Dateline Gilgit!
There seems to be a good deal of confusion and misinformation about this route floating around the internet at the moment. As I am now sitting in the Madina Guesthouse in Gilgit having arrived from China yesterday I thought it would be helpful to clear things up.
Firstly, the rumour that "foreigners aren't allowed on public transport on the Chinese side of the KKH" is totally, entirely false, and after talking to people in Kashgar, and people who have made the trip in recent months I can assure all that this has NEVER been the case. Throughout this summer a modest trickle of foreign tourists have been taking the bus from Kashgar to Pakistan without difficulties.
The source of this rumour, which is being bandied about by some people as "fact", may be a garbled third-hand report about some+ people having trouble getting through Chinese customs without a Pakistan visa in advance. It may possibly have been encouraged by unscrupulous tour operators in Kashgar looking to rent expensive private transport; but i think the most likely explanation is simple confusion. Tourists travelling beyond Tashkurgan but +not+ crossing to Pakistan have +never been allowed to use public transport (though you can hire a jeep to visit the pass as a day trip and then return to Kashgar/Tashkurgan), but if you are heading for Pakistan you are free to use the bus - as you always have been...
On internet in Xinjiang - currently (as of October 13) there is a total statewide internet shutdown and there has been for almost four months. It is also impossible to make international calls in or out. This is why there has been such a deafening silence from the usual heavy-handed Kashgar-based travel agents on the thorntree, and has also contributed to the various misinformations about the China-Pakistan route. However, there are no other problems for tourists visiting Xinjiang, and I encountered no restrictions.
On visas - the visa on arrival IS still available at Sost. I had my visa in advance, but I met Americans in Kashgar who had been to Pakistan within the last month and who got their visas on the border. They knew of other people who had done the same. You need two passport photos, nothing more.
As for the stories about the Chinese being reluctant to let people through without a Pakistan visa - they reported no problems, and though I had my visa, at Tashkurgan and at the other checkposts beyond no one checked my passport for a Pakistani visa, only for my Chinese exit stamp.
On the practicalities:
Buses now run all the way from Kashgar to Gilgit (and vice versa) rather than only to Sost (though you can stop or pick up transport in Sost still - possibly a good idea as I shall explain).
The bus leaves Kashgar International Bus Stand, in theory every day, at 10 am Xinjiang time (12pm Beijing time). A ticket costs RMB 350 to Gilgit, or, I think, 270 to Sost.
Both Chinese buses and Pakistani (NATCO) buses run the route.
HOWEVER, if the bus due to depart on a given day is the Chinese bus (a big, blue Chinese sleeper bus) and there are LESS THAN 10 PASSENGERS it will not run.
I went to the bus station on monday and tuesday, waited around, and was told to come back tomorrow after only 5 people turned up.
If, on any given day it is the Pakistani bus which is due to depart it will depart regardless - as it did on wednesday.
Apparently NATCO also runs transport between Sost and Tashkurgan every day, so if there is no bus from Kashgar and you can get to Tashkurgan you should still be able to get to Pakistan the next day. The problem is, however, that the daily Tashkurgan bus leaves before the scheduled departure of the Pakistan bus from Kashgar. Waiting in Kashgar is probably the better option - a bus will leave eventually!
An overnight stop in Tashkurgan is still required. The road is now excellent from Kashgar to Tashkurgan. The bus still stops at the "Traffic Hotel" there. Five years since my last visit their rates are exactly the same - RMB 80 for a single; RMB 15 for a dorm. The singles are fine; the dorm itself is fine (four beds), though there is no shower and the communal bathrooms are not the best.
The bus headed on from Tashkurgan the following morning at about 9 local time, though this seems to be fairly relaxed.
Customs procedures at Tashkurgan for the departing bus were fairly swift with no thorough searches of baggage. However, people I met in Kashgar reported much longer delays when the bus was full of Pakistani traders (which it wasn’t yesterday). There were several checks of passports further along the road, but only for the Chinese exit stamp.
The road from Tashkurgan to the pass is excellent, and the journey took, I think, less than three hours. However, immediately you cross to the Pakistani side things deteriorate greatly. There is currently “improvement” work going on all the way from Khunjerab top to Gilgit (and beyond, apparently), making for a very bumpy ride. Things will likely be like this for at least the next 18 months, but after that the KKH should be excellent.
There is still a UU$4 dollar fee to pay for entry to the Khunjerab National Park, paid at the checkpoint between the pass and Sost. You can pay in dollars, RMB or rupees.
You'll see a lot of Chinese road crews working all the way to Gilgit – some of them women!
The charming customs officials at Sost "exempted" Mr Foreigner from any checks. There is no official money changer in Sost, but virtually any shop in the bazaar will change Chinese money for you at a decent rate.
The road onwards to Gilgit is rough, though yesterday it still only took about 7 hours, getting into Gilgit main bus stand at 10.30pm. You will struggle to get transport into town from the bus stand at that time; it may be better to get them to drop you in the bazaar as they come through... Of course, if you are not heading back into China later you should get down long before Gilgit to see Hunza, which remains one of the absolute highlights of Pakistan. Passu would be the obvious first stop south of Sost – or perhaps Gumit or Karimabad.
When departing for China the bus from Gilgit apparently leaves at night, reaching Sost early in the morning. I would strongly suggest making your own way to Sost and picking it up there if you're heading that way – there’s no need to rattle through Hunza on those terrible roads during the night!
I will be doing this return trip in a couple of weeks so will report back if there is any important information.
Hopefully this report will clear up some of the misinformation that has been floating around.
HOWEVER, I should note that the pass will close before too long. There is no snow on the Chinese side, but on the Pakistan side there have already been some falls, and given the current state of the road they will struggle to keep it open once winter really starts. I doubt that this will be a year when you can still get through in December... Next year everything could be different!
Anyone interested in this route can PM me if you want more information.
Tim
Cross-posted on the China branch
