Torugart Pass to Kashgar - for "foreigners"?

Thanks so much for the information. Looks like I should focus on Irkeshtam Pass instead. It is great to know that I could get help should I get to Naryn and then decide to try the Torugart Pass.

I crossed the Irkeshtam on March 6th from Osh to the Chinese Border.
I used Munduz Tourist in Osh( ask for Aijamal or Julia for English)
- it cost me $150 for the car and driver- had noone to share with
-after grueling arduous time at both borders ( 2 hours to get thru both borders)
it took a 250 km taxi drive to Kashgar- cost a bargained -down-to $15- another 5 hours
Joe

I just crossed from Kashgar to Kyrgyzstan through Torugat Pass in June as I had to be in Bishkek at a certain time and the international bus through the Irkeshtam Pass did not have the 10 necessary passengers to go on "my" Monday.

I used Uighur Tours, www.uighurtour.com to make the arrangements for the Torugat crossing and found them speedy and very helpful. They arranged the necessary documentation and had us away the next morning. I would have liked the price to be less than the USD350, but it appears that when doing things in a course of one day, the tour agency may have limited choice in drivers (who can then charge whatever they like).

As mentioned in this thread, you need to be part of a "tour group" (of any number). This involves having a driver with an approved car and a guide on each side of the pass. You therefore swap car, driver and car at the border (from the destination country, in my case Kyrgyzstan), who come to meet you at a pre-arranged time.

You cannot organise this yourself. Put up notes at John's cafe, Kashgar Old City Hostel and post a note here on Lonely Planet to find people to share the crossing with.

PS The road on the Kyrgyzstan side is terrible. To call it a road is a bit of a misnomer. It's more like a 160km construction zone until near Naryn. The view is spectacular and the process, although convoluted, works well.

I did the Torugart crossing from Naryn to Kashgar in early June, transportation was arranged by CBT in Bishkek.

The trip to the border featured some bad roads yet spectacular landscapes, and a somewhat sluggish Kyrgyz border clearance. The formalities on the Chinese side of the border, however, were handled speedily and most efficiently, and in stark contrast to reports of past crossings.

All in all, the trip was not quite as adventurous as I had expected, but some technical car problems on the Kyrgyz side made up for it...