Planning an extended trip here, and the three places I'd like to spend time in this general area are Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, and Tibet (and exiting Tibet to Nepal and then India).
I'm not sure how to connect them all without back-tracking on the same rail routes inside China. SO I thought: Can you do Beijing to Mongolia to Siberia by train, then hook back down via Almaty and into Kyrgyyzstan? Or rather, can you do it without going insane?
Why do you think that such a route would make you go insane? It certainly is possible. There are other variations. There are several crossing points from Mongolia to Russia. There is a train from Novosibirsk to Almaty. There is transport from Almaty to Bishkek.
It is also possible to travel across Mongolia, fly from Ulgit, Mongolia to Kazakhstan and then Almaty and onward to Kyrgystan without traveling through Russia. It depends on your level of adventure and willingness to fly.
Ruth
I saw the trains ... it was the 48 hours to Novosibirsk, followed by the 25 hours to Almaty, that looked challenging. Those are long trips, even if broken up ... assuming there are interesting places to get off the train.
I'm ok with flying, and I heard about the flights on one website, but I haven't been able to find the flights on any site to confirm! Of course, now I see that there are multiple spellings for all these towns. Tricky. For now, just knowing it's possible is enough. This sounds much nicer than spending close to a week traversing Siberia!
Oh, my level of adventure? At 42, I find that it's extremely high in places where people are nice, and extremely low in places where people aren't.
Traveling from Ulan Bator to Novosibirsk, there are several interesting stops each worth several days -
i. Ulan Ude on the east side of Lake Baikal
ii. Irkutsk on the west side of Lake Baikal
iii. Krasnoyarsk a large city with a long history and some interesting sites
iv. Tomsk which is a university town with lots of old wooden buildings
Novosibrisk is worth a few hours and is probably the least interesting of these places if you ask me.
If you decide to take the overland route through Russia, I have lots of information and some contacts to suggest.
Also Almaty is worth a few days. Check the central asia branch for more information.
It is also possible to cross from north of Ulgit in Mongolia to Altai in Russia overland. There are no regularly scheduled buses on this route but it is beautiful. Once in Russia head north to Barnaul and catch the train to Almaty from there. The international border point is Tsagaan Nuur in Bayan Ulgii province. Traveling in Altai is VERY interesting.
To some degree your plans will depend greatly in the amount of time that you have to travel, your overall budget, your interest in travel in Russia, etc.
For flights from Ulgit to Oskemen and then on to Almaty, try asking on the Central Asia branch and searching for various spellings. Try contacting David Berghof of stantours.com for information. This travel agency is located in Almaty and the operator has been very helpful to TT users.
Ruth
Awesome info, thanks. I was never that interested in Russia, but I also just realized that I will probably only get a single entry 30-day visa for China. That throws a wrench in things!
I'll check out the Altai. We're talking Spring next year, so I have plenty of time to research and adjust things. Now I'm thinking Seoul (start) fly to Ulaanbaator, then overland Russia, Kyrgyzstan, China/Tibet, Nepal, India ... It should be some intense traveling!
Why do you think that you will only get a 30 d Chinese visa? Lots of people get 60 day Chinese visas. Just include a detailed itinerary of travel in the Eastern part of the country and this should be possible.
Most American passport holders now get multiple entry Chinese visas good for a year, with each entry being good for 30 or 60 days. Of course they pay 131 USD for this privilege.
Are you aware that Chinese visas can be extended within China? The cost is high - the equivalent of a new visa, but possible.
Don't forget that you will need a Kazakh visa as well.
Ruth