June 21, 2004

Crossing the Torugart Pass

Kashgar, Xinjiang Province, China

The Torugart Pass is one of the world's most notorious borders. The Lonely Planet for Central Asia devotes three pages to a detailed analysis of this one crossing. It's officially a second-class border, which means no foreigners. In practice, if you line your cards up right, you can get across.

The cheapest option, catching the bus with the locals from Kashgar to Bishkek, was immediately knocked on the head. All reports, and the nice lady from China Travel, said that you'd be kicked off at Chinese immigration.

Plan 2 was to hook up with some other travellers and share a car. Apparently a permitted way to cross. Go figure. I was lucky enough to find a couple travelling on the same day I wanted and so the arrangements were made. The trick is to take one car in China, then have a another car waiting at the isolated border post in Kyrgyzstan. Without this second car you again are not permitted near the border.

So, after catching the famous Kashgar Sunday market the day before I'm ready to head out of China and on to Central Asia. I meet Paul and Jo, my companions for the day, and by 8:30 we're off and heading down a dirt road for the distant border.

The first checkpoint arrives after about half-an-hour but takes just a few minutes as the guard checks our passport and a mysterious piece of paper that our driver keeps waving at any official looking person. An hour further down the barren road we reach the point where the Torugart and Irkeshtam roads diverge, and Chinese immigration control sits. Everybody out of the car with all the luggage.

The border post is remarkably quiet. Apart from a couple of truck drivers we're the only ones there. We drag our bags across to the x-ray machine and put them on top of a huge pile of sacks. Then it's off to the first office to have the passports checked. A lady inside scrutinises our passports in great detail before finally deciding that they pass muster, pencils something into a log, then ushers us on to the next check. Now it's a guy with a computer who runs through the same routine before also deciding that we're okay. At this point I run my backpack through the scanner but casually slide my daypack along the floor so it doesn't get x-rayed. I don't entirely trust those "film safe" declarations.

Finally we're ushered in to yet another room where now two guys are working in tandem to flush out any irregularities in our paperwork. However nothing is remiss and they soon pull out the exit stamp with a flourish and we're on our way.

We're still 110km from the border at this point and we start to climb up to the pass, the stark desert landscape rolling by on both sides. The only signs of life are the overladen scrap metal trucks heading for China. They seem to be slowly dismantling all of Kyrgyzstan.

10km from the border we pass a lonely outpost with a couple of decaying buildings and a handful of guards. Our driver waves the magic piece of paper and we're ushered through.

The final stretch now and before we know it we're at the top. A lone Chinese guard stands on one side of the small gate. No-one stands on the other. He must have offended someone greatly to get this posting. Our car stops and we see the Kyrgyz car waiting on the other side. With smiles and thanks to our driver we cross the border. I ask the guard if I can take a picture of the scenery. He shakes his head. Wouldn't want the secret of his wooden hut and the thirty feet of low fence to get out.

Now it's another 10km down to the Kyrgyz border control. We reach a double barbed wire fence that looks straight out of Stalag 13. The guards are friendly enough though and in fifteen minutes we're on our way.

The scenery has changed dramatically. In China it was all red desert. Now it's lush green pastures and snow-capped mountains. Still very few people though. Just a few nomads and some distant yurts.

It takes another three hours to reach Naryn, the first significant town on the Kyrgyz side. I don't mind though as the scenery is tremendous. The driver says that he knows a nice place we can stay. His place as it turns out! Well, a flat upstairs actually. It looks very comfortable though so we happily accept and settle in to a nice cup of tea.

Specific details for other travellers

There are a couple of places in Kashgar where you can line up vehicles or hook up with other travellers. The well-known John's Information Cafe inside the Seman Hotel, and the Caravan Cafe just outside the Chini Bagh. Caravan Cafe can also line up transport if you're heading from Kyrgyzstan.

You can't change RMB in Kyrgyzstan but there was a guy hanging around at Chinese immigration that gave a reasonable rate of 5:1 for Kyrgyz som. Don't bank on it though.

If you somehow talk your way to the top (unlikely) without onward transport don't expect to pick up a share taxi at the border. The only car there on this trip was our car. In fact, the only car on the road almost all the way to Naryn was our car. It's a lonely road. There are a few trucks carrying scrap metal but they're all heading to China.

In Naryn you can organise a homestay through the Tourist Information Office. They're on the main street, towards the Bishkek end, on the north side and about 500m before the bridge. It's about 300 or 400 som for B&B. We stayed at our drivers house.

If you're not planning to go back, try for a detour to Tash Rabat. 15km off the Torugart-Naryn road up a very pretty valley. In fact, you could even stay overnight there in a yurt which would be cool but you might have trouble getting out unless your driver stays also (which he'd probably do quite cheaply).

Oh, and you probably know this but you don't have to register with OVIR in Kyrgyzstan any more if your stay is less than a month (maybe even three months).

P.S. Happy Birthday Anita!

Posted by David at June 21, 2004 01:35 AM