Torugart pass crossing Q&A

[JONO5K1]

This has been said many times by many travellers in most of the posts in this thread. It's always best to have a read through first....

[JayJayontheroad]

Since people have told me that there are border crossing permits as well as border region permits, It didn’t quite understand it whether people here just meant a permit for crossing and that the border region permit is separate

[julien_trek]

Thank you very mucb for the reports ! But we still have a last doubt with this question :

Did you travel without a visa (i.e., obtained a visa on arrival under the recent extension of the programme) through this border?

We understood that we don't need a special permit but we just want to be sure that we can get the visa-free at this border.

[Hotep]

Thank you very mucb for the reports ! But we still have a last doubt with this question :

Did you travel without a visa (i.e., obtained a visa on arrival under the recent extension of the programme) through this border?

We understood that we don't need a special permit but we just want to be sure that we can get the visa-free at this border.

Yes, you can. Provided you are on the list of visa free countries. You just show up and show your passport, that's it. We two Austrians did it end of may by bicycle, no problem at all.

[arynan]

Any updtaes on bus service from bishkek?

[june1992]

I can confirm that the Bishkek to Kashgar bus is still running twice a week. Once on Sunday, leaving at 16:00, and the other im not so sure. I got this information from a tour company based in Bishkek.

[koko]

I can confirm that the Bishkek to Kashgar bus is still running twice a week. Once on Sunday, leaving at 16:00, and the other im not so sure. I got this information from a tour company based in Bishkek.

thx a lot !
i plan to do this trip bishkek to kashgar in september .
I'll send you a detailed message here

[julien_trek]

We crossed the border at Torugart pass on the 9th of July. We came the evening before in Naryn. We booked a taxi through the CBT for 10500 som including a stop in Tash-Rabat. We heard that Visitnaryn offers the taxi for 8500 som and some hostels even for 6000. We first contacted by email Kubat tour who started with an offer at 17500 som and made a final offer for 14000, plus he was pretty rude so we dont advise to make a deal with him. But as you can see, there different prices. We had the kirghiz border permit because we already went to Inylchek.
Everything went fine to the Kyrgyz border where our driver dropped us. Then we crossed by foot, we got our stamp out of Kyrgyzstan, the guards were very friendly. They put us in a truck to go to the Chinese side, then after a first police control (exactly on the geographic pass) on a bus. Both Chinese controls went smooth and fine, we had the visafree entry. Our luggage wasn't checked more than on any land border. At the last immigration point, there is no ATM and no possibility to change money. From Naryn to getting the Chinese stamp, it took us 5 hours, so it was pretty quick.
The "problems" began after. The Chinese guards arranged for us a transport to Kashgar in a bus - apparently the bus which goes twice a week from Bishkek. So first the bus driver asked us 100 dollars for three people after bargaining to go to Kashgar, which is really expensive. A french guy entered the day before us by hitchhiking on a truck, so we were unlucky with this bus. After that there were at least 3 full controls which took hours of staying outside waiting. From the Chinese border to Kashgar it took us 8 hours!

So crossing the border at Torugart is fine, don't believe the Kyrgyz agencies who say that it's not possible to cross without a Chinese agency - even the CBT who organizes taxis to the border told us we won't be able to cross -, but avoid by all mean this bus, hitchhike and get a truck or a car on the Chinese side.

[pietropodesta]

We crossed the border at Torugart pass on the 9th of July. We came the evening before in Naryn. We booked a taxi through the CBT for 10500 som including a stop in Tash-Rabat. We heard that Visitnaryn offers the taxi for 8500 som and some hostels even for 6000. We first contacted by email Kubat tour who started with an offer at 17500 som and made a final offer for 14000, plus he was pretty rude so we dont advise to make a deal with him. But as you can see, there different prices. We had the kirghiz border permit because we already went to Inylchek.
Everything went fine to the Kyrgyz border where our driver dropped us. Then we crossed by foot, we got our stamp out of Kyrgyzstan, the guards were very friendly. They put us in a truck to go to the Chinese side, then after a first police control (exactly on the geographic pass) on a bus. Both Chinese controls went smooth and fine, we had the visafree entry. Our luggage wasn't checked more than on any land border. At the last immigration point, there is no ATM and no possibility to change money. From Naryn to getting the Chinese stamp, it took us 5 hours, so it was pretty quick.
The "problems" began after. The Chinese guards arranged for us a transport to Kashgar in a bus - apparently the bus which goes twice a week from Bishkek. So first the bus driver asked us 100 dollars for three people after bargaining to go to Kashgar, which is really expensive. A french guy entered the day before us by hitchhiking on a truck, so we were unlucky with this bus. After that there were at least 3 full controls which took hours of staying outside waiting. From the Chinese border to Kashgar it took us 8 hours!

So crossing the border at Torugart is fine, don't believe the Kyrgyz agencies who say that it's not possible to cross without a Chinese agency - even the CBT who organizes taxis to the border told us we won't be able to cross -, but avoid by all mean this bus, hitchhike and get a truck or a car on the Chinese side.

Hi Julien,

Thanks a lot for sharing your experience! I am planning to do the same thing on September 2nd. Can I ask you a couple of questions?

1. Did the kyrgiz border officers ask you if you had a transfer ready for you on the other side of the border?
2. Was it them who told you to get on a truck or did you ask them if you could do it?
3. Was reserving a seat on the Bishkek-Kasghar a requirement that the Chinese border officials asked for to let you in or this happened after you were already past customs?
4. When you say "get a truck or car on the Chinese side", would you say that it is easy to find a truck driver willing to take you all the way to Kashgar (given that carrying a foreigner through so many check points might be a waste of time for them)? And what do you mean by car? Are there many taxis waiting at the Chinese side of the border?

Sorry for the many questions and thanks in advance for any support!