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'''[[Irkeshtam Pass]]'''
The Irkeshtam Pass is one of the major border crossings to China and belong to the network of the [[silk road]]. It is also the eastern end of the {{E|60}}. Road contidions on the kyrgyz side are quite pretty good (as long it's not snowing. On the Chinese keep improving it as side, parts of October 2010)the road are very bad, but they seem to rebuild the border formalities can be a bit trickywhole road (November 2011). For example it is not allowed for Kyrgyz cars to cross. So you have to change at the border into a chinese vehicle. The border is opened during the day only and it is CLOSED on the weekendsand holidays. The pass is approached from the city of [[Osh]] via [[Sary Tash]] on the Kyrgyz side and from [[Kashgar]] via [[Ulugqat]] in the [[Xinjiang]] province from the Chinese side. The road from Sary Tash to Irkeshtam is famous for road accidents because the pavement is in poor condition or not existing - but the scenery is fantastic (if weather conditions are good you can see Pik Lenin(7,134m))
Crossing the border can take anything between 1 and 3 hours, so you better be early. ===To [[Kyrgyzstan]], [[Osh]]===
The easiest way to to opt for a ride with a truck driver. If you start in Kashgar, take the earliest (around 6am local time) shared taxi to Wuqia. The taxis depart outside Kashgar's international bus station and charge around 25Y per person. After 2 hours you will be half ways to the border, just hitchhike straight - try your luck with the huge white-container trucks, and make sure your head towards Irkeshtam and not Torugrat!
=== To Kashgar ===
From Sary-Tash, just walk to the road leading to Irkeshtam and hitch. Most trucks will pick up hitchhikers, but most of the will also demand money. The usual fare seems to be 300 Som or 5-10 $.
The border seems to close at 2 pm kyrgyz time. If you arrive too late and it's too cold for camping, you can stay with the locals in Irkeshtam for 100 Som.
Conditions can change any time. Please stay informed and update this site.