Karkara valley (Kegen – Tup/Kensu) border

[Dorothea]

Do you have any updates when the Kegen border will open this year? We'll have to leave Kazakhstan on May 18 and would like to cross the border via the Karkara valley. Thanks for info!

[BartNL]

I have the same question as Dorothea, although we'll be passing it one week later! When is the Kegen border crossing expected to be open?
Also I got an offer from a Karakol tour operator to arrange a taxi from the border to Karakol for 2 persons for $60, which seems pricey to me. Is this a fair price?

Thanks for any answers!

[steven]

In 2014, it opened on May 19th, in 2015 on May 13th. Please update when it opens this year. It has been a long winter, so I would say later rather than sooner.

[Dorothea]

Hi guys,
We met an Australian cyclist near Charyn Canyon about 3 days ago. He came from Kyrgyzstan via the Karkara valley. So the border is definitely open now.
Happy travels!

[steven]

Here is another hitchhiking report: http://whitemonkeytravels.weebly.com/hi ... kegen.html

[reexyyl]

I crossed the border hitchhiking from Kyrgyzstan to Kazakhstan last Sunday.

From karakol I tried a different way :
- marshrutka Karakol to Ak Suu (15 som)
- shared taxi Ak suu to Jergalan through Ak Bulun (I paid 150 som)
- from Jergalan there is a little dirt road (13 km) leading to the main road to the border. Very light traffic, I walked for 45 minutes before a farming truck passes by. I jumped at the back and shared the rest of the journey with a donkey and a turkey :p
- at the main road, I just waited 5 minutes before some cool kazakhs guys pick me up. They drove me for free until 50km after Kegen.

After that, I hitchhiked to Saty and visited Kolsai lakes, quite easy.
For the way back from Saty, there is a marshrutka going to Almaty at 5:30am (with a transfer to shared taxi in Zhalanash). I took it and got out at the junction to Charyn Canyon. Not sure about the price, the guy from my homestay in Saty had told me 1000 tenge, the driver wanted 2000 and finally I paid 1600.

So I would really recommend this border crossing, it enables you to see some sights on the way and I had no problem with transportation.
About the way from Karakol to the border, it was a funny experience but definitely you should avoid it if you're in a hurry or don't want to walk

[dgustaf]

Hi,
I see posts about going both ways over this crossing. But I just arrived in Almaty and got told by a staff member at my hostel that going from the Kazakh side to the Kyrgyz side is not possible now. I will try to find other sources tomorrow, but I'm obviously hoping this is not the case.

If there are more stories on this crossing in this direction, I'd be happy to hear them. I will also update as I get more info.

[royd3n]

we did it about 3 weeks ago, you will be lucky if somebody is willing to 'smuggle' you from kegen/karkara village over to the next town in Kyrgyz.

We took a shared taxi from almaty >> kegen >> a one way taxi to the border (all asking 3000tenge), you probably can try to hitch from kegen/karkara village >> cross the border >> smile at the side of the road with your thumbs up, we were lucky that in less than 5 mins, a kazakh family took us all the way to karakol and refuse to take any money from us, i feel bad i do not have any gifts with me from my country. In any case if you are very unlucky, there are people at the border that are willing to send you to the next village or even karakol, money talks.

All the best!

[dgustaf]

Thank you for the quick reply!
So transportation is more of a problem rather than the actual border crossing? If that's the case then that is a good problem!

[GoingAroundPlaces]

Quick question: Can anyone tell me how much of the A-351 and A-362 highways from near Charyn Canyon to the Kyrgyz border are paved/unpaved? I'm having trouble finding any information about this. Thanks! =)

(section concerned in google map link here: A-351 / A-362 to Kyrgyzstan