To get from Karakol to Almaty, the shortest and most economical route would be to get there via the Kegen border crossing. However, crossing this border can be quite tricky as there is limited public transport and online information about this particular border crossing.
The safest option would be to first go to Bishkek and then go through the Kordai border crossing to Almaty. However, if you’re flexible with your plans and ready for an adventure, crossing into Kazakhstan via Kegen is a quiet, scenic route that gives you ample opportunities to socialise with the locals.
On the way towards Almaty, you could even make a detour to some of the natural wonders around this region such as Charyn Canyon, Kolsai & Kaindy Lakes, Altyn Emel National Park and Turgen Gorge.
Kegen Border Crossing Advice:
- Kegen border is open between 9AM-6PM Monday to Friday. I have been told by some that it is open on weekends too, but have been told the opposite by others hence I believe it is best to cross this border on a weekday.
- It is advisable to start your journey early in the morning especially if you would like to get to the border via marshrutka and/or hitchhiking.
- There MAY possibly be Marshrutkas that will take you to Karkara (7km from the border), but we were unable to find it as we started pretty late in the day. Other sources we found online stated we could find this marshrutka from the main bazaar of Karakol.
- If there is no marshrutka to Karkara, you may find a marshrutka to other small towns or villages in that direction, e.g. Santash Village. We took a marshrutka to this village and I will write more about our experience below.
- Alternatively, if you are unable to find a marshrutka, there are taxis from Karakol main bazaar that will take you to the border crossing, which we were quoted a price of 5000som. But you may or may not find a taxi when you enter Kazakhstan and may need to hitchhike from there.
- If you are stuck on the Kyrgyz side of the border, there are no hotels that you can stay at, but if you are lucky there might be a local that will invite you into their house. It is advisable that you have camping gear with you if you are attempting this crossing.
- I have found information online that there are yurts that you can stay at if you reach the Kazakh side of the border and are stuck. There may not always be yurts set up on the other side however, and we didn’t see any when we crossed over..
The above advice I have typed written down from personal experience and from information I gathered online before I did the crossing. I generally use Caravanistan’s forum for up to date information on border crossings, but unfortunately for Kegen, it seemed not many travellers who this border have updated their experience there.
I will write out what my experience was in August 2019, but keep in mind border crossings can change quickly. I recommend keeping track of Caravanistan’s forum in case there is a more recent update from somebody who has done the Kegen border crossing.
My hitchhiking experience from Karakol to Almaty in August 2019
When I crossed the Kegen border crossing with my travel partner Jonas, things didn’t go to plan and we were stuck on the Kyrgyz side for the night. To be honest, that was mainly our fault though.
We woke up late and were very lazy getting ready to leave as it was a cold rainy day. We arrived at Karakol’s main bazaar sometime past 1pm but did not see a marshrutka to Karkara as we walked up and down the busy road packed with marshrutkas. There was a very persistent taxi driver that kept following us the entire road insisting that no such marshrutka exist and that we had no option but to take his taxi.
However, by asking around, we met a helpful, kind guy who made a few calls for us. Despite our communication barrier, through google translate, he managed to tell us that the marshrutka to Karkara did indeed exist but we had just missed it as it departed at 1:30pm that day from a different location. He made some more phone calls for us and took us to a marshutka that was bound to leave at 2pm to Santash village which was 18km from the border.
While it would normally take a car 1.5-2 hours to reach this place, the marshrutka took about 4 hours to arrive at this village. When they dropped us off, we had another 20 minutes to spare before the border closed and there was no car in sight to give us a ride.
We gave up hope of completing the border crossing that day and tried asking around for guesthouses in this area instead. There were none, and the closest guesthouses of any sort were all back in Karakol. We were extremely lucky though, and an elder gentleman living closeby offered to let us stay in a cozy rug covered room in his home for 1000som. His sister in law was extremely hospitable and kept inviting us for chai and food.
The next morning when we left, there were very few cars coming down the road towards the border. The rain was pouring hard and we came to the realisation that we may have to walk the entire 18km to the border.
Thank goodness we had another stroke of luck and 20 minutes into trudging down the muddy road, a 2004 Hyundai Terracan stopped for us. Inside was 4 friendly Dutch students who welcomed us in despite the limited space. Their boot was filled to the brim, so 4 of us sat in the back seat with our 2 big bags across our laps. We couldn’t have been more thankful and relieved for all their help as we rode in their cozy car to the border.
Getting across the border wasn’t difficult at all. Everyone had to get out of the car to get their passports stamped off on the Kyrgyz side. When you get to the Kazakh side, you will be given a small paper document the size of your passport with some stamps on it. Make sure to keep this otherwise you may have problems when leaving Kazakhstan.
While all the passengers went through to the Kazakh side, the driver would need to get back into car to drive it over to an area for some inspection. The inspection time may vary for some cars, and international cars may face more problems than local cars occasionally. We did not meet much trouble however, and the inspection time took an extra 15 minutes after we all got through to the Kazakh side. In total it took roughly 30-45 minutes to get across the border.
The guys we were with were super sweet and offered to take us to Kegen as well, a small town on the Kazakh side of the border. There was only one other taxi on the other side of the border which was quickly snatched up by a Russian family that had came to the border by taxi from Karakol. The border crossing isn’t very busy with only about 4 cars waiting at the border when we were crossing it, so we may had to wait a few hours before we would be able to get a ride.
From Kegen it shouldn’t be too hard to hitchhike to Almaty as there are a lot of cars that head in this direction. The concept of hitchhiking isn’t wide spread in Central Asia though, and some drivers may expect you to pay a fee to ride in the car though this price is often negotiable. If you want to hitch a ride without paying a fee, make sure to make this clear from the beginning.
Me and Jonas met a Lithuanian family who were also heading to Almaty from the restaurant we took a quick bite at, so we decided to share a taxi to our common destination. The starting price for the taxi was 20 000 tenge, but we managed to negotiate the price to 15 000 tenge. Later, for an extra 5000 tenge, the driver agreed to stop for 1 hour at Charyn Canyon, one of the nature highlights of this region before we continued on to Almaty.
On our second day, we had started from Santash village at 11am, and only managed to reach Almaty at 7pm. It was quite a long but amazing journey where we met lovely locals and travellers as well as saw some amazing sights.
If the weather is good, I would definitely recommend stopping by Kolsai and Kaindy lakes in addition to Charyn Canyon on the way to Almaty. In the south-eastern region of Almaty, the nature is beautiful and you can easily spend 1 week or more exploring the area.
I hope the information I have here will be helpful to whoever wants to attempt crossing the border via Kegen. If anybody has more information about this crossing as well, you can send a message over to my instagram account or via the contact me page. I am in the initial stages of beginning my blog and have not activated the comments section yet, but will do so in the future!