Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
at the Argomak but more likely you'll need
to head out to the Murgab-Baza (off M41;
g 105), some 4km east of the Masalieva
junction. Take marshrutka 105, get off 300m
before the Animal Market (Malbazaar) turning
and walk three minutes up the dead-end lane
directly east of Aida timber shop. Departures
could be any time but are most typically
around 3am. If so it usually makes sense to
sleep the night before at the Murgab-Baza's
very rough-and-ready crash-pad ( % 077-804
4755, Almakhan 077-804 4735; Murgab-Baza;
dm 150som).
To see the scenic route more comfortably
(and by day) consider sharing a charter vehicle.
Note that such 4WDs will need special drivers'
papers for the border zone and preferrably an
oversized fuel tank. Osh guesthouse (p295)
can often ind vehicles at short notice
(US$255) and can sort out gBAO permits
(essential) should you have forgotten to get
one with your Tajik visa.
Kashgar (Xinjiang, China) Direct buses
( % 055-265 1252, 077-265 1252; Pekin Com-
plex, Navoi; 570 Chinese Yuan; h bus 6pm
Wed & Sun) depart between 6pm and midnight
on Wednesdays and Sundays from the Pekin
Trade Centre. Tickets are sold from a small
office (the second door on the right as you
walk the dead-end alley along west side of
the Kerechek Bazaar). If you can't find it ask
at the nearby Pekin Hotel or ask next door at
Eastern Visa. Making the trip in hops via Sary
Tash is more complicated but cheaper and
generally more interesting.
Alay Valley
АЛАЙСКАЯ ДОЛИНА
Platoons of vast, ever-snowy mountains
march along the southern flank of the Alay
Valley whose considerable width (up to
30km) makes the scene especially memora-
ble - at least when the haze and cloud clear.
Visitors en route to China via Irkeshtam
or to Tajikistan via Bordöbo can get a taste of
the scenery from Sary Tash. Both routes cross
high-altitude passes but while the Irkeshtam
route is fairly easy to do in DIY hops, hitch-
ing the road to Murgab (via Bordöbo) can be
frustratingly slow with no regular transport:
bring a tent in case you're stranded in the
(potentially frigid) wilderness.
An excellent new road follows the Alay
Valley southwest from Sary Tash to Garm
(Tajikistan), but for now the Tajik-Kyrgyz
border at Karamyk is inexplicably closed to
foreigners. Even so, it might still be worth
continuing part way (30km) to dusty Sary-
Mogol for the best view of 7134m Peak¨
Lenin .
Sary Tash
Сары-Таш
% 3243
Conveniently situated at the convergence of
the roads to Osh, Murgab (Tajikistan) and
Kashgar (China) via Irkeshtam, Sary Tash
is a small triangle of a village with superb
mid-distance views over a southern horizon
of dazzling mountains. There are minimal fa-
cilities (two small shops, no regular taxis), but
three homestays are well-signed close to the
main junction/petrol stand. There's a good
value truckers' cafe at the north edge of town.
In summer, the Daroot-Korgon-Osh
minibus passes through Sary Tash at around
8am (300som, four hours) returning around
4pm. Shared taxis to Osh cost 350som.
Hitching a ride the well-paved 74km to
the Irkeshtam border (one hour) is fairly
easy from around 7am (expect to pay
around 300som per person) or leave the
evening before and sleep in one of several
basic cafe-wagons at the Kyrgyz border post
to ensure an early start for Kashgar.
8 Getting¨Around
Marshrutka 107 takes 25 minutes from Jayma
Bazaar to the airport (9som) via Masalieva, but
beware some 107 buses go instead to Dostuk/
Druzhba, the Uzbekistan border post so check
the destination panel. Routes 142, 137, 138
and 116 also head to the border post for the
same cost as any city service (bus/marshrutka
5/8som).
Bus 2 and numerous marshrutka routes
drive along Navoi, past the minibus station,
then head southbound on Kurmanjan Datka,
returning northbound on Lenin (at least north
of Lomonsov).
Marshrutka 105 comes up Temur, turns east
on gapar Aytiev near the Suleiman Too Mosque,
uses Lenin/Kurmanjan Datka north/south to
Navoi, then sidesteps heading east to the Ani-
mal Market on Furkat.
A taxi costs from 50som within the centre,
200som to the airport. If you arrive at the
airport after 8pm, taxis will rarely accept less
than 400som to take you into town, though
Biy Ordo hostel (p292) will collect guests for
200som.
Sary - Mogol
Сары - Могол
% 3243
The dusty village of Sary-Mogol, 30km west
of Sary Tash, offers the valley's best views
of Peak Lenin. CBT ( % Umar Tashbekov 077-
261 1096) has a homestay near the village
 
Search WWH ::




Custom Search