After an incredible 10 days in Kazakhstan, it was time to state goodbye. We had organized to see much more than just Astana as well as Almaty, however after having some fast-paced travel days, we chose to just stay put as well as travel slower. We spent a whole week just in Almaty as well as had a excellent time there. We did so numerous things as well as discovered a great deal about the country from our new Kazakh friends…we really might have stayed longer!

Our day spent at the market in Almaty was amazing…as was this fresh honey!
The morning of our departure, we took a city bus to the long-distance bus station where we boarded one of the numerous marshukas (shared mini-vans) bound for the funding of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek. The trip started off ok, however after a short break for lunch, we were all shuffled into a different marshuka. Our backpacker mentality kicked-in as well as we both immediately stated “no”. We’ve seen the scams before, you pay the full cost to one city as well as switch buses mid-way where they expect you to pay much more money to get to your final destination.

Our marshuka from Almaty to Bishkek
But because everybody was moving their bags over (all regional people) we chose to just choose the flow as well as comply with along, either that, or be stuck at the dusty, middle of nowhere stop. Our new marshuka was older, louder as well as much shitier (is that a word?) Nick as well as I were sitting in the extremely front seats of this mini-bus as well as the engine started to overheat. It was cranking out extreme temperatures from the air vents, directly into our faces. Our entire bodies were sweating; opening the window didn’t even assist since the air outside was over 30 degrees. We were crawling along the highway at about 50kms/hour.

Finally we shown up at the border.

Before starting on this trip, we had checked out (and been told) that citizens of many western countries don’t requirement a visa for Kyrgyzstan, we just get a stamp in our passports on entry. When we got as much as the counter, the passport manage was flipping furiously with our passports in browse of something. We both looked at each other understanding what he was looking for. He lastly provided up as well as said: “You have a visa for Kyrgyzstan, yes?” Um, “No, we don’t requirement one” was our reply. He went asking around to his colleagues as well as lucky for us, our research study was appropriate as well as he stamped us out of the country – certainly the passport manage ought to understand this though as well as not have to be told by a couple of Canadians!

Luckily we were able to get our visa on arrival at the border!
We continued to walk about 1 km to Kyrgyzstan as well as were stamped in without any problems. We then had to wait on our marshuka to take us to Bishkek. We people watched, drank some water as well as stood around in the shade waiting on our bus, or anybody that we acknowledged from it for that matter. After about a 1/2 an hour we started to believe we had been left behind. We walked back to the border area to look, we were scanning the people however acknowledged no one.

Then we found him! He had just taken longer to go with customs with the car than we had…phew. We waved at him with significant smiles on our faces, however he just looked best at us with a blank gaze as well as drove about a kilometer away where he pulled into a gas station. Oh good, he’s just fueling up we figured. So we hoofed it there, carrying our bags on our backs in the burning sun (swearing at him for not choosing us up along the way). just as we were reaching the gas station, we saw our white minivan peeling out of there as quick as possible.

It was official, we were being left behind!

We had a bit bit of regional currency that we had exchanged at the border so we chose to flag down the next minibus or cars and truck we saw as well as request a ride. Within a couple of minutes, a regional bus that runs from the border to Bishkek pulled over. It was only going to expense us 50 cents to get to the city. fortunately we had sufficient as well as hopped in.

Having some regional currency on you whatsoever times is a must
We spent two nights in Bishkek at Silk road Backpackers. A other half as well as other half team own this as well as the hostel that we stayed at in Almaty. The hostel was ok, we at least had a double space as well as didn’t have to withstand sleeping in a dorm room…but like a few other locations we’ve stayed on this trip, the door to our space didn’t lock.

Beautiful Ala as well Square in Bishkek
We spent our time in Bishkek wandering around the leafy streets, eating some incredible regional food, applying for as well as acquiring our Tajikistan visas (yay!) as well as just chilling out. Bishkek was an alright city, we had heard it’s essentially just a location to eat great food as well as to apply for a few of the numerous visas a traveller needs in this part of the world.

Enjoying some tasty poultry shashlyk (kebab)
We believed it was a good stopover, however understood it was just that…we wished to get to spectacular Lake Issyk-Kol as soon as possible!

Have you ever been ripped off when taking transportation? tell us about it below!

***Goat Notes:

In Almaty – Take bus number 45 from along Dostyk Ave. to get to the Sarayan Bus station (Long distance Bus Station) the expense is 80KZT, taking about 30 minutes to get there.

Marshukas from Almaty to Bishkek run from early in the morning up until the evening, leaving when full. The expense is 1,300KZT as well as it takes 5 hours to get there.

top 10 things TO perform in ALMATY

FROM THE LEAFY streets OF ALMATY: ARE WE IN KAZAKHSTAN?

ASTANA: THE DUBAI OF central ASIA

Like this Post? Pin it!

Disclaimer:Goats On The road is an Amazon partner as well as likewise an affiliate for some other retailers. This implies we make commissions if you click links on our blog as well as purchase from those retailers.