Sypatai Batyr (Chaldybar) border crossing (Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan)

[steven]

Please read and post reports on the Sypatai Batyr (Chaldybar) border crossing between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan below.

We summarize all info on the Kazakhstan border crossings and Kyrgyzstan border crossings pages.

[ASpeed]

We have just arrived in Bishkek, having ridden our motorcycles from Taraz & Merke in Kazakhstan through to Kayyngdy & Kara-Balta in Kyrgyzstan. Our map (Reise know how) didn't show it as a border crossing and our gps wanted to take us on the new M39 road loop to Korday but we took a chance. It was the easiest and quickest border crossing!! The whole process took about 45 minutes.

It seems that the majority of the 'traffic' entering Kyrgyzstan at this border crossing is on foot - we saw one truck come in after us, that's all. Not a single car.

On the Kazakhstan side, you need your Eurasian Customs Union document for temporary import of vehicles and other valuable goods (which we got when entering Russia and to which they have stuck a summary sticker and QRcode with all your information). They give you a customs exit form to complete with all the same information as you originally wrote when entering the Union. They stamp both and keep both forms and required sight of our passports and vehicle ownership documents.

We were then taken by a customs officer to the exit of the Kazakhstan immigration queue to leapfrog the queue, inside a building. It appears that this is the standard procedure as the truck driver did the same. Once done, customs went through one of our bags, asked if we carried a gun, and waived us away.


The Kyrgystan border is a few metres away. Once you have shown your passport (they look for the Kazak exit stamp - in our case, it confused them that we left Kazakhstan on an EU passport but wanted to come into Kyrgyzstan on Australian passports - that was for consistency across the Stans - but they decided to stamp our EU passports . That process took less than 5 minutes and we were welcomed into Kyrgyzstan. There was no paperwork or forms to fill in. Too easy.

[steven]

Thank you. Is it what I call the Karasu border crossing on http://caravanistan.com/border-crossings/kazakhstan/ ? Or a different one?

[ASpeed]

It's a different one Steven. It's a place called Chaldybar about 80-90kms directly west of Bishkek, between Merke in Kazakhstan and Kara-Baltynin Kyrgyzstan.
Cheers
Anne

[Mikael]

Thanks for the info, Anne.

Planning to take that one on my humble recumbent bicycle.

[steven]

Ok, it's what I call Sypatai Batyr. Thank you for the report!

[kyrgyznomad]

Just an update on the border (Chaldovar or whatever you prefer to call it) between Bishkek and Taraz. I had a similar experience coming back from Kazakhstan to Kyrgyzstan, but not the other way around. I drove a Vito van from Bishkek to the Uzbek border loaded with two motorcycles and their riders who were escaping from inclement weather. We arrived at the border around 19:25 and entered the first part of the border around 23:30. There was a large line of vehicles exiting Kyrgyzstan and the local gangsters were accepting payouts to push you to the front (keeping everyone else from moving). I was asked three times for payment on the Kyrgyz side before we cleared and had to force my way back into line because the guard that we didn't pay said we'd have to wait until every single car had cleared.

In the no-man's land there were two pimped out merc cars shuttling between the sides acting as mobile offices for the local gangsters. Smuggling and payoffs were blatantly public. With burning trash and crowds of people it looked like something out of a post-apocalyptic movie. The Kazakh side was ok with the vehicles, but the passport control was less than controlled taking another hour of time elbowing and standing our ground to keep our places in line.

On my return trip after leaving the motorcyclists near the Uzbek border I was too exhausted to drive the loop to Kordai so I tried Chaldovar again figuring I'd just park and sleep if it was too bad. Started around 1:45 AM and cleared around 2:30 AM, no problems.

Just a word to the wise.

[steven]

Thanks for the great report and for joining the forum!

[kyrgyznomad]

Thanks for the great report and for joining the forum!

Glad to help. And thank you to Saule for the referral yesterday.

[bellbutton]

You can not pass this border crossing on train with a Kyrgyz e-visa into Kyrgyzstan. (checked in Sep. 2018)

DETAIL:
I am a Chinese traveller who tried to pass this border crossing on an once-per-week train from Tashkent to Bishkek in Sep. 2018 with a valid printed Kyrgyz e-visa.(I also had a transit visa to enter Kazakhstan)

And I failed.

The train arrived Kyrgyz border control at around 4 pm. The border control officer claimed that e-visa does not apply to railroad crossing point, so I could not cross here. He ordered me to exit the train with my belongings. After that they escorted me to their barrack at a nearby town with two guys holding AK47 (unloaded) sitting next to me in an old Lada. Then they took my cell phone and locked me up in a room without window. After 10 minutes, the officer showed up again with an old man who could speak English (I supposed that he was the English teacher in town) and asked me some questions. Meanwhile two soilders emptied my bag, checked and recorded everything. They found my cash also, fortunately they just counted without stealing any. One soilder asked me if he could have one of my magnets, but the officer ordered him to put it back and concentrate on working lol.

After a long phone call between the officer and his superior (maybe), I was asked to take the next train back to Kazakhstan, find another road crossing (they suggested Korday) or take a plane to Manas airport, or simply not come to Kyrgyzstan at all. They again carried me to the border railway station in that old Lada and we waited for the daily local train. During the wait they gave me a tomato and a loaf of bread as dinner, and returned my phone (they did not check it anyway, for they did not even ask for the password).

When the train arrived, after some explaination from that officer, the old babushka who managed the train reluctantly allowed me to board. The officer gave me a letter in Russian with his signature & stamp on it and told me to present it to the Kazakh border control.

The train crossed the border again and the Kazakh border control who saw me off a few hours ago was very confused to see me back. The Kazakh officer read my letter but was not convinced at all. He made some phone calls but none of them made through (I guess he was calling that Kyrgyz officer while he never anwsered lol). Finally he gave in and again ordered me to get off the train then walked to the barrack nearby. Then it was another tedious checking, questioning, and long phone call. At around 9pm, I was finally allowed to reenter Kazakhstan and my exit stamp on my Kazakh transit visa was canceled. A lieutenant drove a jeep and sent me to a hotel in Merki, where I spent that night. I caught a taxi to Almaty the next morning. I crossed the border three days later in Korday with no problem at all.