Karkara Valley Getting there & around

Getting there & away

The Karkara Valley is about 50km east of Tüp or 70 much prettier but rougher kilometres from Karakol via Novovoznesenovka. On the Tüp route a round trip by taxi from Karakol is about 1800som one-way. Ask for pamyatnik San-Tash (San-Tash Monument), just opposite a small collective farm settlement, 19km from the Kazakhstan border.

Derelict buses run from Karakol’s Ak Tilek Bazaar to San-Tash (60som) via Tüp at 12.30pm. There’s also a slow daily bus to Char-Kuduk via San-Tash. There are daily buses to Kyzyl Jar (former Sovietskoe) or on to the mining town of Jyrgalang (Russians call it Jergalan shakhta, which means ‘mine’); you might try hitching from Kyzyl Jar.

The Karkara (Karkyra) River forms the modern Kyrgyzstan–Kazakhstan border through part of the valley and this makes an interesting route to or from Kazakhstan. If you are headed to Kazakhstan make sure you get a border stamp, even if it means waiting some time. You will of course need valid visas for both republics. There’s no cross-border public transport.

Coming from the Kazakhstan side, you can get a Kegen, Saryzhaz or Narynkol bus from Almaty and get off at Kegen, from where it’s a difficult 28km hitch south to the border itself. A taxi from Karakol to Almaty via Kegen takes about seven hours and costs around US$120, including car customs fees.