Caravanistan

Adding my 50 cents to the problematic issue in Dushanbe (also a bit of deserved publicity). Last summer, stayed in an excellent hostel in Dushanbe. It's called Yeti Hostel and it's located 15 min on foot from the city center (there is also a bus stop nearby). It is cozy, clean and their super helpfu...

If you mean Khunjerab pass (where you get by Karakorum Highway from Kashgar) it is closed during winter months for all traffic. It is over 4,500m between Himalayas and Hindu Kush, so you can imagine how much snow is there.

Just a note on Osh Guesthouse. Avoid that place if possible. In the worst case, sleep over but don't give them a som for additional services like visa, transport and trips. They sell extremely overpriced things and lie to foreigners (e.g. they arranged 2 separate jeeps for 2 couples for the very sam...

Haha, I wish it was only Slovaks, not all the Westerners

Give it a try yourself and we'll see

Opening Qolma and maybe gradually Wakhjir would be a welcome change though

Yes, I have read your Qolma article.

Although I agree it was more thanks to his Chinese language (and more importantly Chinese origin). He said they had changed the border status on the 1st of June 2014. I attempted to cross on the 3rd of July and they still claimed it was bilateral only.

Just a note to Osh-Batken-Isfara route. We took public transport from Osh to Batken. Although we clearly expalined driver and someone else on the station that we need to bypass Sokh enclave (and they agreed multiple times that it is no problem), we were quite suprised when we passed directly though ...

Nice, that should be helpful (although I hope the damned Chinese will change their attitude).

Here are some pictures

Just a report from Irkeshtam crossing (from China). I crossed on 4th of July. I took a shared car from Kashgar to Wuqia/Ulugqat for 25 RMB and then a cab to the customs for 15 RMB (it's really far from the center). I reached customs just before the lunch break at 12 but they were nice and checked al...

Today I was passing by Qolma and decided to give it a try as there were no reports from this direction. The officers looked concerned themselves and had to look for an answer for some time. Finally they told me that it was only bilateral. When I told them it was open for internationals now (refering...

I spent last 2 days roaming around Karakoram Hwy and here are some points someone might find useful. All through personal experience or talking to locals. Transport & road - there is officially one bus per day leaving Kashgar at 9:30 Beijing time (cost 52 RMB) - trip takes 7-8 hours depending on the...