That said, I was also bored of Bishkek and with not much thing to do, I decided to jump over to Almaty and explore while waiting.
From Bishkek to the Ak-Zhol border was a simple ride but filled with many traffic police along the way. They seam to ignore bikes mostly but cars were pulled over non-stop by the police.
From Bishkek to the Ak-Zhol border was a simple ride but filled with many traffic police along the way. They seam to ignore bikes mostly but cars were pulled over non-stop by the police.
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| At Ak-Zhol Border - Kyrgyzstan |
If there was a free policeman, he would pull over a vehicle almost for sure. I reach the border and there was a queue with the gate closed. Naturally I skirted to the front of the line.
The border gate opens and lets in a bunch of Vehicles to be processed together. In a way it was like a sheep lock pen. I got in and first it was immigration.
The border gate opens and lets in a bunch of Vehicles to be processed together. In a way it was like a sheep lock pen. I got in and first it was immigration.
At the counter I handed over my passport together with the Vehicle Ownership Certificate. I also passed a copy of the Temporary Vehicle Import Permit obtained in Torugart border and then it was just a long wait while the officer punch in the details.
A small piece of paper with a pen was at the immigration counter. Every driver was taking a piece and writing their plate number on it so I just follow suit. Immigration stamped me out and returned all the documents and gave a small little stamp to the little piece of paper with Bragge number plate.
Next was customs. They barely check much just randomly asking me to open the box and looking through. Sniffer dogs walked around and did not bark so within a few minutes the customs officer proceeded to place another stamp on that little slip of paper with Bragge number plate.
Off to the next gate and handed over the little slip of paper and I was allowed exit into the next border control zone of Korday Kazakhstan.
A small piece of paper with a pen was at the immigration counter. Every driver was taking a piece and writing their plate number on it so I just follow suit. Immigration stamped me out and returned all the documents and gave a small little stamp to the little piece of paper with Bragge number plate.
Next was customs. They barely check much just randomly asking me to open the box and looking through. Sniffer dogs walked around and did not bark so within a few minutes the customs officer proceeded to place another stamp on that little slip of paper with Bragge number plate.
Off to the next gate and handed over the little slip of paper and I was allowed exit into the next border control zone of Korday Kazakhstan.
The process was similar on Kazakhstan side. Immigration then customs. This time however there was no Temporary Vehicle Import permit issued on the Kazakhstan size. Everything was just keyed into the system and with that I was good to go.
The whole process took an hour at most but that was because I was on a bike skipping queue. Cars & camper van would be subjected to the traffic queue and can be anything between an hour to 4 hours. The over all experience was a friendly border with no funky side money involved.
The whole process took an hour at most but that was because I was on a bike skipping queue. Cars & camper van would be subjected to the traffic queue and can be anything between an hour to 4 hours. The over all experience was a friendly border with no funky side money involved.
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| Hello Kazakhstan, and the landscape change immediately to open vast land |
New country Kazakhstan …. It was time to ride
Traveled on: June 2024
