Almaty, Kazakhstan Long Distance Bus Station Maps and Schedules

Information taken December 2009. Click photos to enlarge.

It may also be worth inquiring in-person at the bus station about other bus destinations and schedule changes not listed in the Lonely Planet or here (which is many).

Almaty, Kazakhstan

Disclaimer: Due to the single day I spent in Almaty, there is not much I can enlighten the traveler about in this entry.

Unlike my initial thoughts about the "wilderness of Central Asia," Almaty seems like another metropolitan European city, with well-kept buildings, wide streets, and modern buses clogging around town. In fact, while on a bus (50T) I was surprised to hear songs by Juares, as Kazakhstan would be the last place one would expect to hear Mexican music.

Getting around the city is simple, even for those Russian language-challenged. From the train station, there are trolley tracks running down Abylay Khan that can take one to city-center. ATMs are also plentiful, as well as travel agents for onward travel.

While we were there, we managed some logistical tasks that may be of interest to future travelers:

• Adding passport pages at the US Embassy. Unlike the Russian Embassy, I was able to add pages without advance notice and without working on US Embassy time (eg. not on their scheduled consular hours). This was not possible in Russia, and may be an option for those in a rush.
• Obtaining a visa for the Kyrgyz Republic in one day. We were able to obtain a single-day visa for $130, although this was a bit of a swindling deal (the consular officer usually takes certified bank order but took our cash instead); the visas were as low as $30, US citizens included, for longer periods of time of processing (up to a week). Keep in mind that visa-on-demand can be obtained for $40 (15 day stays) or $50 (1 month stays) at the Bishkek airport, and there are 3-weekly flights on Air Astana from Almaty to Bishkek as of Dec 2009.

We were not able to do much touring in Almaty, but did take the Kok-Tobe cable car (800T one way, 1500T return) up. I would not recommend doing so on a cloudy day, as nothing can be seen and the cable car is not particularly impressive. Additionally, there is a bus which takes one down for 300T, but this is a huge ripoff - walk instead down the hill the 1/2 mile the bus takes you, and you will reach the public bus drop-off point where it ends. Then, take the public bus to Dostyq Road (50T).

Finally, in the 4th edition of Lonely Planet: Central Asia the long-distance bus station is not accurate, but has moved away from town. Buses can be caught there for pretty much anywhere in Central Asia; minibuses left for Bishkek when full (which was sooner than every hour) for 1000T.

Snowy Almaty, city center

The top of the Kok-Tobe cable car (on a foggy day)

Getting from Ürümqi to Almaty, via N895

To get to Almaty, Kazakhstan from Ürümqi, China, we took the N895 train departing on Monday at 23:58. The tickets ended up costing $130 USD same-day purchase, but could have been probably bought for the going price of 690 RMB at the train station (however, we thought the train was sold out, but it was 3 carriages that were not even at 50% capacity). If doing the latter, the train station closes at 4PM.

In hindsight, there are faster and cheaper ways of getting to Almaty (our train took 36 hours). These include the overnight buses which travel through the Khorgas pass, or a bus/taxi to the Khorgas pass, walking across, and a bus/taxi to Almaty. One lesser known option but highly recommended by the Alashankou border guard is a train from Ürümqi to Alashankou (departs everyday), crossing the border by foot, and then taking a shuttle bus to the Kazakhstani border where a train meets you and takes you to Almaty 6 days out of 7 (100 RMB for the train to Alashankou, unknown (but low) amount to Almaty). All of these options are significantly faster and cheaper than the international train, which takes upwards of 6 hours to switch gauge. All of these options also run in winter.

Regardless, the train was an enjoyable if slow experience. The carriages were Kazakhstani metal. Bring your own food as there is no canteen car! There is power in the carriages. The border crossing is a different experience; I was interrogated individually for 2 hours by Chinese border patrol, holding up the train in the process. Be prepared to have all of your pictures gone through, and your documents meticulously inspected item-by-item. Anything deemed “not Chinese” will be taken, such as a Lonely Planet map book showing a picture of Taiwan. Although admittedly the interrogation was friendly, it was quite persistent. Also, delete or encrypt pictures if you do not want them taken; besides checking for pictures for export, I found out later that land crossings in Xinjiang practice counter-espionage, where they take any pictures military/infrastructure related from other countries and copy them off of your SD cards.

The international train will arrive at Almaty-2, north of city center.

The flat Kazakh steppe

Kazakh train official

Inside of a carriage