Irkeshtam update for cyclists

[judefoon]

Crossed into Kyrgyzstan on monday using the Irkeshtam pass.
Cycled to the 'first Urugqat' and went to the big shiny customs building. They wouldn't let us go through until we had organised a taxi to take us and our bikes. We knew we had to take transport but were under the impression we could hitch with a truck. Told that this is not possible. For 3 people and 3 bikes we paid 150 RMB each. The bikes were shoved into the back of 2 taxi's. Seems like they do it a lot. There were 2 other people traveling in the second taxi. Once at the border we were made to wait an hour, then aloud to unpack our bikes and cycle the 5km to the Kyrgyzstan border. You can exchange a bit of RMB for som or US here. Hope this helps any cyclists. Shame about not being able to hitch in a truck anymore. Also there is no food between the border and Sary Tash (80km) and you can get fuel (petrol) for your stove a few kilometres from the border in a small village. Just ask for Benzin. Anyone coming from Xinjiang will know its very difficult to buy petrol there!
cheers
jude

[steven]

Thanks, updated the Irkeshtam article!

http://caravanistan.com/border-crossing ... htam-pass/