From Russia to Almaty

[OWNER]

Considering your previous messages, there are three options for the route from Russia (Grozny city) to Alma-Ata:
1. Through Astrakhan - Atyrau - Aktyubinsk (the shortest)
2. Through Saratov - Uralsk - Aktyubinsk
3. Through Chelyabinsk - Troitsk - Kustanay (the longest)
I will say right away - on your camper you can certainly drive along all routes without harm to the vehicle. It's just a matter of the speed of movement and the time you spend. Understand? You are not interested in roadside service (really?), and diesel fuel is available equally on all routes. The best option in terms of road quality is option 2. Here we have a bad section in front of the Russia/Kazakhstan border, the length of which is no more than 10 km.
https://youtu.be/L8YdKkyWt-M
We already have the second bad section on this route very close to Alma-Ata, its length is about 50 km, no more. I have already provided a link to the video above.
Options 1 and 3 have more kilometers of bad road, much more.

[Lagerfeld]

Hi, Owner, thank you very very much for all your posts.
I watched this video a few times: https://youtu.be/L8YdKkyWt-M
and after this I was very much afraid to use my camper at thie kind of roads.
Special look the first 45 sec from this video - there is no asphalt, there is only sand and I am sure in sand my camper can not go.

before I have had a Land Rover, it was a completely different story.
Pls look once again at your above mentioned video, special at the first 45 sec.

You gave me 3 different routes from RUS --> KZ. Which route has the best streets condition - or are all of this streets bad to very bad?

If there are many streets without asphalt, [ that means like the dessert in Afrika ] , than I will NOT go to KZ by camper, I'm too much afraid about all.

Your comments about petrol, diesel sounds ok. I have a 90-Liter tank, this is enough for 800 km, plus a kanister of 20 liters = 1000 km I can drive.

I show you a few pic's of my trips to Northern Africa, Tunesia, Libya, Marocco:



















But this time was completely different, different trips, different cars and so on. Nothing to compare with the time now.
For my present camper I must take care; I think when I get a break down because of the very bad streets - nobody will help me ?

One of my friends in Almaty [ = without a car !!! ] told me, in northern KZ you have a way of 300 km from one village to the other one. Who can help me in this 300 km way?

Thank's a lot, Tony.

I want to ask you a different question, for this I send you a PM = private message, this is better.

[OWNER]

You gave me 3 different routes from RUS --> KZ. Which route has the best streets condition - or are all of this streets bad to very bad?

Hey Tony!
Please read my previous post carefully. It clearly says that I prefer route number 2 and I explain why.

I watched this video a few times: https://youtu.be/L8YdKkyWt-M

Yes, there is such a video. This section of the road is no more than 10 km.
Now please watch another video. https://youtu.be/7V-uCACV-YU
The first half is the line at the border in September 2022, after the well-known events in Russia. ALL cars (the queue is about 5 kilometers long) passed through the section in the video that you watched several times. ALL. No one was left to die in the mud. )))
The second half of the video - passing the border on the road Astrakhan - Atyrau. There is no excitement, the border is empty.

For my present camper I must take care; I think when I get a break down because of the very bad streets - nobody will help me ?
One of my friends in Almaty [ = without a car !!! ] told me, in northern KZ you have a way of 300 km from one village to the other one. Who can help me in this 300 km way?

As far as I know, no one has yet died on our roads just because their car broke down. )) As for your friend. Is he a hunter? Or maybe a fisherman? In the sense - he likes to exaggerate ...))) Look at the Google map - where in Northern Kazakhstan there are 300 kilometers of roads without housing?

I want to ask you a different question, for this I send you a PM = private message, this is better.

Dear Tony! You can ask me questions in any way - I will answer you. But it seems to me that our open discussion may be useful for someone else who is going to drive from Europe to Kazakhstan.

And finally. To "finish off" you completely! )) Two photos of the road Alma-Ata - Ust-Kamenogorsk. A pack of cigarettes for scale.

Please don't be so scared. ))) This is a photo of 2018. Now everything is almost good there.

[cpac]

Hi Tony, I understand from western point of view it sounds like madness to drive on those roads, but as OWNER has pointed all the cars are getting throu without mechanical issues, but mentally it is devastating !
I drove brand new sedan from Bishkek to Astana and back, and nothing bad happened, also the few kilometer s of roads in Almaty region are the permanent gravel detours, and all the cars are getting throu, I’m driving that route once, or twice a month. Just drive on steady
20-40 km/h speed, and watch the “landscape of the road” zigzag your way throu, it’ll be long, but you’ll be fine, also similar fords filled with passengers, are making that trips daily, just budget way more time for the distance

[Lagerfeld]

@ Owner & cpac:

Thank's a lot for your responses.
Yes, may be I'm little bit too much scared when I see video about the damaged streets, and I really don't know what I'll do. May be I will try to drive one of this routes.

" Or is your goal - to get to Alma-Ata on the best road? " Yes, this is my goal, I want to use the BEST road, may be not the fastest, because I've many time but I'm agraid about my camper also.

I will look one more time at the route number 2. - Thank you.

When I passed the border from RUS --> KZ - there I can find a petrol station right after the border?

That I want to spend 2 or 3 days in Grozny - this has nothing to do with my trip to KZ - only because I have something like a friend in Grozny which I like to visit after a long time " no see him ".

[OWNER]

When I passed the border from RUS --> KZ - there I can find a petrol station right after the border?

