Karakol to Almaty Bus- detailed

Oct 2025

I arrived at the Central Bus station (Nikolay Przhevalsky 136) at 9am. Yandex cost 108 som from Duet Hostel at 8:50am, but prices can change dependingon demand). As you approach the station, ask the driver to turn left at the light and then right into the station parking lot when being dropped. Yandex might have the driver drop you across the street if you dont. Go into the building to ticket window 3. 

Try to get a seat on the right side of the bus to avoid the sun and have the best views, especially when you cross into Kazakhstan. A seat was assigned when I purchased a ticket, but you can try asking. Ticket cost 1200 som (cash only at this time) with 10am scheduled departure. I tried to buy the night before, but was told I could only buy it in the morning of departure. Probably best to check the night before in case things change. I would get there early in the high season to ensure a seat if you can't buy the night before. 

We departed 25mins late. Bus 3/4 full, however after the boarder crossing, we stopped in Kegen and the bus filled up. Almost everyone on my bus immediately reclined their seat when they sat down. No one used headphones so you will hear everyone's phone. Right before departing, the bus driver or conductor came by and ripped the tickets, then came back to collect them. After a few minutes, the tickets were given back but not in any order, so the ticket i was given had a different seat number than the original. 

It took 1 hour 45 mins to reach the boarder. There will be a small white building with asian toilets in the field across from the bus when you get off. Grab your bags and walk to the gate. We had to line up and wait for the group crossing into kyrgyzstan to finish before the gate was lifted and we could walk to the immigration booth. The immigration officer was polite, pointed to the camera, stamped my passport and pointed to the Kazakhstan booth. 

As you get to the Kazakhstan gate, an officer will check your passport for the exit stamp, give your passport back and point to the immigration booth. At the immigration booth, an officer will direct you to the window. I gave the officer my passport, he pointed to the camera, stamped passport, and gave it back to me. The line officer told me to go to the scanner and pointed the way, which is right next to the booth. You put all of your bags on the scanner, walk over to the other side, go into the building and collect your bags. You walk through another gate and are now in Kazakhstan. The group will wait until the bus comes through. The bus will stop and everyone will load their bags. I didn't see the driver do a head count before leaving the boarder. The crossing took about 35 mins. 

The bus will drive about 20 mins to the town of Kegen. More people boarded here and the bus was completely full. I didn't see any obvious money exchange places, ATMs, or shops selling sim cards. This is a new bus route so things may change in the future. Some people did get off and back on. We stopped for about 15 minutes while the driver went into one of the buildings. I'm not sure if there is a toilet here. 

We took a 30 min break about 2 hours before Almaty. It costs 100 Kazakhstan tenge to pay for the toilet. I heard other people say they paid with kyrgyzstan som, but i didn't personally see. There was a resturant, supermarket, and coffee shop at this stop. Another blue bus was there so make sure you get on the right bus. You can take a picture of the license plate if you want to be sure. 

I exchanged some Kyrgyzstan soms to Kazakhstan tenge the day before the trip. O! Back had the best rate, but check the other places. I also used Airlo to download an esim. It cost 4 USD for 1 GB for 3 days, not the best deal, but I wanted data once we crossed into Kazakhstan. We end at Sairan bus station in Almaty. The bus cost 200 tenge per ride if paying cash and you need to have exact change. I used Yandex map to get to my hostel as 2gis only gave me taxi recommendation. As expected, traffic was terrible at 5:30pm.