Naryn to Osh (Jalalabad-Kazarman) road / transport Q&A

[DMo]

Hi,
Has anyone recently traveled Jalal Abad-Kazerman then Kazerman-Naryn by local transport (without a 4x4 with driver)?
Another question: has anyone recently gone to Saimaluu-Tach from Kazerman (round trip during the day)?
Thanks in advance

[Jouffroy]

Back to our crossing naryn kochkor kazarman jalal abad osh 06/08/24 to 08/08/24

For practical information, read only the summary. For the story of the complete hitchhiking adventure, read on.
Spoiler: crossing a tunnel under construction while towing a car is not every day.

Summary:
All prices are indicated for 2 people and with a margin of negotiation.

The locals themselves do not seem to know the new roads in the country and their condition.

Maps:
The yandex maps application indicates the correct route for the entire journey.
Between Kazarman and Jalal Abad, Maps.me also indicates the road further south which is not finished. The tunnel is not open! Do not go there! It will be by the end of the year.
Do not follow Google maps!

Road conditions:
Completely new and asphalted road between Naryn, Kochkor and Kazarman.
Be careful after violent storms the road can be blocked by landslides.
No information between Kazarman and Jalal Abad.

Public transport and prices:
Naryn Kochkor by minibus, collective taxi 700 to 1000som
No taxi between Kochkor and Kazarman or 7000 to 10000 som
(Minibus between Kochkor and Chayek arrives from Bishkek, impossible to know when.)
Minibus and taxi between Kazarman and Jalal Abad, 1500 to 3000som

Time by taxi/bus:
Kochkor - Kazarman 3 to 4h
Kazarman - Jalal Abad 3 to 4h

In details:

06/08
Naryn kazarman:
Two different taxis offer us a first price at 10,000 som, negotiable at 7000som

The road is described by the locals as difficult
An expatriate and a waitress advise us to go by kochkor.

Hitchhiking from naryn to kochkor:
1h of waiting at the exit of the city, we are picked up by a very nice little family who tells us about the politics of the country. We offer 200 soms which they accept while refusing more money.

Price of a taxi 700 to 1000 soms

07/08: Kochkor Jalal abab
The locals we are staying with tell us that we have to go through Naryn or Bishkek (4h + 14h).
No one really seems to know the new roads.

No taxi to Kazarman or very expensive: 7000 to 10000som
There is a mini bus that goes from Bishkek Chayek via Kochkor but impossible to know when.

From Kochkor to Kazarman the entire road is new and asphalted except for a 10km section of very smooth gravel that will be finished very quickly between Kochkor and Kyzart.
A few landslides on the road but still cleared enough by the machines to pass without problem.
Make sure that the road is not blocked after violent storms.

10:45
Taxi to Kyzart: 800som

Kyzart Chayek:
Hitchhiking 20 minutes of waiting
We are picked up by a very friendly German couple in a truck.

Chayek Apaл:
Same thing

Apaл 41.753620, 74.259365:
Here most of the cars go back north towards the Bishkek-Osh road.
30 minutes of waiting, we are picked up by a heavy goods vehicle.

41.753620, 74.259365 Kazarman 5pm :
Here the few remaining cars go south to Min-kush.
From here the road is only indicated on Yandex maps and Maps.me. Not on Google maps.
30mins of waiting. A tugboat with a car pulled by a strap filled with 4 Kyrgyz pick us up. It is very slow but only 2 vehicles overtake us on the way. We were lucky to be picked up hitchhiking. The road is incredibly beautiful, a huge ochre canyon.

Kazarman Jalal Abab 12:30am :
5pm The tugboat does not drop us off in Kazarman.
They decided to take the tunnel road (not yet open to traffic) and try to pass without warning us. By the time we realize it, we are far from the city and there is no traffic on this road to return.

6 p.m. A hundred meters before the tunnel, a man at a roadblock stops us. Impossible to cross. We are 5 vehicles blocked. Everyone tries to negotiate, even the offers of bribes do not work.
The other 4 vehicles end up turning around (45 minutes to Kazarman).
We all share a watermelon while waiting for a final decision.

7:15 p.m. Finally, the construction managers arrive and agree to escort us to cross the tunnel under construction, still towing the car in the back.
An unexpected moment for this crossing.

7:30 p.m. the tug drops us off at the exit of the tunnel. The managers explain to us that we will take a taxi a little further with the Kyrgyz and that it will be there in an hour.
For that you have to walk to get around the huge machines working on the road.
We go down to the bottom of the valley to go back up on the other side. Mini unexpected hike.

8:15 p.m. arrived at the other dam, meeting point for the taxi. The Kyrgyz are not sure if there is enough space in the taxi for the 6 of us. We do not really understand who called the taxi, the managers or them and if we should call another one or not.

9:30 p.m.: still no taxi, the Kyrgyz managed to push their car through the works to the dam.
The manager of the dam offers tea and bread to everyone.

10:15 p.m.: the taxi is there. He will finally tow the car to Jalal Abad, that solves the space problem. The road is completely new and asphalted on this side too.

12:30 a.m.: dropped off at the hotel.

Summary:
Once opened, the Kazarman Jalal Abab road will be great. In the meantime, the road further north via the pass remains the only viable option.
The Kyrgyz are true to their reputation. Even in tension they remain very calm and respectful among themselves as well as always attentive and kind to foreigners.
Even with the translator it is difficult to understand each other precisely in this kind of situation. Make sure that the translation is understandable by doing it in both directions before showing it to the Kyrgyz. This can avoid major misunderstandings for the future.

Good adventures to you on the Kyrgyz roads!

[Indianaglobe]

Dear Jouffroy,

We've just done today what you mentioned, thanks for detailed report. Everything is accurate, except that we didn't have chance to take the tunnel and took the pass instead, beautiful scenary but 5h of dirt road.

Tunnel is schedule to open end of 2024.

We did the whole thing hitchhiking in 1 day (Chayek to Osh), departure 8:30am, arrival 8:30pm. Hitchhiking is almost never free in Kyrzystan so we ended up 3500 som for 2, total of 6 vehicules (2 of them were free).

Hope this help!

[vikas112dubey]

Kok-Art Tunnel is not yet open it seems. one of the document says it will open in May 2025.
I sent an email to the transport ministry(on 17th March 2025) to check the same and got the following response.

"Здравствуйте уважаемый Викас Дубей! ГП ПИИ
«Кыргыздортранспроект» сообщает, что Альтернативная автодорога Север-Юг Фаза 1, где проходит тоннель на перевале Кок-Арт не введён в эксплуатацию. Гражданам проезд запрещён. На сегодняшний день когда дорога будет сдана в эксплуатацию сообщить не можем.
"
Translations

Hello dear Vikas !
GP PII "Kyrgyzdortransproekt" reports that the Alternative North-South Highway Phase 1, where the tunnel passes through the Kok-Art Pass, has not been put into operation. Citizens are prohibited from traveling. As of today, we cannot say when the road will be put into operation.