultural Night classic: the most photographed garment you own. NMO merch works when the costume won't fit the chest.
One pair that survives both the ceremony floor and the dance floor after it.
Warm days, crisp nights, constant wind, more campus walking than you think. Quantities below are fitted to your trip.
Light for 25–30 °C afternoons; sessions rooms run warmer still.
A rotation of two or three covers the week: nobody is auditing.
One per day. This is not the item to optimise.
Campus days are long-distance events. Cushioned beats cool.
Nights drop to 12–15 °C: the hoodie you almost left behind is the one you'll live in.
Astana is famously breezy; a light wind-and-rain shell beats an umbrella every single time.
Broken-in, not box-fresh: campus days mean more walking than you think.
Shared dorm rooms: pyjamas are diplomacy.
Morning yoga is daily and the Global Games Arena takes no prisoners: one sporty set covers both.
Planning a mosque visit? Shoulders and knees covered; women cover their hair: one scarf does the job.
Keeps the chest civilised, and doubles as padding around the NFDP haul on the way home.
One night, every country on one table. The heaviest, happiest kilograms in your chest: and the customs gate below tells you how to fly them.
Something to share that says your country: shelf-stable and factory-sealed survives both the flight and the customs officer. Ideas below.
Alcohol flies in the hold: up to 3 L per person (21+) through Kazakh customs, 24–70 % vol capped at 5 L retail-sealed by aviation rules. Zero-proof needs no paperwork.
Ends up in more photos than you do: the NFDP table, the Cultural Night stage, the plenary desk, the airport arrival shot.
GA swap currency. Pins, patches, stickers, NMO tote bags: bring more than feels reasonable; they weigh nothing and make friends.
For externals, partners, and the delegate you'll co-draft a resolution with at 2 a.m.
Ideas for your table
FoodNational chocolate, biscuits, candy, halva, nougat: sturdy, sealed, and gone in the first hour. August tip: pure chocolate melts; pralines forgive.
FoodTinned fish, pâté, hard aged cheese, cured sausage in factory vacuum packs: the savoury table's heroes. Mind the meat-and-dairy customs note.
FoodSpices, teas, coffee, honey, preserves: light, aromatic, unmistakably home. Anything liquid or gel rides in the hold.
DrinkThe bottle your country is known for: inside 3 L customs, inside the 24–70 % aviation band, retail-sealed, armoured like the technique card says.
DrinkSyrups, sodas, teas, coffee, cordials: a large share of the GA doesn't drink alcohol, and the best NFDP tables remember that.
Swap giftPins, patches, stickers, keychains: the informal economy of every GA. They cost nothing to carry and buy friendships for life.
Swap giftA tote, a tee, a hoodie with your NMO on it: half wardrobe, half diplomacy, and the classic Cultural Night fallback.
Swap giftA stack of postcards of your city, signed on the back: the cheapest, flattest, most-kept souvenir at the whole GA.
Kazakhstan runs on type C/F sockets at 220 V. Long plenary days run on power banks.
Kazakhstan uses European type C/F sockets at 220 V / 50 Hz: UK, US, and many Asian plugs need one. Two if you travel with a laptop.
Cabin ONLY, never checked: ≤100 Wh (≈27,000 mAh) flies without approval, and 2026 airline rules increasingly want it on your person, not the overhead bin.
The oldest conference trick in the book: one power strip turns a two-socket dorm room into a five-friend charging station.
Phone charger plus a cable long enough for dorm-bed reality: the socket is never where the pillow is.
Plenary documents, voting sheets, minute-taking, that one deadline that followed you to Astana: it flies cabin, with you.
Shared rooms, late socials, strong sun, and the legendary post-GA flu. Pack accordingly.
In original packaging, with the prescription for anything prescription-only. Pharmacies (аптека) are everywhere and many run 24/7: but your exact brand may not.
SPF 30+. The high, dry sun out here does not negotiate, and neither does a five-day plenary sunburn.
See: sunscreen. Your eyes vote yes.
Empty through security, filled after: bottled water costs ~300 ₸, but plenary hydration should be free.
Shared rooms plus a social program that ends at sunrise: the best ten grams in your chest.
Vitamin C, hand sanitiser, a few masks, your favourite cold remedy. The post-GA flu is a running joke because it is real.
The survival kit is explicit: bed linen, a pillow and a blanket are provided, towels and toiletries are not. A quick-dry one settles the question for 200 grams.
The usual suspects: anything forgotten, the Mega Silk Way mall next to campus has a supermarket and pharmacies.
The one thing everyone forgets to pack: empty space. The NFDP haul, the merch table, and the bazaar are all coming home with you.
