Tour from Petropavlovsk to Bishkek
Jeep tour from Russia to the Kazakhstan Altai and Lake Balkhash –
A trip from Semipalatinsk to the village of Katon-Karaagay –
The tour is designed for 21 days, starts at the border of Russia and Kazakhstan and then continues through the territory of Kazakhstan. The main part of the tour passes through the Kazakhstan Altai and passes through the mountains, so the tour takes place on 4x4 jeeps. This tour can be combined, made longer or shorter, it all depends on your program, to which we can adjust this tour or make a tour from scratch.
Description of the tour route through the territory of Kazakhstan: Ekaterinburg - Petukhovo / Zhana-Zhol checkpoint (Russian-Kazakh checkpoint) - Petropavlovsk city - Kokshetau city - Shchuchinsk city - Astana city - Ekibastuz city - Pavlodar city - Semipalatinsk - Ust-Kamenogorsk city - Bukhtarminskoe reservoir - Zyryanovsk village - Bolshenarim village - Katon-Karagai village - Uryl village - Yazevoye lake - Rakhmanovskie Klyuchi lake - Berel mounds - Burkhat pass 2141 meters above sea level - Urunkhaika village (Markakol lake) - Zaysan village - Tarbagatai village - Ayaguz village - Urdzhar village - Zhalanashkol lake - Akkol lake - Koktuma village - Usharal village - Aktogay village - Sayak village - Balkhash city - Saryshagan village - Almaty city - Korday checkpoint - Bishkek
- Distance of the route:
4665 km
- Season time:
all season
- Best time:
June, July, August
- Group size:
1-25
- Days & nights:
21 days, 20 nights
Tour itinerary:
Arrival from Yekaterinburg. Passage of formalities of the Russian and Kazakhstani customs and border service. Meeting at the Zhana-Zhol checkpoint. Registration of insurance policies for vehicles. Transfer: Checkpoint "Zhana-Zhol" - Mamlyutka village - Peterfeld village - Petropavlovsk city (69 km). Arrival in Petropavlovsk, transfer to the hotel, accommodation, overnight.
Breakfast. Excursion around Petropavlovsk, visiting the Regional Museum of Local History, the Museum of Fine Arts, visiting the Orthodox Cathedral of the Apostles Peter and Paul, the city's Kyzyl-Zhar Mosque and the Din-Muhammad Mosque, visiting the Roman Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, visiting Victory Park, visiting the square in front of the building of the city akimat, visiting the sculptural composition "Abai and Pushkin", the height of the granite monument is 7 meters 40 centimeters, a walk along the street with an old one-story building. City tour. torane. Overnight at the hotel.
Breakfast. There are petrol stations on this section of the road in all settlements. From the small town of Shchuchinsk to Astana, our path will pass along the Kazakhstani autobahn. Arrival in Astana, transfer to the hotel, accommodation, overnight at the hotel.
Breakfast. City tour visiting: the National Museum of History, visiting the main symbol of Astana - the Baiterek complex (105 meters high), located on Independence Square from the height of the Baiterek tower, a panorama of the administrative center of the city, the presidential palace to the Khan Shatyr shopping and entertainment center ”, the Irtysh embankment, a visit to the park-map of reduced copies of historical and natural monuments of Kazakhstan in the open air “Atameken”, a visit to the main mosque of the city “Nur-Astana”, a visit to the Cathedral in honor of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a monument to victims of repression, a visit to the aquarium in the entertainment center "Duman". City tour. Lunch and dinner at local restaurants. Overnight at the hotel.
Breakfast at the hotel. There are petrol stations on this section of the road in all settlements. Arrival in Pavlodar, transfer to the hotel, accommodation, overnight at the hotel.
Excursion around Pavlodar: visiting the local history museum of Pavlodar, visiting the museum of literature and art, visiting the Annunciation Cathedral built in 1999, the cathedral was built on the model of the Moscow Kremlin, visiting the house of the merchant Sorokin built in 1890, visiting the People's House opened in 1902, a visit to the house-museum of Maira Shamsutdinova's song art, the Maira Museum is located in the house of the Tatar merchant Abul Fattah Ramazanov, a visit to the Vladimir School, built at the expense of the merchant A. Derov built in 1888, a visit to the Trade House of the merchant A. Derov, a visit to the House of the merchant S. Ya . Okhapkin, visiting the memorial house-museum of D.P. Bagaev, visiting the House of the merchant Zaitsev, visiting the main mosque of the city of Mashkhur Zhusup. City tour. Lunch and dinner at local restaurants. Overnight at the hotel.
Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer: Pavlodar - a small village Akkulsk (288 km). Arrival in the village of Akkulsk, visiting an old wooden mosque in the center of the village. Not all settlements have gas stations along this section of the route. T
ransfer: fir trees Akkulsk - the city of Semipalatinsk (48 km). Arrival in Semey, transfer to the hotel, accommodation, overnight at the hotel.
Breakfast at the hotel. Excursion around Semey. A visit to the regional museum of local history located in the former house of the governor, a square of historical monuments of the Soviet period at the Semey hotel, a visit to the Orthodox Resurrection Cathedral, a visit to the Yamyshev Gates, which are a monument to the founding of the city, a visit to Abay Square, a visit to the Victory Memorial erected in honor of The 40th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War, a visit to the one-minaret stone mosque of the architect Gabdulla Effendi, a monument of the 19th century, a visit to the two-minaret cathedral mosque built with the financial support of the merchants Seleimenov, Abdeshev, Rafikov, a visit to the Dostoevsky Museum. City tour. Overnight at the hotel.
Breakfast at the hotel. Not all settlements have gas stations along this section of the route. Arrival in Ust-Kamenogorsk, transfer to the hotel, accommodation, overnight at the hotel.
Breakfast at the hotel. Tour of Ust-Kamenogorsk: visiting the regional museum of local lore, visiting the regional museum of arts, visiting the regional ethnographic museum, visiting the Ust-Kamenogorsk Andreevsky Cathedral, visiting the monument to the soldiers-liberators of the Great Patriotic War, visiting the main mosque of the city, the third largest mosque in Kazakhstan, visiting the city park , walking tour along the embankment of Ulba, sightseeing tour of the city. Overnight at the hotel.
Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer: Ust-Kamenogorsk - Osinovsky pass (65 km). After Ust-Kamenogorsk, the road will pass through the mountain-taiga area and will gradually rise to the Osinovsky pass. Stop at the pass, photographing the surroundings, a short rest.
Further transfer: Osinovsky pass - Bukhtarma reservoir (40 km). Stop at the Bakhtarma reservoir, walk along the shore, photograph the surroundings of the reservoir.
Transfer: Bukhtarma reservoir - settlement Bolshenarimskoe (155 km). Stop in Bolshenarymskoye village, lunch at a local cafe.
Transfer: settlement Bolshenarymskoye - settlement Katon-Karagai (87 km). Not all settlements have gas stations along this section of the route. Arrival in Katon-Karagay, accommodation in tents in a birch grove near the village of Katon-Karagay. Overnight in tents.
Breakfast. Transfer: Katon-Karagay - settlement Uryl (61 km). A picturesque area awaits us ahead, the road winds along the left side of the Bukhtarma River, from the road there are beautiful views of the Bukhtarma River valley and the southern slopes of the Azutau ridge. At the entrance to the village there is a border post, the passage of the formalities of the border service of Kazakhstan. In the village of Uryl, we will replenish our supplies of drinking water and food.
Further transfer: settlement Uryl - lake Yazevoe (30 km). 10 kilometers after the village of Berel, we turn off the main road onto the road leading to Lake Yazevoe, pass a wooden bridge across the Bukhtarma River, a small village of Yazovka.
After the village of Yazovka, the road is more like an extreme one. On this section of the road, only in the villages of Katon-Karagay and Uryl there are gas stations. Arrival at Lake Yazevoye, accommodation in tents. Walks around the lake, visiting the waterfall on the river Yazevaya. Overnight in the wards.
Breakfast. After breakfast transfer: Yazevoye lake - Yazovka village - Rakhmanovskie Klyuchi lake (40 km). Lake Rakhmanovskoye is located at an altitude of 1760 meters above sea level (45 km). After descending from the lake Yazevoe, we will visit the deer breeding farm, where they breed deer. Arrival at the Rakhmanovskoye lake, accommodation in the cottages of the sanatorium Rakhmanovskie Klyuchi. There are no gas stations on this section of the route. Walks around the lake. Lunch at the resort cafe. Dinner, overnight.
Breakfast. Transfer: Lake Rakhmanovskoye - a bridge across the Bukhtarma River near the village of Berel - Berel barrows (40 km). Visiting Berel burial mounds, archaeological excavations.
