China - Kyrgyzstan: Torugart or Irkeshtam pass?

[geaEarth]

Hello there,
I will be in Kashgar at the end of June and from there I will be entering Kyrgyzstan,which of the two passes would you reccommend?
Any experiences,advises? I'd like to know which one is cheaper,shorter and safer for a solo female traveller.
With CBT crossing the Torugart will cost me around 280$ which is quite a lot of money...
Thanks,
Gea

[steven]

Irkeshtam is cheaper, shorter and safer. http://caravanistan.com/border-crossing ... htam-pass/ Not a walk in the park, though.

[stahlmann]

I would recommend Irkeshtam as well. You can take Kashgar - Osh bus leaving Kashgar International bus station on Mon and Thu at 10am Beijing time. Beginning of April there were still tickets available half an hour before departure.

I just took a solo taxi on a Friday morning. 150 RMB to Wuqia/Uluqqat (China exit stamp and customs).
From there shared Taxi with some Kyrgiz I met while waiting for the immigration to start working at around 11am. 100 RBM each person in a 4 passenger car to Kyrgystan immigration.

From there you can find transport to Sary Tash or Osh directly. I went with a car sharing with Kyrgyz boarder guards on their way to weekend, but I think I paid for the whole car anyway ... another 400 RMB to Osh.

Whole trip took about 10h only, including severals stops for even more passport checks. Arrived Osh 5pm local time.

I think in June you can find other travellers in Kashgar going this way , I didn't meet any traveller at all there in March. Anyway Kashgar is a great place to stay a couple or days. Especially, if you love their food.

[geaEarth]

Hello Stahlmann,

Thanks a lot for your info.
It looks like you got to Osh at 650RMB cost which is a great price! I know just the bus from Kashgar to Osh is 560RMB,yours is precious information!
How does it work with car sharing? Do they come to you asking if you need a ride somewhere? are they easy to spot?

Yes, I will try to stay in Kashgar for a couple of days,hopefully 3 days!

Thanks again,

Gea

[stahlmann]

Hi Gea,

from my experience it was quite easy to find shared transport. If you arrive at the bus station or border and look like a foreign tourist, everyone (boarder guards, truck drivers, taxi drivers) will know what you want.

- At Kashgar bus station a taxi driver found me, before I found him. Although not many taxis there at early morning time.

- At the Chinese checkpoint a friendly Kyrgiz, who just bought a truck in China came up to me, asked me if I want to join in his taxi to share costs (he could not drive the truck in China himself, so he was going with a separate taxi)

- From last Chinese checkpoint to Kyrgiz checkpoint (about 3 km) I got a free ride in his truck, but unfortunately he could not take me further into Kyrgystan.

- So on Kyrgiz border the guards just told me to get into THIS car, going to Osh. This was probably too expensive. I think the driver was a friend of border guards. Leaving the border there were some more taxis waiting further down the road, which were cheaper probably...

Anyway, I was alone and did not meet any other travellers going this way in Kashgar at this time of the year. Not sure if going with more people is an advantage or not.

I am sure everyones experience will be different. This is the exciting part about travelling, after all.

[geaEarth]

Thanks for your reply,
I'm sure it will be an amazing experience!

Gea:)

[blanka_kis]

Hi. Do you have some updated infos? Where is it easier to cross to china?

[Antoine]

Hi,

Since March 14th and Chinese's border reopening, those both Torugart and Irkeshtam passes from Kyrgyzstan to China should be reopened.
I’m planned to cross the border on August, but I still need a prove of my trip plan for Chinese’s visa request. CBT Naryn told me today that they do not provide any more transportation to the border. Is anyone has information about CBT Osh or other agencies ?

Otherwise, do you have feedback for Osh - Irkeshtam - Kachgar price by own means (shared taxi)?

Thanks a lot

[wnstnbchr]

I'm also interested in that!

[merodrem]

Hey, I entered China yesterday from Irkeshtam pass. Here are the key points:
-Belgian passport with tukish and iraqi stamps on it
-X2 chinese visa (pretty sure L visa is also accepted)
-solo traveler without vehicle (hitchhiking to the border, then shared taxi to Wuqia/Ulugqat)
-Deep manual search of laptop and phone from the police, but no spyware installed. They were just browsing in front of me
-2h of questions on my purpose, if I went to xinjiang before, my itinerary,...
-Document checked and passport stamped at the actual border, not in Wuqia/Ulugqat like the article on Caravanistan says
- Once stamped on the border, free to go. Not forced to take a taxi to Wuqia/Ulugqat like I read everywhere.

I'm glad to write the message I wanted to read, it's so difficult to find recent reports!