I hava a few questions

As i am planning to go over Kazhachstan to Mongolia, i need some information

There is a road from Semipalatinsk to Rubtsovska
Is this a road where i can cross the border to Russia?

i was thinking about coming from Zhezkarzgan to Temirtau, Pavlodar and Semipalatinsk

Is this a good idea or would you recommend a different route?

Walter will chime here no doubt, but yes there is a border crossing there.

Perhaps a better one (which was suggested by Walter) is further east at Shemonaikha, less busy.

But if your coming from Pavlodor it may be too far away.

I think you can cross the border near Pavlodar also, Walter may be able to confirm that.

I know most people use the road from Semey to Rubtsovka.

I cannot find an border more east than Semipalatinsk

Maybe i cross at Pavlodar, if you think that the border at Semipalatinsk is big shit

Thanks for the information

The Border between Semipalatinsk and Rubtsovsk is a good border. Its also a major highway and that border crossing tends be be very crowded and full of hundreds of large freight trucks.

The better border crossing as stated above, is between Shemonaikha and Zmeinogorsk. Its is a hour and a half more east than the one north of Semipalatinsk. Its the closest border crossing to Mongolia.

Its quieter, less crowded, and more scenic.

I recommend you read the following thread. It not only shows you that border crossing on the map but has detail on the shortest (and very scenic) route through the Russian Altai to Mongolia.

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...zakhstan-58239

More detail on the roads in the area and the border crossing and shortest route to Mongolia can be fond in this high resolution map:

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6126/...b85d5dc9_o.jpg

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To avoid reader confusion ... this is totally false information.

There is NO CUSTOMS BORDER PAPERWORK between Russian and Kazakhstan ... they are a customs union.

You are not supposed to get temporary import paperwork from the Russians if you cross from Kazakhstan. You are supposed to already have it. Thats why they will not give you paperwork at a Russian-Kazakh border.

You also do not get paperwork at the border between Germany and France. !! Its the same deal between Russia and Kazakhstan (and Belarus) ... Customs union. No paperwork. The only paperwork is when you enter and exit the customs union.

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Corrected.
However, I met last year 3 other riders coming from Kazakhstan which had problem when exiting Russia. I wrongly assumed that it was at this border crossing, since they all crossed there.
They didn't had temporary import paper.
I met two of them at the Olgii border while going to Mongolia, as said before, it took them a little more time to pass the border.
However, I met an other rider, while exiting Russia taking the Sakhalin-Japan ferry. It took him one week to get the temporary import paper somehow...
So the problem is somewhere else when entering the custom union. Just make sure you have the paper when you enter it.

To avoid any further confusion:
If i go into Russia from the Ukraine, i will have this papers and will not have any stress through Kazakhstan ant into Russia again, right?

And if i leave Russia to Mongolia, i will have this papers from the Ukraine/Russia border, right?

Baut anyway, thanks for the good Information about this border crossing.

As you seem to be a specialist, which route through Kazakhstan would you recommend?

I try to find a way between not spending to much time and still want to see scenic nature and so on.

I was thinking about the way Atyrau, Aralsk ( had the idea of looking for the rest of the Aral see , is it worth it? ), Kyzylorda, Aktobe, Pavlodar and further
( is it worth looking at Baykonnuur or the Semipalatinsk test site ? )

Or would you recommend a different ( maybe the north ) route ?

And next question:
As you seem to be an insider , i am also looking for the best route to Ulanbataar
The north route is said to be a horror when raining, the south route might be boring.
What is your opinion about that?

Ygio - yes thats correct. Usually people have problems when they enter Kazakhstan first. Kazakh customs should give out the import permit - but it seems Kazakh customs dont know their jobs as well as Russian customs. From Kyrgyzstan to Kazakhstan seems to be the main guilty party.

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Klaus - do you want off road riding or road riding in kKazakhstan?

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Road riding

But this does not specially mean paved Road.

What is off road anyway?
When i think about the streets in Mongolia, this is still a road, but many people consider this an Off road area

No, i want to get trough kind of fast, but still want to see something.
I dont mind using bad roads, but i dont need to go really offroad ( with offroad i mean no streets, just really over a hill or anything similar )

In Mongolia i will have my Enduro roads anyway

You can download the file I posted in this northern Asia forum, most of what you are looking for is in it and recent(2012). Baikonur is very much worth visiting, spectecular but to be arranged 3 months in advance.

Groetjes,

Jeroen

Yes that is correct, they just waved me on last year. I hadn't handed over my previous temp import when I left Kaz so just kept that for leaving Russia.

Hi Klause,

Last year I entered Russia from Ukraine, Volgograd > Astrakhan > Atrayu > Uralsk > Aral > Baikonnur > Kyzylorda > Almaty, then north and crossed at the border from Pavlodar.

No issues at the Pavlodar Russian/Kazakh border, fast and not busy with trucks etc. Glad i kept the customs document at the Russian/Mongolian border as the russians got a bit shitty with a guided tour group that did not have it, i dig mine out and was ok.

Kazakhstan is a big empty place, The road is potholed and fairly bad between Astrakhan > Atrayu, Then good road from Atrayu > Uralsk and good Road from Uralsk > Aral, and about there the roadworks started, but they might be completed by the time you go. Nice ride from Almaty > to Karagandy.

If you make it to Almaty take a week out or whatever and detour down to Krygistan, i regret not doing that.

As for Baikonnur theres not much to see from the road, except the tracking satellites, but i found it interesting for the history of the place and there was an atmosphere of sorts, if you could get a schdule of the launches it would definitely be worth it. (Although you would have to view from the road).

Once i was in Mongolia i took the northern route via Ulaangom, and it was hard for me as a off-road novice, especially as the ground was wet and i had intermittent rain during my time in the country, but with hindsight was the best part of the trip, most bike tourists seem to take the Oligi Middle/South route so i found the people i came across really friendly and was the "adventure" i was looking for. And if you want it to get hard quick and remain that way most of the way to Ulaanbaatar then take the north route Ulaangom > Moron > UB (roughly), Mostly totally off road bar the final stretch in which is paved. But it is off road "over the hill" as you describe it, switch to knobbly before Mongolia

Also as a side note Altai region of russia, beautiful, don't just see it as a stretch to transit between Russia and Mongolia, plan to spend a little while there.

Goodluck!

Thanks, that is really good information for me.

How long did you go on the north route from the Rus/mong Border to Ulanbataar?