nternational branch of the Nianzigou Bus Station which is located about 50 meters to the left of the main Nianzigou station (if facing the front of the station) on the other side of the Wenshabao building. Beware that the crossing at Korgas closes on Chinese national holidays (including the first week of October for National Day).
Buses also leave from Yining and it takes about 10 hours to go to Almaty. They cost USD 30 or Y150. These buses leave two or three times in a week, ask the busdrives in Yining when they will go. You could also take a bus to Korgas from Yining (Y30 - Y38) and go to Kazakhstan by foot from Korgas. After being on the other side of the border you could take a taxi which will cost about 3000 Tenge to go to Almaty. The trip from Korgas to Almaty is about 4 to 6 hours. The city of Tacheng city (north of Korgas and north of Yining) also has buses that run several times a week to Almaty and back.
From Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Minibusses travel to Almaty Sairan station from Bishkek's western bus station, and cost about 400 som/1300 kzt and take up to 5 hours depending on how long the Kyrgyz/Kazakh border crossing takes. Enter the station in Bishkek and look for the minibus bay with Almaty written above it. They go when they fill up, so expect to wait about 20 minutes or so after arriving. Just get on and take a seat and payment occurs when the bus is full and about to leave.
The trip to the Kazakh border doesn’t take long from Bishkek and when you arrive you must get out and take your luggage through the border crossing yourself. Each passenger and the minibus must clear the border individually, and hopefully he will still be waiting for you on the other side when you complete the ordeal. Unless you individually experience a major delay it is likely the minibus will wait for you. Once through the border crossing, the minibus will stop again after an hour for a rest stop at a gas
