Irkeshtam Pass: Kyrgyzstan (Osh - Sary Tash) to China (Kashgar)

[WRPT]

Glad you made it OK! Safe travels!

[Antoine]

No other feedbacks (especially for foreign tourist at the Chinese border) or on this Osh Kashgar shuttle (perhaps only for Chinese as before Covid)?

I search options and cotravelers for a border crossing on July 25th, 26th or 27th 2023.

[Fahd]

Hi there.

Note that I am Muslim, and holder of a French and Moroccan passport, I got my visa in France on my French passport.

My itinerary was as follows:

I left Osh (Stary avtovakzal) to Sary Mogol with a shared taxi, there is also a shared minibus leaving from the same station at 2pm. It stops in Sary tash before Sary Mogol.

From Sary Mogol I went to Tulpar lake (transfer arranged by Lenin peak guesthouse for 3600 som return), I stayed there two nights.
Today, I asked how much it would be to drop me off at Sary Tash instead of Sary Mogol, and it was 700 som extra.
I was dropped at the intersection of the road that goes too Irkeshtam, at a gaz station. I wanted to hitch a ride to Irkeshtam, then one guy from there asked if I am going there, I said yes, and he said he can take me for 500 som (I gave him an extra 500 upon arrival, meanwhile Lenin peak guesthouse quoted 5000 som!)
Do not hitch a truck at this point, their waiting line spans tens of kilometers outside the border.
Upon arrival I had 7000 som which I could convert not fully in a shop (5th shop going up from border fence), it is owned by lady who didn’t have all the mount I wanted to convert.

Note that I haven’t seen any ATM or facilities to exchange from both sides.

Stamped passport at Kyrgyz side, upon leaving a policeman asked a truck driver to take me to the next border, after the first passport check (Kyrgyz side), he asked me to walk as it’s near, and that he can no longer take me (I don’t know why). I hitched another truck who took me in. Then, first stop (at the Chinese gate), quick passport check and go on to the following point:
Trucks have to go through a scan, so I had to leave, the occasion of the policeman to ask quick questions where I came from, see my passport, then they hitched me another truck.
Then all the way, to the border control.

Upon entering, a courteous policeman approaches me to fill a entry paper, then asks me to sit in a room and quickly came to ask me a few questions:

Where I am from, the city I will stay in, how long, checked my photos, and scrolled up, asked me about my girlfriend as we were together in photos, then a quick baggage check.
After this, I went through passport control.

I am quite surprised that I wasn’t asked about my religion at the border as I heard it was common. I went even further to also shave my beard the day before I crossed!

After the passport control, I was invited in a room where another policeman came to check my passport and write a few details. From then on, I was waiting for a taxi with other Chinese for one hour, I used this time to activate my eSIM bought on airalo, and had internet all along afterwards.

The shared taxi price is 100 yuabut it takes you only to Uluqat, thinking initially it was going to Kashgar.
On the way to Uluqat, there is only one checkpoint where we had to step off and show our passport.
In Uluqat we arrived at 16.30 (opening time) - there is customs check of baggage, and the health form to fill online (I don’t know if they have wifi), then I’ve found a taxi who can take me to Kashgar for 30$

Meanwhile waiting in the car, the policeman came up to me and asked me where I am going, and if I am Muslim. I said ‘maybe’ and he was don’t worry you can tell me, which I said that I am not practicing. I learnt later that it was without bad intentions, he’s friendly and himself he said he’s Uygur, and they are waiting for a clearance call.

Meanwhile waiting I stepped out and entered the station, they offered me water, and at that time was stunned that I had my driver and two policemen there in the same room, they said they’re all Uygur but all looked different! (One looked more Arab or Pakistani, one looked Persian or Tajik and the other looked Kyrgyz/Chinese). They handed my passport over to me, and we hit the road to Kashgar!

Well, there was a first checkpoint that took us 10min of checks. I expect more at the entrance of the city.

In the end the border crossing is not as bad, but rather long. I’ve experienced way worse in other countries while travelling with my Moroccan passport.

It’s always advisable to sleep in Nura/Sary Tash/Sary Mogol and start the border crossing as early as possible.

[Undskyld]

Hello,

We are planning to reach Kachgar from Osh in one day, the 29th of July.
If anybody wants to share a taxi let me know.

[Old Silk Road]

Dear Undskyld,
We are currently in Kashgar and plan to travel tomorrow to Sary Tash over Irkeshtam Pass. Was the border open today? We are still not sure if the border is nowadays open on Sundays.

If you still need a hostel, we can recommend the Ancient City Yashe Hostel which is just in the city center. Meet us there tonight if you want!

We travelled the whole Kharakoram Highway recently. We will make a post about it soon!

[Myosotis]

Hi,

Just crossed the border 2 days ago from Sary-Moghol.

