Mountain Passes of Kyrgyzstan with Neighboring Countries

Roads in the Sky

Irkeshtam Pass is located in the Osh region and stretches from Sary-Tash to Kashgar. The "Irkeshtam" border crossing between the Kyrgyz Republic and the People's Republic of China is located 76 kilometers east of the village of Sary-Tash at the Irkeshtam Pass, which is 2841 meters above sea level. Irkeshtam begins in the city of Osh in southern Kyrgyzstan. The road goes south along the valleys of the Taldyk and Gulcho rivers to the village of Sary-Tash (Yellow Stone in translation from Kyrgyz). To the west, the road leads to Dushanbe, Tajikistan through the Kyzyl-Suu valley, to the south it leads to the Gorno-Badakhshan region of Tajikistan and Murghab through the Kyzyl Art Pass, and the road to the border with the PRC lies to the east.

Irkeshtam is a fortification of the Osh district of the Fergana region, located on the border with Chinese territories, built in 1885 on the high right bank of the Kyzyl-Suu River (Tarim basin) at the confluence of the Malta Bar River, at an altitude of 8540 feet above sea level.

It blocks the gorges through which the route from Chinese (Eastern) Turkestan to Fergana (Terek Pass) and to the valley of Greater Alai (Zalaisky Ridge) passes. Irkeshtam has significant strategic importance.

It is connected by a wheeled road to the Gulcha fortification. In 1893, the Osh - Irkeshtam road-trail was expanded, fortified, and improved. It even received the name of a wheeled road, although goods were still transported along it in pack animals such as horses, donkeys, and camels.

In 1892, goods worth 295,585 rubles (leather, alum, wool, carpets, etc.) were brought from China through Irkeshtam, while goods worth 523,102 rubles (paper fabrics, paints, iron, etc.) were exported. At this point, the gorge of the Kyzyl-Suu River narrows and seemingly blocks the further route from Eastern China to southern Kyrgyzstan, leading to the Alai Valley and further into the Fergana Valley of Uzbekistan.

The Irkeshtam Pass was an important trade strategic point on the border of China and the Russian Empire. The "Irkeshtam" checkpoint was opened to tourists in 2002; before that, the checkpoint operated only for commercial purposes, typically used by Chinese and Kyrgyz trucks carrying goods.

The "Irkeshtam" border crossing operates daily, except on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, and days off for both Kyrgyz and Chinese. For example, the week after May 1 and the week after October 1, the crossing is closed due to Chinese holidays.

Working hours are from 12 PM to 8 PM Beijing time. There is also a lunch break. The crossing is international.

All (who have a Chinese visa) are allowed to cross. A China visa is not issued at the border.

There are 4 km between the Chinese and Kyrgyz customs, which cannot be walked, but transport is not imposed. You can easily hitch a ride in one of the KAMAZ trucks that crawl slowly here, hauling record loads of Chinese cargo!

The crossing is closed at night. No fees are charged for crossing the border. The border post on the Kyrgyz side performs only border functions. There are no shops or food markets at the border.

There are a few stalls where you can buy a chocolate bar or exchange money. The Kyrgyz government has long harbored ambitious plans for utilizing the Irkeshtam Pass, one of which was the construction of a highway that would connect and facilitate the exchange of goods from the Republic of China to Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, with further access to Afghanistan and also in the opposite direction.

To some extent, this direction is working today; however, the plan for the construction of a railway from China to the city of Osh, this fantastic plan for the Kyrgyz treasury was simply beyond reach, and there were no worthy investors for this idea.

Today, this is one of the tourist routes that is popular among tourists and leads from the Fergana Valley through the city of Osh, the valley of the Taldyk rivers, through the town of Gulcha, the village of Sary-Tash (translated from Kyrgyz as yellow stone), the Toо-Marun Pass at 3536 meters above sea level, the village of Nura (destroyed by an earthquake in 2008), the village of Irkeshtam, through the Irkeshtam Pass, where a beautiful asphalt road leads to the Chinese city of Ulugchat and further to the city of Kashgar.

This route is convenient for tourists coming from Tajikistan through the Kyzyl-Art Pass, also through Kyrgyzstan to China. The road from the village of Sary-Tash to the pass is in excellent condition, the distance from Osh to the pass is 240 km, and from the pass to Kashgar is 261 kilometers of magnificent road.

It is known that the first to overcome the natural barrier in 128 BC was the Chinese diplomat Zhang Qian along with the accompanying mission. The date of arrival of Zhang Qian's mission in the Fergana Valley can rightly be considered the official opening of the Great Silk Road, as it was from that time that active trade began on the transcontinental road with the main commodity being silk. Zhang Qian crossed the Irkeshtam Pass on this route.

Torugart Pass is part of the Tian Shan mountain system. It connects Kyrgyzstan and China and is located on the border of the Naryn region (Kyrgyzstan) and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (China). The height of the pass is 3752 meters. The border point between Russia and China was first established here in 1881. In 1906, the Russo-Chinese Transport Bank financed the construction of the road through the pass, which cost 20 million rubles. Currently, many tourist tours along the Great Silk Road pass through this road. It is worth noting that the Bishkek-Torugart road is quite narrow in some sections, and in winter, passage along it is often closed due to snowfalls and avalanches. Technically, at present, the border at the pass is open only for citizens of Kyrgyzstan and China, while tourists from other countries can cross it only with permission from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Urumqi.

Kyzyl-Art Pass is located in the Zaalai Ridge on the Pamir Highway on the border of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, in the Osh region, and stretches from Sary-Tash to Tajikistan. The Osh-Khorog road runs through the pass. The height of the pass is 4280 meters above sea level. From the north, from the Alai Valley, the ascent to the pass is quite gentle, through a picturesque gorge, where panoramas of glaciers and snow-capped peaks open up. The descent from the pass to the south into the wide desert valley of the Markansu River is relatively steep and is the most difficult section of the road along the entire route from Dushanbe to Osh. In spring, the snow melts, and the mountain serpentine becomes muddy, turning into a mixture of ice remnants and mud.

Kordai Pass (height 1233) is located in Kazakhstan and stretches from Bishkek to Almaty.