From Mongolia To Urumqi

Hi guys

I'm traveling to Asia next year. I'd really love to get to Mongolia. Then from there through China to Kazakhstan, via Urumqi. Do you know if it is possible to get from Mongolia to Urumqi directly, or I have to go via Beijing? I've read some threads about this, but they are all from 2008, so I'm hoping that situation has changed. Do you have any recent information? And as well, is it easy to get chinese visa in Mongolia? I am Slovak passport holder.
Other option would be to get to Kazakhstan from Mongolia through Russia, but again I am not sure about getting Russian visa in Mongolia, even transit one.
I can't get Russian or Chinese visa at home, because we travel long before we get to Mongolia, more than 6 months (New Zealand, Indonesia, Pakistan, India). Maybe we will be able to get Chinese or Russian visa in Delhi. What do you suggest as most sensible option? The aim is really just to get from Mongolia to Kazakhstan, but not on plane.
Thank you very much for any suggestion.

Vlad

I'm headed to Mongolia in a couple of weeks so I've been looking for a lot of this information too. I want to get to Kazakhstan and Urumqi but there are only a few options. You can catch a flight from W Mongolia in Olgii (SP?) to Kazakhstan about once a week. From there you can head into China and Urumqi. Otherwise you have to head back to Beijing and from there to Urumqi, which is a long trip. There are flights from Beijing, though, depending on your budget.

As for Visas, my couchsurfing host and a few recent travellers told me that getting a visa for China and Kazakhstan is annoying but not impossible (same for the Russian visas). It helps to bring along a local as English is not widely spoken.

My plan is to fly from Olgii directly to Kazakhstan then see if Kyrgyzstan is possible (the border with Kazakhstan is currently closed due to unrest, which does not bode well for a visit) then head into China and hit up Urumqi.

Hi Vlad

You asked: Do you know if it is possible to get from (west) Mongolia to Urumqi (west China) directly
There are many requests to open the Bulgan border crossing in west Mongolia to China to go to Urumqi.
As of today this border crossing is not open to foreigners.

From time to time there are hints that this will happen soon. See the latest news item from May 2010.
The article says: "The (Mongolian) Cabinet Ministers Meeting discussed the general plan of model port...The meeting made decision to convert... “Bulgan” ... ports into regular operations...Mr. G.Zandanshatar, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, was ordered to start negotiation with the Chinese counterparts on converting “Bulgan” port into regular regime by July 1 2010"

You asked: The aim is really just to get from Mongolia to Kazakhstan, but not on plane.
It looks close on the atlas, but there is no border shared between Mongolia and Kazakhstan, so you will have to go through Russia or China.

Dan

It is not possible to go directly to urumqi from western mongolia. it is possible to mongolian citizens to cross border without any visa, but for third country citizens it is closed.

SCAT airlines has flights from Olgii to Kazakstan once in a week. That is on fridays.

Do you know if it is possible to get from Mongolia to Urumqi directly, or I have to go via Beijing?

Recent information doesnot suggest that this has changed. People keep talking about trying this route but no one reports back which suggests that no one has success.

And as well, is it easy to get chinese visa in Mongolia?

It should be possible to get a Chinese visa in Ulan Bator but I don't know the current requirements.

Maybe we will be able to get Chinese or Russian visa in Delhi. What do you suggest as most sensible option?

I wouldn't recommend trying to get a Chinese or Russian visa in Delhi. I don't have my notes but I don't recall either being easily obtained in either of these places. Pakistan might be a possibility for the Chinese visa. The Russian visa generally speaking is only possible easily in Hong Kong. I don't recall any other location in Asia where it can be obtained easily unless you have a residency permit.

Other option would be to get to Kazakhstan from Mongolia through Russia, but again I am not sure about getting Russian visa in Mongolia, even transit one.

Russian transit visas require that you have tickets for travel from the point of entry to the point of exit. Since there is no single train that travels from Mongolia through Russia to Kazakhstan, I think it might be difficult to obtain the train tickets for this route. Not impossible but difficult. OTOH I recall that some passport holders have been able to obtain Russian tourist visas in Ulan Bator, the capitol of Mongolia on occasion using UB based travel agency. Again since I am not at my computer, I can't offer the appropriate link but you might try searching this forum for Russian visa Ulan Bator.

If you travel from India to Pakistan to China to Kazakhstan, it is probably possible to get a Russian visa there but it will likely be very expensive as in the past only original documents were accepted at the embassy or consulate. These are costly to obtain and will take time to be sent from Russia.

If money is a concern, I suspect that it will be cheapest to avoid Russia and to recross China.

Ruth

Thanks to you all guys for your posts.
It looks like we will have to decide in Ulan Bator whether to go to Kazakhstan via China or Russia, according to visa availability there. I hope that there will be no problem to get Kazakh visas either in Delhi or in Ulan Bator. We won't be going to Pakistan, only Nepal and India. Money are a bit of concern, because we have limited budget and are going to Asia for a year, so we will have to be careful with money.
Thanks again :)

How will you get from India or Nepal to Mongolia?

Ruth

Hi Ruth

We will be flying from Delhi to Ulan Bator. Before India we will be in Nepal, but not in the cities often, so we will have to get Mongolian visa in Delhi, which hopefully won't be a problem.

Vlad

Do you know how easy it is to get a Kazakh visa in Ulanbaatar? Where is the embassy now? I believe it has recently relocated but we have been looking for it without success. Nobody locally seems to be able to tell us.

I have no idea where the Kazakh embassy is located. My suggestion is to contact another Kazakh embassy and ask them. Have you tried the old location? Usually there would be some indication there of the new location. Another thought, try kazakh based travel agencies such as stantour.com or Valentina's guest house in Almaty.

Ruth

Anyone knows whether the Chinese-Mongolian border is closed both ways? I am thinking of traveling from Urumchi to Ulan-Bator by bus or car in September. Is 2 weeks a realistic period of time for that?

Not sure what you mean. There is only one international border between China and Mongolia. It has been open for years. It is a road and rail crossing from Erlian (Erenhot) to Dzamyn Uud.

It is possible to travel from Urumqi to UB but there are no buses from the Chinese Mongolian border to UB. There are trains. A daily overnight passenger train from the border to UB and twice a week an express train from Hohhot to UB.

Urumqi to Lanzhou by train is about 21 hours by train.
Lanzhou to Hohhot by train is about 17 hours
Hohhot to Erlian (the border) by train is about 8 hours.
Erlian to UB by train is about 14 hours or you can cross the border and take the train which takes about 12 hours if you take the express or more if you take the local train.

Ruth

Hi guys,
Getting back to this old post, do you guys know what the situation is now on the bulgan border-crossing issue heading towards mongolia?i heard it could be open to foreigners now but it doesn t look like it will be clear before actually reaching that border post. Any info welcome.
Thanks
Philippe

Hi Philippe

The border is now open.
It operates all year round.
There is no problem crossing this border.

See more details on the Bulgan border crossing page.
http://tomongolia.blogspot.com/2011/05/bulgan-border-open.html

Dan