I hitchhiked buses and trucks to the first check point around 10km from the border. From there, militaries stop trucks for you.
Unlikely, it was the weirdest and stinkiest truck driver I've ever seen but hopefully I left him when he arrived to the looonnngg queue waiting for the border crossing.

From there I started to hike (be careful on the trafic passing by the trucks) and eventually someone picked me up.

The Kirghiz side was very easy and friendly. They stamped my passport and stopped another truck for me.

On first Chinese truck control they stopped me for 15/20min until a little electric police car came to pick me to the first Big border control.

Here they asked questions and checked luggage and pictures, I still had my old phone and said I wasn't sure of the exact days of departure as it was not exactly planned. One was ouïgour I guess and very friendly and spoke a decent English, three others where Chinese and one was just asking me the same questions as the first one.

Overall I've just been cool and honest and they stamped and didn't let me the choice for a shared taxi to uluqat.

We arrived at 10, they reopened the control for us, made the health declaration without any pcr test but no controls.

I then bargained the taxi to 140y for the ride and a hotel for 175y.

Next day I when to the bus station for Kashgar and had to bargained another hour for them to accept to let me share a ride with locals for 39y.

Things are working, you will get threw if you hide your impressions of seeing a dictature with some people scared to speak honestly and the most cameras you'll ever see.

Freedom and privacy are great gifts to preserve in our countries..

[Samiette]

Hi everyone,

Thank you so much for all those very useful information. We are a french family traveling along the silk road and further until Malaysia. We plan to cross the Irkeshtam border in a few days (around the 9th of september maybe before or later).
Does anyone know if there is a place to change/get yuan around Sary Tash (or even Osh) ? And also where to buy a chinese simcard ?

Thank you so much,
Juliette and Samuel

[katho]

Hi everyone

I crossed the border from Sary Mogol to Kashgar a couple of days ago. Here's my detailed report:

CBT Sary Mogol organized a private transport to the border for me: the driver has a permit to drive you until the last passport control / stop on the Kyrgyz side and it cost me 4500 Som
We left Sary Mogol at 7.05 am and I was dropped at 9.25 am at the last stop on the Kyrgyz side of the border. From there I had to walk a few hundred meters for 15 minutes to the first Chinese control. The border police at the first checkpoint were all young, nice guys who just briefly looked at my passport, joked around and one asked me to help him pronounce some english sentences on an instruction paper. I wasn't allowed to board a truck and had to wait a few minutes for a taxi which brought me to the second checkpoint. There I had to wait a few minutes, before I was asked into a separate room for interrogation, which was done by one officer who didn't speak english and used a translation device. He asked me why I had been 3 times in Uzbekistan for very short time, what my travel plans are, what religion I have and if I know anything about Xinjiang and the Uighurs (which of course I denied). Then he wanted to see my mobile phone (where he just checked my pictures - there are very few because I mainly use my camera - and checked the downloads on youtube (I advise to delete your youtube history before crossing the border) and my camera. He wanted to see pictures from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and when I told him that these are on my notebook he wanted to see them on my notebook. When he saw that I've also been to Turkey, he decided to only wanted to see those pictures. He didn't look at anything else on my notebook and also didn't install any spy app.
I didn't need to scan my luggage. I took out about 80% of the things in my small backpack, but they didn't really look at it. Then I took out 50% of the things in my big backpack and the guy examined everything I had took out, including my 150 $ Swiss tool knife which fortunately wasn't confiscated, and then I could close my backpack. Afterwards they controlled my passport and stamped it. The whole process - from arriving at the first checkpoint until my passport getting stamped took 1 hour.
Outside the checkpoint the taxi driver was waiting for me. After a few minutes waiting for a 3rd passenger, he drove us to Ulugqat for 135 yuan. On the way he stopped at a shop where I could change Kyrgyz som into Chinese yuan. We drove quite slowly, went to eat lunch and then went to wait at the customs at Wuqia/Ulugqat until they opened at 16.30 pm Beijing time. There they controlled my passport again, I had to fill out a form online on my mobile phone and to scan my luggage - which only took a few minutes.
At Ulugqat I found a shared minibus that left shortly after I arrived there and cost 38 yuan. On the way to Kashgar me and a Kyrgyz passenger were taken out at a police checkpoint which took about 20 minutes.
I arrived in Kashgar. at 7pm Beijing time - the whole journey took me 10 hours.

The whole thing was much smoother than I had expected and I was very surprised how quick I got through the checkpoints and how few questions I was asked. Maybe being a female solo traveller helped...

[Myosotis]

You can change Som and get anything (SIM card/food/drinks..) after the Chinese side (where they stamp your passport).

[rolz86]

Looking for any travel buddies for this border crossing around Wednesday 1 November 2023.

Plan to set off from Osh on 1/11, stay in Sary Tash/Sary Mogul then cross the border on 2/11 into Kashgar.

If you're interested in sharing the trials and tribulations of this crossing - send me a message!