We left Tash Rabat Caravanserai and was back on the A365 heading to Torugart Pass at 4.30pm. Tash Rabat was at an elevation of 3,200m. On the other hand, Torugart Pass is at 3,752m above sea level. The sun was out but the temperature was a cool 11°C.
Torugart Pass is also the Kyrgyz China border crossing point. As we were only scheduled to cross the border into China on 15th Aug, we would stay the night on the Kyrgyz side of the border and cross it the next morning.
Such happy horses... on the A365, after the junction to Tash Rabat.
Good paved road as we drive alongside the At-Bashy mountain range.
At Bashi Mountain range, part of the Tien Shan Mountain range.
A little further up, we came to an army/police check point. We informed that we were crossing the border into China. After looking through our passport, they let us through. We are now 60km away from Torugart Pass.
Getting cloudier..
Section still under construction... Chinese trucks making their way to their destination in Kyrgyzstan
More horses grazing..
Dark clouds hovering not to far away..
Eagle statue..
Snow capped mountains in the distance
More than 3,500m above sea level and we are at the south west corner of Chatyr-Kul Lake,
Chatyr-Kul Lake with At Bashy mountains in the background.
Chatyr-Kul Lake
Mum taking a photo of her favourite scene... the sunset..
We are about 30km from the border now..
China border police checking our passport.
Torugart Pass is also the Kyrgyz China border crossing point. As we were only scheduled to cross the border into China on 15th Aug, we would stay the night on the Kyrgyz side of the border and cross it the next morning.
Such happy horses... on the A365, after the junction to Tash Rabat.
Good paved road as we drive alongside the At-Bashy mountain range.
At Bashi Mountain range, part of the Tien Shan Mountain range.
A little further up, we came to an army/police check point. We informed that we were crossing the border into China. After looking through our passport, they let us through. We are now 60km away from Torugart Pass.
Getting cloudier..
Section still under construction... Chinese trucks making their way to their destination in Kyrgyzstan
More horses grazing..
Dark clouds hovering not to far away..
Eagle statue..
Snow capped mountains in the distance
More than 3,500m above sea level and we are at the south west corner of Chatyr-Kul Lake,
Chatyr-Kul Lake with At Bashy mountains in the background.
Chatyr-Kul Lake
Mum taking a photo of her favourite scene... the sunset..
We are about 30km from the border now..
We stayed the night about 1km away from the customs check point. The next morning, we were up at 7.30am. We tried to start our Sorento, but she refused to start. We were worried as there were no workshops around and we had to cross the border today. The owner of the house that we were parked next to, saw us trying but failing to start our Sorento. He came over to have a look and within minutes, showed us what we had to do. Dad repeatedly pressed down on the fuel pump in the engine compartment while I start the engine. Ta daa.. the engine started. What a relief... Thanking him we left to join the short queue at the check point. Of course thanking God too...
It was 8.30am, the gates were still closed but a policeman was around. He checked our passport and told us to wait. At 9.00am a policeman called dad to his booth and asked dad to pay a sum of money before they would open the gate to let us through. The group that was ahead of us had already gone through the gate. Thankfully, one of the guys in the group, whispered to dad not to pay anything and told dad that they did not pay anything. Dad stood his ground, after 15 minutes of insisting that there were no charges to be paid, the gates were opened and we went through. At 9.30am we got our passport stamped and after checking that all the necessary stamps are in place, the final policeman waved us to go ahead.
We drove less than 6km to the Chinese gates.
We were at an altitude of 3,760m now. Temperature 12°C.
Local Kyrgyz time was 9.50am. Time difference with China was 2 hours.
It was 8.30am, the gates were still closed but a policeman was around. He checked our passport and told us to wait. At 9.00am a policeman called dad to his booth and asked dad to pay a sum of money before they would open the gate to let us through. The group that was ahead of us had already gone through the gate. Thankfully, one of the guys in the group, whispered to dad not to pay anything and told dad that they did not pay anything. Dad stood his ground, after 15 minutes of insisting that there were no charges to be paid, the gates were opened and we went through. At 9.30am we got our passport stamped and after checking that all the necessary stamps are in place, the final policeman waved us to go ahead.
We drove less than 6km to the Chinese gates.
We were at an altitude of 3,760m now. Temperature 12°C.
Local Kyrgyz time was 9.50am. Time difference with China was 2 hours.
Waiting for our guide at the China border date.
We are not allowed to drive on into China on our own without a guide.It would take a couple of hours before the guide comes along ,as the border is closed at lunch time. While we waited we took some photos of the surrounding and later prepared and ate our lunch.
We are not allowed to drive on into China on our own without a guide.It would take a couple of hours before the guide comes along ,as the border is closed at lunch time. While we waited we took some photos of the surrounding and later prepared and ate our lunch.
Mum insisted her photo be taken at the Monument
China border police checking our passport.
At 2.30pm (China time), we finally met up with our guide at the gate.
We were subsequently allowed to cross into China. We drove for about 6km to the customs check point. Next, we drove for about 100km, went through a couple more check points (passport checks and mostly handled by our guide) before finally arriving at Tu Er Gate Immigration Check Point. Here our guide collected the paperwork for our Sorento, our vehicle fumigated and we got our passport stamped.
With all the formalities completed, we continued our drive to Kashgar.
Here are some photos from our drive to the immigration check point.
Driving on gravel road for a short while.. Time stamp is still showing Kyrgyz time. Add 2 hours for China time.
Crossing a dry river
Bactrian camel grazing near the S212 road to Kashgar.
Village with mud houses
We were subsequently allowed to cross into China. We drove for about 6km to the customs check point. Next, we drove for about 100km, went through a couple more check points (passport checks and mostly handled by our guide) before finally arriving at Tu Er Gate Immigration Check Point. Here our guide collected the paperwork for our Sorento, our vehicle fumigated and we got our passport stamped.
With all the formalities completed, we continued our drive to Kashgar.
Here are some photos from our drive to the immigration check point.
Driving on gravel road for a short while.. Time stamp is still showing Kyrgyz time. Add 2 hours for China time.
Crossing a dry river
Bactrian camel grazing near the S212 road to Kashgar.
Village with mud houses
No comments:
Post a Comment