Folds to nothing on the way in; on the way out it is your insurance policy against your own souvenir optimism.
The NFDP means every country brings food and drink: and the merch table, the swap culture, and the bazaar all conspire against a full chest. Fly in light.
The customs gate
The NFDP table is worth every kilogram: if it clears three gates: what Kazakhstan lets in, what aviation rules let fly, and how to pack it so it lands intact.
Arriving by air, personal-use goods up to €10,000 in value and 50 kg in weight enter Kazakhstan without duties: your NFDP table fits with room to spare. (By land the allowance is far lower: €500 / 25 kg.)
Electronic government of the Republic of KazakhstanState Revenue Committee, Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan
Kazakh customs admits up to 3 litres of alcoholic drinks per traveller aged 21 or over, duty-free. That is the national-bottle budget: plan the NFDP pour inside it.
Electronic government of the Republic of KazakhstanState Revenue Committee, Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan
Per adult traveller: 200 cigarettes, or 50 cigars, or 250 g of tobacco products in total.
Food for personal consumption travels within your normal allowance: shelf-stable and factory-packaged clears smoothly. Homemade or unpackaged meat and dairy are the risky aisle across the whole EAEU border: when in doubt, choose tinned, vacuum-sealed, or skip it.
Electronic government of the Republic of KazakhstanState Revenue Committee, Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan
Currency worth more than US$10,000 (any mix, any denomination) must be declared on arrival. Under that, walk through green.
Anything liquid in the cabin lives in containers of 100 ml or less, all inside one 1-litre resealable bag. Your honey, sauce, syrup, or spirit is a hold item: full stop.
Aviation baseline: drinks between 24 % and 70 % vol are capped at 5 L per passenger in checked baggage, in unopened retail packaging. Under 24 % (wine, beer) aviation sets no limit: the 3 L customs allowance still does. Your airline can be stricter; check before you fly.
U.S. Transportation Security AdministrationU.S. Federal Aviation Administration
Anything above 70 % alcohol is forbidden on passenger aircraft in any bag: no exceptions, not even beautifully wrapped ones.
U.S. Federal Aviation AdministrationU.S. Transportation Security Administration
Spare lithium batteries and power banks are banned from checked baggage worldwide. Up to 100 Wh flies free in the cabin; 100–160 Wh needs airline approval (max two). Several airlines now require them kept on your person or under the seat: not the overhead bin.
U.S. Federal Aviation AdministrationU.S. Transportation Security Administration
Sock first, bubble wrap second, zip-lock bag third, dead centre of the chest last: clothes on every side. Tape flip-caps shut: cabin-pressure changes make them weep. Tins beat jars; jars beat hope.
Pack the shareables as one discoverable layer, receipts nearby. If an officer asks, the honest answer is also the winning one: personal use, for a student cultural evening.
Two bags
Same list, airport order. Cabin is what you cannot afford to lose or need mid-flight: the rows tagged “on you” lead that column. Everything heavy, sharp, or over 100 ml flies below.
On-you rows first: documents and power banks stay at the seat, not the overhead bin.
Power bank×1On youIndicative
A little cashOn youIndicative
Bank cardOn you
PassportOn you
Visa or support letter
Printed confirmations
Travel insurance
Business cards
Type C/F adapter×1
Chargers & long cable×1
Laptop or tablet
Personal medication
Sunglasses×1
Reusable bottle×1
Earplugs & sleep mask×1
Copies of everything
Formal outfit×1
National costume×1
Smart shoes×1T-shirts & tops×4
Trousers & shorts×3
Underwear×7
Socks×7
Warm evening layer×1
Windproof shell×1
Sleepwear×1
Activewear×1
Modest layer & scarf×1
Laundry bag×1Food from homeIndicativeThe national pourIndicative
Extension strip×1
Sunscreen
GA-flu kit
Quick-dry towel×1
Toiletries
Packable duffel×1
Actual empty space
Comfortable shoes×1
Your flag×1Pins, stickers & merchThe manifest
0/40packed
When every latch is turquoise the chest is sealed. Take the manifest with you: a keepsake for your story, a printed sheet for the suitcase lid.
Documents & money 0/7Ceremony & plenary 0/3Everyday clothes 0/11NFDP & swap 0/5Tech & power 0/5Health & comfort 0/8Leave room 0/1
Everything lives on this device: nothing is uploaded.
Colophon
The Sandyq is packing advice, not law. Customs and aviation figures are sourced and dated below: allowances change, airlines set their own cabin rules, and the OC has the final word. When in doubt, ask before you fly.
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