Transfer: Berel excavations - Berel village - Uryl village - Burkhat pass 2141 meters above sea level (70 km). Stop at the pass, one of the stunning panoramas of the Kazakh Altai opens from here, a view of the valley of the Bukhtarma River opens to the north, from the pass you can see how the river winds like a thin thread and goes to the west.
Transfer: Burkhat pass - Karakoba river - Alataysky pass 1792 meters above sea level (27 km). Stop at the Alataysky pass, review and photo creating an impressive panorama of the surrounding mountains and the Altai taiga.
Transfer: Alataysky pass - bridge over the Sorvenok river - Urunkhayka village (Markakol lake) (20 km). There are no gas stations on this section of the route. Arrival in Urunkhaika village on the shore of Lake Markakol, accommodation in the houses of local residents. Overnight stay.
On the way, stop at the Marble pass 1317 meters above sea level. A stop at the pass from here opens a majestic panorama of the surroundings, in the south in China you can clearly see the dunes and sands of the desert, which borders on the territory of Kazakhstan with its northern edge.
In the vicinity of the village of Moildy there is a border post, where documents and border passes are checked. On this section of the road, only in the villages of Terekty and Zaisan there are gas stations. Arrival in Zaysan village, accommodation at the hotel, overnight.
Breakfast. Our path to the large railway station Ayaguz lies through the low mountains of Tarbagatai, overgrown with sparse forests with short valleys in the north, we will see Lake Zaisan, stretching from southeast to northwest. On this section of the road, only in the villages of Tarbagatai and Ayaguz there are gas stations. Arrival in the village of Ayaguz, accommodation at a local hotel. Overnight stay.
Breakfast. From Ayaguz, our path lies to the south, to the ancient Kazakh lake Alakol, located 600 kilometers from Almaty. There are petrol stations on this section of the road. After 90 kilometers we will turn east to the village of Urdzhar.
Further, our path will lead us to the border village of Makanchi, from which we will move to Lake Zhalanashkol, which in ancient times connected with Lake Akkol, now it is separated from it by a small isthmus. Further transfer to the western coast of Lake Akkol, where tourist recreation centers are located, in one of which we will stop. Arrival in the vicinity of Koktuma village, hotel accommodation. Overnight stay.
Breakfast. Transfer: Koktuma village - Balkhash city. Our path from the village of Koktuma to the Aktogay railway station lies along an asphalt road. After the village of Aktogay, a dirt road begins, which will lead us along the northern coast to the Sayak mine, where copper ore is mined for the Balkhash metallurgical plant and delivered to the plant by freight trains.
From Aktogay to the city of Balkhash, we will not meet anyone on our way, people are extremely rare here and there is nowhere to wait for help. In the village of Sayak, there may be no motor fuel. Arrival in the city of Balkhash, transfer to the hotel, accommodation, overnight.
Breakfast. Our path to Almaty lies first along the northwestern tip of Lake Balkhash and then gradually the road turns southeast to the city of Almaty. There are gas stations all over from the city of Balkhash to Almaty. We pass the bridge over the Kurty River, Lake Srrbulak, which will be from us to the left of the road. Arrival in Almaty, transfer to the hotel, accommodation, overnight.
Breakfast. City tour: visiting the park of 28 Panfilov's men, the Cathedral, the Museum of Musical Instruments, the National Museum of History, Republic Square. Lunch at the restaurant "Kazakh village". After lunch, transfer to the Medeo tract (15 km). Ascent by cable car from the Medeo tract to the Shymbulak ski resort and further to the Bolshoi Talgarsky pass. Walk around the pass, picnic with champagne. Return to Medeo. Moving to Almaty. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
Breakfast. Transfer: Almaty city - Bishkek city - Kordai village (209 km). On the way to Bishkek we will overcome the Kordai pass 1233 meters above sea level. On the section from Almaty to the city of Bishkek, there are gas stations in all settlements.
In the village of Kordai, passing the formalities of the Kazakh and Kyrgyz customs and border guards at the checkpoint "Kordai". Registration of insurance policies for vehicles.
Transfer: checkpoint "Korday" - Bishkek city (26 km).
Photogallery:
Day 18. Koktuma village - Usharal village - Aktogay village - Sayak village - Balkhash city (558 km)
