China Travel Forum

[halik]

hi all
cheapest way of crossing Irkeshtan any experience?

[aynor]

We did the Irkeshtam crossing about 10 days ago and loved the whole experience.
We did the whole thing with taxis- but a friend took the Monday/Friday bus from Kashgar to Osh. I think it's a long time to spend on a bus, and if you have enough people, hiring a taxi costs about the same, if not less, and you get to stop when you want to, etc.
Here was our method:
From Kashgar to the Irkeshtam Pass we took a taxi.
We walked through the Chinese border control, then hitched a ride to the Kyrgyz one, which is about 10 km down the road.
After that we hired a taxi from there to Osh.
The whole thing costs about 50 USD.
It's a long day but there's gorgeous scenery.
Also, we arrived in Osh late at night and couldn't find accomodations; we ended up staying at our driver's for free. I definitely recommend the homestays when possible- and if you can speak some Russian!
One more piece of advice: Start your trip early. We left Kashgar around 10AM- I think it was too late. The borders have odd hours- something like: 9-11; 12-2; 4-6. All of it is BEIJING time.

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