Osh Getting there & around

Getting there & away

Land

Bus & car

The old bus station and the shared taxis near Jayma Bazaar are Osh’s transport hub.

From the old bus station, minibuses leave for Özgön (40som, every 40 minutes), Jalal-Abad (70som, every 20 minutes), Daroot-Korgon (400som, 10am) and all points in Kyrgyzstan’s southern arm (Sary Tash, Kyzyl-Kiya, Aravan, Gulcha and others), though departures for these latter destinations are a little unreliable. Buses to Batken (250som) via Kyzyl-Kiya also leave from the old bus station although, as they run via Sokh, an Uzbek visa is required.

Shared taxis for all of the above run from here or near here, the locals will soon point you in the right direction (often a stand behind Kelechek Bazaar). Typically a seat in a shared taxi is about 50som more expensive than a minibus fare. Shared taxis also run to Toktogul, Tashkömür and Kerben when full.

Shared-taxi prices to Bishkek fluctuate dramatically as seasonal labour travels to and from Moscow for work. When demand is high (April to July) you can expect to pay as much as 1200som per seat to Bishkek and only 600som for the same journey in reverse. This trend is reversed when the labour force returns to Osh in winter.

If you want to hire transport to Irkeshtam or Tajikistan and the Pamir Hwy, you could ask around here or try a travel agency that will charge around US$150 for a trip to Achik Tash in the Alay Valley. Private cars organised through a travel agency cost 2500som to Arslanbob and US$130 to Batken (avoiding the enclaves).

The Argomak 4WD stand just uphill from the old bus station has early morning 4WDs and minibuses to Sary Moghul (450som) and a Daroot-Korgon bus (300som, 10 hours), both via Sary Tash.

Another stand west of Hotel Alay has buses to Aravan and Nookat. Minibuses and taxis to Nookat run from just behind the Philharmonia.

Minibuses 107 and 113 run from opposite the old bus station to the Uzbek border (5som, 10km) via the long-distance bus station. Minibuses 136 and 137 travel north on Lenin from Hotel Alay to the Uzbek border.

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Air

There’s an aviakassa (booking office; 2 22 11; Kurmanjan Datka 287; 9am-noon & 1-6pm Mon-Fri), just northwest of Hotel Alay.

From Osh there is a daily flight to Bishkek (US$40 to US$50), and twice-weekly flights to both Ürümqi, China (US$220) and Moscow (US$225 to US$300).

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