Kaz/Kyr border.
 

We have just riden along the Kaz / Kyr border and had originally planned to go north from Merke to avoid going into Kyr and back intyo Kaz to get from Taraz to Almaty.
The good news is that the road no longer goes through Kyr as shown on all the maps so you can travel direct from Taraz to Almaty without crossing into and out of Kyr. This saves 100km.
Cheers
Paul

But that is not necessarily a good thing...
Kyrgyzstan is a stunning country...IMHO, more interesting than Kazakhstan.
But each of our compasses point differently...

Agreed
 

We're in Kyrgyzstan now - agree a great country - the reason for the post was to save anyone the need to ride around the old border check point on the road from Taraz to Almaty and the need for a Kyrgyzstan double entry visa to do so.
Cheers
Paul