Ust-Kamenogorsk (Oskemen) to Olgii by bus: reports

[steven]

Reports and questions about the trip between Kazakhstan and Mongolia via Russia overland are welcome here.

We summarize all info at Kazakhstan to Mongolia by public transport.

[Alonkrasin]

Hi!!

Im now in Ust kamenagorsk and i want to go to Ulgi but i didn't found any flights/ information about buses in the internet although i found people that flight from Ulgi to Ust.
If someone did this by flight/ bus i'll love to get a bit information.
Thanks!

[steven]

http://caravanistan.com/transport/bus-s ... -mongolia/

See Semey-Barnaul-Olgii bus.

[Alonkrasin]

Ok.. just came back from tourist agency.. there is 15 hours bus every day from Ust to Braunal. It cost 6000 tenge, almost 20$.

[steven]

Alonkrasin sent me this

Oskemen to Ulgi:
Bus from Oskemen to Barnaul 3 times a day (08, 18, 20). ~15$ 12 hours.
Bus from barnaul to Gorno-altaysk (10:15). ~8$ 5 hours.
Minibus from Gorno-altaysk to Aktash (07:15). ~8$ 6 hours. (there is no direct bus to Kosh-agach)
Minibus from Aktash to Kosh-agach. Don't know times. / hitchhike (easy)
Taxi from Kosh-agach to Tashanta. / hitchhike(easy).
Russian van from Tashanta(the border village) to Ulgi. (All the time). ~16$ 2 hours.
49 hours and i reached Ulgi

[islenska]

Hey!
First of all, I want to thank you all for posting here. All your suggestions were of tremendous help and made a very difficult trip easier.
I will strictly post on my own experience travelling this route--
Day 1: Astana to Semey; we befriended some Kazakh guys from Almaty in our hostel in Astana and they helped us a lot. When they heard about us travelling to Semey by bus, they started shaking their heads: 'No, for about the same price, you can take a shared taxi and get there in about 7/8 hours.' We used inDriver and quickly found ourselves a ride. It was the most expensive of all (KZT 10000 each = USD 27.50), but it was money well spent. We arrived safe and sound to Semey at sunset and even stopped for several breaks and lunch. If you've never used the app, you can ask for a local to type in his number and help you or you could buy a local SIM (very easy to do in Russia and Mongolia (around USD 4); we haven't tried it in Kazakhstan).
Day 2: Semey to Barnaul; we used BlaBlaCar. Unfortunately, our driver and his girlfriend had some issues with some papers, dropped us in Rubtsovsk and did not charge us a penny. We were then helped by locals and caught the 16:21 bus to Barnaul (USD 15.50, including 1 big backpack). 5 hours later we were in the capital of Altai.
Day 3: Barnaul to Gorno-Altaysk; we caught the 11:15 bus (USD 11.60) and were in Gorno-Altaysk some minutes after 16.
/we wanted some relaxation and headed to Artybash and Lake Teletskoye from there, on that same afternoon; we absolutely loved it and all the locals we met along the way!
Day 4 was spent trekking around the lake and we returned to GA in the evening./
Day 5: Gorno-Altaysk to Kosh-Agach by BlaBlaCar; we left at 5:30 and had a lot of fun on the road, made a great friend, got invited to a wedding, and experienced one of the most beautiful landscapes of our lives. We only paid USD 9 for the trip, which took around 8 hours, breakfast break included). From Kosh-Agach, a travel companion of ours arranged a trip to Tashanta with his brother for RUB 1000 (USD 15.30) (together).
I read about the bad experiences at the border crossing and I am sorry for them. We were lucky and were even helped by the Russian officers (we don't speak the language), being explained in English by phone that we cannot cross the border by foot. There were no vans waiting. However, a Mongolian van arrived about 5 minutes later and agreed to take us to Ölgii for RUB 1000 (together). The only problem we had was that our Mongolian visas were erroneous, 'thanks' to our 'lovely' Honorary Consul in Bucharest - but that is another story -. In the end, new visas were issued, so everything was good and we were in Ölgii by sunset.

As we were flying out from Astana, we decided to take a shared taxi back. It was a difficult journey, but it made us stronger. We paid USD 55 each; we had arranged everything with Baki (the one mentioned in the posts) at first for MNT 130000, but he couldn't go, so his friend wanted more money.
We left around 9 from Ölgii, stopped for lunch in Kosh-Agach, dinner near Gorno-Altaysk, and brunch right after crossing the border into Kazakhstan. There were frequent (too frequent! ) breaks and we arrived around 22 (the following evening) in Astana. Carry about RUB 750 for food - the amount will surely suffice and you can pay with RUB also in Kazakhstan. Have snacks, water, and wipes on you.

Happy travels!
P.S. Kazakhstan and Russia were fabulous, I couldn't say the same about Mongolia, but I am glad that I went!

[Pow]

Has anyone done the other way round, I.e. Olgii to Oskemen?

[Les frères Philippe]

Hello everyone,

Öskemen-Barnaoul is often mentioned in the previous posts, but I'd like to know which road exactly it takes from Kazakhstan to Russia:

- Öskemen-Semeï-Borodulikha-Roubtsovsk?
- Öskemen-Shemonaikha-Zmeïnogorsk?

I'm curious about the smallest road. Is it alright to take it?

Thanks in advance,

[trikolka]

Öskemen-Shemonaikha-Zmeïnogorsk? I'm curious about the smallest road. Is it alright to take it?

check information about international border crossing points there :
https://caravanistan.com/border-crossin ... -crossings

[nezenlair]

Hi
I went once through shemonaika with a bicycle. No pb
Salut, je suis passé une fois à vélo par Shemonaika.
Ne manquez pas la route qui monte à Kosh Agash (idéalement faites la en vélo)