China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan in November 2010

You're not giving yourself much time if you want to travel by land the entire way. You are also at the mercy of the weather. Most of your journey across Kyrgyzstan, until you get close to Osh, requires travelling through mountains. At this time of year snow can block the roads and border areas at any time. Also at this time of year, your choice of routes is limited.

If we assume there is no snow, civil disturbance or mechanical problem:

• Urumqi -> Kashgar = 26 hours (bus) or 30 hours (train).

• At least 2 nights in Kashgar. You can easily organise the Torugart crossing once you arrive in Kashgar, if the border and roads are open. Local travel agents will need 2 to 3 days to arrange the permits. There is no bus you can use.

• Kashgar -> Torugart -> Naryn (KG) = 8 to 9 hours (many mountain passes). The car will cost USD350 to USD400.

• Naryn -> Balychy -> Bishkek = 6 to 8 hours (several mountain passes). Perhaps 1000 to 1200 som.

• One night in Bishkek.

• Bishkek -> Osh = 10 to 12 hours (there are many mountain passes, including close to Bishkek). About 1000 som.

• One night in Osh.

Already, this adds up to 8 or 9 days if there are no delays. and you won't have any time to enjoy the journey.

• Osh -> Uzbek border = 10 minutes in a taxi.

This is the extent of my own experience. For information on buses from Osh to Tashkent (even though you won't have time for this), see the thread Osh to Tashkent.

• I believe you can hire a car in Osh to travel directly to Tashkent in 8 to 9 hours. I understand the Osh Guesthouse can arrange this for USD130 to USD150.

If time is absolutely critical, you just should fly directly from Urumqi to Tashkent.

I should clarify the costs I gave in my message above. From Kashgar, you will pay for the entire car (in fact two cars, one on either side of the border) that will seat 4 people.

For the other travel in KG, the costs I've given are for one seat in a shared taxi. You won't have time to wait for buses or marshrutkas.

Please note: you will have to get your visa in Urumqi, NOT Kashgar.

Between Urumqi and Kashgar it's about 28 hours by train. It might be cheaper to fly Urumqi to Tashkent, though it would be a great pity to mss seeing Kashgar.

Thanks for your quick respone! Really usefull!
In the meanwhile we already arranged our Kyrgyzstan visa in Beijing. The reason why we want to do it so quickly is because we have a fixed entry date in Turkmenistan. We didn't expect that our Kazakhstan visa application would be rejected. But if it is really necessary we have to skip some highlights of Uzbekistan, so we have some more days to travel from Urumqi to Tashkent.

Regarding your answers(@emmeff) I was wondering if it also possible to do the Irkeshtam pass from China to Kyrgyzstan. If it is, we don't have to go to Bishkek and we can go to Osh 'directly'. Or isn't this possible in winter period?

Our goal is to travel all over land, so flying won't be an option. It all sounds like an nice adventurous trip.

Oh, yes! I forgot to mention that option. Sorry. I had just finished typing a heap of stuff about Torugart in another thread and hadn't refocused my thoughts.

The route to Osh via Irkeshtam is more direct in geographic terms, but in some respects is much more isolated. You will need to carry food and water, and warm clothes. And you still face the risk of delays due to weather.

I saw a suggestion somewhere recently that the bus from Kashgar to Osh no longer operates, but you could check that when you get to Kashgar.

In August 2009 I took a taxi (a local green and white taxi) from Kashgar to Irkeshtam with two other travellers. It cost us 600 yuan in total and was organised by one of the travel agents in lobby of the Semans hotel. If you're able to negotiate directly with a driver, you might pay less. We left very early, around 5.00 am local time, and arrived at the border well before the lunch break, when it closes for two hours. Once you go through Chinese customs and immigration, the officials will send you to the yard to wait for a vehicle passing through that can give you a lift. You need to pay the immigration office a 10 yuan fee 'to help you get on a truck to cross the border'.

My group of three crossed without too much trouble, but we had to wait for several hours on the other side for the shared taxi to fill up. There were not many people or vehicles crossing on that day, and the truck drivers I approached refused to take me as a passenger. The taxi driver began by asking for $30 for each seat, but my companions haggled that down to $25 each while I paid 1000 som. We left the border post very late in the day and reached Osh around 1.00 am. The driver dropped each of us at our accommodation.

The scenery from the border to Osh is very spectacular, but the roads are/can be very bad and the villages are very poor with little to offer travellers.

So yes, travelling via Irkeshtam you should save at least two nights in getting to Osh compared with the itinerary I described above, unless the weather is bad. But even if the weather is good, you run the risk of spending a night in Irkeshtam or Sary Tash if you can't get transport all the way to Osh.

Here's a clip of Irkeshtam: Cycling Kyrgyzstan with a 130km/ph wind in mid winter

Kashgar to osh by Irkeshtam ıs for me the cheapest and the fastest and easıest way I thınk.
It's open all year round, but ıf the weather ıs bad ıt wıll be hard to cross ıt. But ıt's the maın lınk between Chına and Central Asıa for the trucks.
Pretty sur no more taxı but a share taxı wıll cost 400 yuan for the car to the border and around 150 yuan per peersonne for a share taxı on the other sıde. If the road ıs clear ıt's 4h Kashgar to Irkeshtam and then 5/6h from Irkeshtam to osh. Pretty easy I found !

Then from osh you take a plane, ıt's cheap, or ıf the passes are open just take a car durıng 8/10h for20 dolars about (from osh guesthouse actually ıs ok).
Thıs save you a lot of money than organısıng a trıp through torugart and some tıme.

Thanks for your reactions. Tomorrow we Will travel to kashgar. Next we Will probably do the irkehstam bordercrossing. Does anybody of know aboutthe special Permits? Do we need them? Our LP was caught by chinese border police at Vietnamese , Chinese border.

What do you think about THE costs from kyrgyzstanborder to osh. Oh by the way, are there ATM 's in kashgar?

Thanks!

There are plenty of ATMs in Kashgar.

No permits are needed to go to Irkeshtam.

One year ago, it cost about $25 (after haggling) for one seat in a shared taxi to travel from the Irkeshtam border to Osh. You can try to hitch a ride in a truck, but the taxi will get you there sooner.

You also need to pay 10 yuan to the Chinese border guards as the fee for putting you in a car or truck to cross the restricted area between China and Kyrgyzstan.

we paıd 400 yuan for 2 people but you vcan go as down as 300 yuan I thınk. You can do 8/10 hours truck to osh from Irkeshtam or pay and do 5hours by shared taxı....
No permıt neeeded !