Kazakhstan/Kyrgyzstan Boarder Crossing
There are a few places to cross this boarder, but some do not have any boarder control so you won’t get stamped in or out of the countries. This can cause future problems when you try to leave KZ or KGZ. So we would suggest the very easy crossing at Bishkek.
The crossing is around 250km West of Almaty… and yes, there is apparently a crossing at Almaty itself, but this is one that has been reported to have no boarder control.
From hostels and hotels you can book transport directly to Bishkek, or you can get a mini bus from the main bus station in Almaty. This second option should cost around 500Tinge per person. You may also need to pay for your bags as they will take up another seat, so you could be charged 1000Tinge for this journey.
>> Note: There have been reports that taxi's and minibuses from Almaty will stop at a gas station or even at the boarder and ask all passengers to get out and move to another car, where you will be charged again by the new driver. <<
Your final option is to hitch hike this route, which is easy as many drivers will at least be heading to the cross junction where drivers can take a left to Bishkek or keep going to Taraz or Shimkent.
At a junction in the middle of nowhere you will need to take a left turn and head to the boarder, which is 58km from this main road.
There is a small town at the boarder called Korday, where you can buy your final Kazakh beer. Then you will find the crossing as a large set of gates with guards keeping watch. From here you will get out of whatever car, truck or taxi that go you there and to the right of the main get there is a side gate for passengers.
Follow the traffic and you’ll find yourself in a room full of booths and boarder control men. Pick a booth, any booth, there is no particular line for foreigners. Then you’ll walk for around 50m into Kyrgyz boarder control.
Here we had our passports taken by the first guard who saw us, who disappeared into a random room, and 30 seconds later we had stamps and were being ushered through, past the queue of local people.
We arrived on the other side at the same time as the car we had hitched a lift with, so we just jumped back in and off we went.
We are from Lithuania and England, so we can stay visa-free for 60 days in KGZ. We don’t need a Letter of Invitation or hotel/flight bookings - like the requirements to enter China and Mongolia.
Follow THIS LINK to find out if you are part of a visa-free regime (July 2017).