Are we talking about route 2 now? Perhaps there is a gas station near the border, but I recommend driving 30 km. deep into Kazakhstan to the village of Taskala (Kamenka) 51.095277, 50.286308. There are gas stations of several major brands here. My advice is to buy fuel from these companies: Helios, Sinooil, KazMunayGas/Qazaq Oil. The sites of these companies have a map of gas stations. No need to refuel at small gas stations. On my trips around Kazakhstan, I always refueled at KazMunayGas/Qazaq Oil.
By the way, about maps. General route planning, especially for long distances, I always do on Google Map. In the same place I leave my reviews about the visited objects, I am a level 9 local guide. https://www.google.kz/maps/contrib/1086 ... m2!3m1!1e1
Over the years, I realized that planning for these maps is convenient for me.
I also made a map of Kazakhstan/Russia border checkpoints, you can find this map in my story https://roadstravel.ru/perekhod-granits ... ine-zapad/

[Lagerfeld]

. . . Are we talking about route 2 now? Perhaps there is a gas station near the border, but I recommend driving 30 km. deep into Kazakhstan to the village of Taskala (Kamenka) 51.095277, 50.286308. There are gas stations of several major brands here.

Yes, I look now at route 2. And I found already Tasqala, and in RUS the last town is Osinki.
In Almaty I saw a lot of HELIOS - petrol station. ok., I will use them. One time tank full = 800 km for me, this is ok.
With 1 kanistre = 20 litre = 1000 km driving, is also o.k.

At the main roads, mostly signed with a "M", I can find safe parking, may be with a security? Or a restaurant / hotel with parking for me ? Of course I'll pay for this.

At the border I can find exchange office for € or $ --> Tenge? May be ATM ?

[OWNER]

There are a lot of long-distance trucks along the route and a lot of parking lots for them. There is a large guarded area, the amount of payment is small. Many such places (parking / restaurant / hotel) are marked on the Google Map, look carefully.
Exchange office? ... I don’t know, I can’t say that it will be at the border. For reference, payment cards work in Kazakhstan without any problems, you can pay for fuel with a card. This is the problem with them in Russia now.
Canister. There will be no problems at the entrance to Kazakhstan. But at the exit from Kazakhstan it is impossible to take out fuel in a canister, only a fuel tank. Previously, it was possible to have 20 liters in a canister, now - no.
Tony, what city do you live in?

[Lagerfeld]

. . . But at the exit from Kazakhstan it is impossible to take out fuel in a canister, only a fuel tank. Previously, it was possible to have 20 liters in a canister, now - no.
Tony, what city do you live in?

Ok., I will not use any canister, it's not nessecary.
The situation about TIR - Parkings along the road I can imagine - I know this from Turkey, Romania, many parkings for the trucks. In RUS they call it AVTOSTOJANKA - and the price is very small for Parking.

My situation now is a little bit difficult. I was born in NÜRNBERG = Nuremberg / Bavaria.
But the last 12 years I was staying in Czech republik with my girlfriend in her flat, which we bought together but all on her name. For this reason I finished ALL in Germany, no flat, no friends, NOTHING left for me.
She is born and from Almaty.
After 12 years living there in CZ she decided to sell all and go back to KZ to her parents + family. After she sold all I was of course HOMELESS - only my camper left for me and a few personal things.

From this time, it was last year summer, I live in my camper at a camp ground and try to survive. She is in Almaty and bought there a new flat for herself and for our cats.

Now I'm very much alone at the camping, here in winter no people and no guests come, it's verry boring but I can survive. I sleep, I cook, I'm walking around AND NOW I'm trying to reach KZ with my camper. If I arive there or if I never arrive - nobody knows.

Yesterday I have got my RUS - Visa, it's for 180 days. multiple entrees, so I have many time to travel.

This is all for today, thanks for listening and reading my words, Tony.

P.S.: I love my cats very very much:







For me the most important question is now: HOW I GO BACK TO EUROPE ?

I looked at my maps and I think I'll go back the following route:

ALMATY --> KARAGANDA --> ASTANA --> KOSTANEY --> TROIZK / RUS

From Troizk / Tscheljabinsk I want to go to Moscow and than to Latvia / Litva / Polscha --> Germany.

Can somebody tell me how is this street ? Or should I use another route?

Thank you very much for all your help . . .

P.S.: Yesterday I was at the IMMIGARION POLISI OFFICE in Almaty and I ask for an extension of my 30 day's stay in KZ - this is unfortunately impossible - the only way is to go out of KZ, than come back and get again 30 days as a tourist.

[Lagerfeld]

So, now I'm already a few days in KZ and I want to write how was the road.
Because of recommandations of my friends in Grosny I choosed the shortest way via Astrachan. Till the border to KZ the street was ok, a small ponton bridge after Astrachan was not so comfortabel but o.k.

The border passage was ok, even whenn it took a long time at the russian side.

After the border, it was already dark I bought a car insurance for 18.000 Tenge for one month.
I thought I will find a parking place for my mobile home, but there was nothing and even a very unfriendly police sent me away.

After 25 km I found a nice, small hotel with a nice parking place and after asking the reception lady she let me park at this parking.





After a very good sleep I got a shock when I used the street to Atyrau - totally damaged and catastrophal condition for my mobile home.

I was driving this very bad street till Aktobe, here I found also a very good parking for only 1000 Tg:





The road from Aktobe to Almaty was slightly better, possible to use with a good average speed.

At the petrol stations the Chef's told me I must pay 450 Tg per liter diesel, instead of 295 Tg for the local people.

Another sleeping place was here, for 700 Tg:







What I didn't like were the very dirty places, all rubbisch was lying around:





I stopped at my way to Baikonur, as I have already written, there was only a soldier telling me: Sakryto gorod!

After Shymkent und Taras I came to Almaty where I will stay now for a while and latzer I will co further for Kyrgystan.