Kuqa Getting there & around

Getting there & away

Land

Bus

The bus station has always been – and still is – an exercise in frustration. Expect some puzzled wandering to find a Samaritan helper. Heading east are a variety of sleepers to Ürümqi (Y106 to Y165, 10 to 17 hours) and five daily buses to Lúntái (Y13, 1½ hours), from where you can take the cross-desert highway to Hotan. For Kashgar (Y128, 16 hours) you have to wait for a sleeper from Ürümqi to pass and hope that it has berths.

Once the snow melts (mid-May), there is also a daily bus to Yīníng (Y148, 22 hours), a spectacular trip crossing the Tiān Shān range. You can try to get off at the Mongolian village of Bayanbulak, the mid-way point, but the area’s PSB doesn’t like foreigners nosing around.

Train

Moving on to Ürümqi or Turpan (Y175, 14½ to 16 hours) is generally not a problem. If you’re going west to Kashgar (slow/express train Y44/91, nine to 10 hours), however, sleeper tickets are not available – you’ll need to try your luck with an upgrade. Bus 2 runs along Tianshan Lu to the train station.

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Air

The airport east of the city theoretically has daily flights to Ürümqi (Y590), but they rarely happen. A taxi there costs Y10.

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