As the Eagle Soars…
Our last day in Kyrgyzstan started at 3AM. Have you (minus Jenni and Russ) ever had to set your alarm for 2:45AM? Not fun….ugh! But we were excited and off to conquer the newly-opened (2 years) Irkeshtam Pass. Through the mountains and across the plains we ventured in the pitch dark travelling in the back of our private minibus. Once the sun arrived Jeff (fearing heights) was stuck by the window for a harrowing ride up 18 serpentine-like turns to 12,000 feet and then down which in his eyes is even more frightening.
This journey is really like no other we’ve experienced. The ride from Osh to the Kyrgyz-Chinese border at Irkeshtam is only 260 KMs (162 miles) yet takes 8 hours. You must start at 3AM in order to leave the Kyrgyz highway (if you can call it that) by noon as they close THE WHOLE ROAD!! for repairs. In addition to this minor inconvienence you also must buckle in for the bumpiest ride of your life. This trip wasn’t as bad as the southern Chinese bus experience of Jan 2006 because we were smarter this time and hired our own transportation. This is the only way to do it…trust us!! Even though you’ve got six seats between the two of you get ready to use them all. The twists and turns….the bumps and bottoming out….the offroading into pastures and streams were all taken in unexpected comfort due to our great driver, entertaining guide, and luxurious minibus. We’ve been trying to find a way to describe the road condition but it seems impossible to articulate. As a reference to only a few of you…remember the road under the powerlines off 70th by LWHS that all the jeeps (and Findlay’s Fiesta) offroaded on?? Try that road for 8 hours!!! It was an adventure…..but that’s not the half of it!!
Arriving at the Kyrgyz side of the Irkeshtam border you can see that things aren’t going to be simple. From the requested bribe by the gate guard to the insanely, novice international commerce that is taking place you can’t possibly imagine moving through Customs and Immigration to China in under a few hours. Well..more like 7 hours! Get ready for this one….story for a lifetime. The border at Irkeshtam has three sections as far as tourists are concerned. The first is the Kyrgyz military or trade commerce only side. The second is a 2km Kyrgyz-Chinese neutral zone, which only one military can occupy at a time. And the last is a 5km stretch for Chinese military or trade commerce only use. The reason we explain this is your guide just can’t escort you to the border and introduce you to your next guide. In reality you need to patch onto a trade truck through both country zones and hopefully the receiving military will give you a lift in the neutral zone. Of course…with the Chinese you have no such luck. After Elnura tried adamantly to arrange for a smooth crossing the best we could get was a Kyrgyz military escort to the neutral border sight. From there we waited for the Chinese to finish lunch and then an hour later they arrived. Oh good..this looks positive especially as the Kyrgyz received beer and liquor from the Chinese in an apparent trade for us, some valuable American tourists.
Guess again…as we went to load our bags into the Chinese military truck they drove off laughing without us. Oh well, we should just have to hike our bags a few minutes to Chinese Customs and that will be that, right? Of course not! Nothing is that easy with the Chinese. As we attempted to walk into Chinese territory we were rudely pushed back into neutral territory and told to wait three hours. Apparently, people at Chinese Customs don’t work for lunch or the three hours after it. They had plenty of time to practice guitar, and stare into nothingness with their binoculars as we watched them….but apparently not enough time to give us a stupid little stamp to get into their god-forsaken country. Just us out there in the middle of the desert between giant mountains with no idea if we would be allowed in China….? As our nerves were beginning to fray and faces beginning to burn (literally) Becca looked skyward and witnessed a glorious (Old School reference) sight….the great American bald eagle was gently soaring overhead. Of course it was there as a sign for us (right?) and not searching for the multiple rodents that had been scurrying amidst our feet. At this point we will take anything…any sign! After “the sighting” it was only a short 3 minute wait and the gates were up. We got our entry stamp, passed along some friendly obscenities (you know, swearing with a smile), and looked for a trade truck to deliver us to Customs, only 5KM away. Oops, wrong again. No trade trucks were running into China due to some unexplainable upcoming 9-day holiday but needless to say after some comedic banter we had smiles on our faces and were off….
PG Version
Becca: I’m never coming to this country again.
Jeff: But what about the Olympics?
Becca: Jeff! I’m never coming back!
Jeff: What about our next Great Wall adventure?
Becca: Looks like it will be YOUR next Great Wall adventure!
Both of us: (Laughing at the absurdity of the situation and relishing the opportunity to relate it on the blog)
After a short 3k jaunt with full gear we arrived at Chinese Customs and into the arms of Abdul Rehman, our guide for the next few days through western China. Just a short 260km drive (this time 4 not 8 hours) later we arrived in Kashgar and settled into bed after our 20 hour (3AM…remember) adventure. Isn’t travelling the world fun?!! Most of the time, YES….sometimes, not so much. Well at least we know others on the Silk Road have endured much worse to experience its grandeur.
Tags: China, Kyrgyzstan, Travel
Jeff and Becca
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