Karkara valley (Kegen – Tup/Kensu) border

[emdethuong]

I crossed this border today from Kazakhstan to Kyrgyzstan. Everything was easy including the road condition. You don’t need a 4x4, a normal car will do as most locals from both sides use normal cars. Now in Karakol enjoying the winter (I’m a winter person). 22nd Dec 2023.

[Adamtiffany]

I would argue you need a 4x4 if there's any snow on the Krygzstan side as the road with it's hills would be impossible without 4x4 when I went 2 weeks ago

[emdethuong]

The road was white with snow because now it only got more snow than when you were there. But it is smooth. A 4x4 is not necessary at all.

[emdethuong]

Cars of local people from both sides traverse as life has been going on. Their cars are just normal cars.

[OWNER]

There was a trip from Almaty to Karakol a few days ago too. The day before, I contacted the Kegen checkpoint by phone and clarified that they were working as usual. From Almaty to the border is four hours by car. It took an hour to cross the border (that’s a lot) because there was a bus ahead. But the Karakol mountains are very beautiful! Other photos of this trip and video (of snow sweeping across the road) are on my blog.

[sourena]

Hi my friends .
how are you?
I have plan to cross the border from Kazakhstan to Kyrgyzstan. ( from kegen to tup). I have E-VISA .does this border open for e-visa passenger ?
note : in some site point that this border is not use for e-visa passengers.

please help me.

[Koen123]

Couple of things: crossed border end of April from Kegen side. First day we arrived at 17:20 at the border and heard border was closed (17). Had to come next day back (opened at 7 AM). Very thorough checks. Our car was xrayed as well as all our bags. Took approximately 1 hour to cross. With EU passport easy to get the stamps.

Border guards on Kyrgyzstan side greeted us with a handshake. Nice experience overall. Would not recommend to go with anything but a 4x4. Road on Kyrgyzstan side is under construction for approximately 20 kilometers or so. Big chance you’ll damage your car if not a high clearance vehicle.