kamal
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 Posted:
08.04.2005 3:11 am Post subject:
Re: experience on trip to China by Irkeshtam from Kyrgyzstan |
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Irkeshtam from Kyrgyzstan to China - I came from Sary Tash yesterday to Kashgar: Osh to Sary Tash: it's not always possible to find a shared taxi - at 10 am, there was no one else to go - I waited a bit, but my sense was that no one was coming - locals going this route always take the public bus that leaves about 8 am, as it's cheap. So foreigners need to get their own group together. So I paid 1200 sum for the ride there, picking up 2 locals to take them as far as Gulcha to help cover the rest of the cost (I couldn't wait around another day). It took about 4 hours, nice drive. In Sary Tash, the taxi dropped me off at the cafe right at the fork in the road (one way to China, the other to Tadjikistan) - on the right. Nice family and my own room and food (very simple, but decent) with them for snack, dinner & breakfast was 200 sum. The gostinitsa where most trucks stop charges supposedly 30 sum for a room, plus whatever food you want, so you can definitely do it cheaper if you need. Next morning, I was waiting by the road for a truck about 7:30 am, but there was almost nothing - 4 went by that wouldn't stop, finally got one at 9:30 am - some days there are a lot and others (like this one, which was a Thursday) there aren't - I don't know what you are supposed to do about that in order to get to the border before noon! The road is really, really bad and it took this truck - which was empty - 4 hours to the border (with one kumys stop). They didn't ask for any money, but if they do, it's a standard 100 sum for this stretch. We got to the border about 2:30 pm and it WAS open, so I don't know what the deal is with all these postings that it closes at noon - I didn't ask. At this hour, there were very few people crossing, so it was actually quite fast - first potential problem is that the Kyrgyz won't let you go unless there's a truck to put you on to get to the Chinese side (mine wasn't going beyond the border) - if you're there in the morning when there's a line, I'm sure that's no problem, but as it was later, there wasn't much and the Kyrgyz border side is really not a place you want to have to spend the night unless you absolutely must - it's VERY dreary. But suddenly a truck appeared and I got across. Chinese customs were fairly thorough, but polite enough. Then at the Chinese passport control, they lost electricity and we had to wait nearly 2 hours for them to get a generator (their power comes from Kyrgyzstan). By now it was 7 pm and I wanted a taxi to Kashgar - there wasn't much choice and the best I could get was 100 yuan for a space in a shared taxi - at least it included dinner first! Several postings say it should cost 50 yuan, but at that hour, I wasn't up for waiting them out - staying on the Chinese side overnight isn't all that appealing either. It then took nearly 4 hours - driving really fast on the good Chinese road - to get to Kashgar. Chini Bagh Hotel has rooms w/ AC & own bath for 80 yuan/night ($10) which seems decent value for what you get. Moral of the story seems to be that everything can take longer than expected and very little information about this is always correct! I speak Russian, so I don't think I did anything particulary "wrong." Hope this helps!
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china tour |
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