We were out the door by 9:30 and heading off to the border. The first 60km to Topa village is on a paved road, where we had to wait about 30 minutes for the Chinese Customs office to open. Once open, they stamped us out but then we had to wait for another 20 minutes while they held our passports.
Once through that process we drove 107kms further to the highest part of the pass along a dirt road. Most of the traffic was large trucks coming into China empty or those leaving loaded with Chinese goods for further markets. We had a total of 3 more checkpoints before leaving China. The third one was at the highest point of Torugart pass 3,572 meters (11,719 ft above sea level). At this point we could see our Kyrgyzstan car, with driver and guide but the border guards were taking a break for lunch. So we waited for an hour, munched on the snacks we were told to bring, and walked around a bit but it was cold and the elevation made you tired very quickly.
Finally we met the Kyrgytz guide and 4 wheel drive car which drove us to the official Kyrgyz border crossing, which went very quickly and then we had a further 4 hour drive to Nayrn.
It was an overcast day so the pictures were not very clear but we enjoyed seeing hundreds of Marmots running around in and out of their holes. Difficult to capture on film! We also saw many horses, cattle and sheep with the shepherds on horseback with their dogs, together with many yurts for the nomads. Our guide explained that the yurts are now only used in the spring and summer when moving the animals for better grazing. There are the traditional yurts and the modern ones made from old shipping containers and put on wheels.
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| our 2 guides talking through fence |
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| Marmot running |
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| Lone shepherd with dog |
On the way to Naryn we drove down a small gorge to visit Tash-Rabat caravanserai. The caravanserai Tash-Rabat, at 3,000 meters, is dated from the X- XV century. The purpose of the building is up for debate as a caravanserai, (an inn for merchants and travelers on the Great Silk Road), the monastery of Nestorian - Christians or palace of a Mongolian Khan. There are 31 rooms in the place, some underground. There are a few pieces of the original plaster remaining on the high wall in one section. Around the caravanserai we found many yurts set up for the nomads but also a few for tourists to stay overnight. We inspected them, the felt carpets, along with the yaks, before we departed as the snow flakes started falling.
The scenery along the route today was variable from rock mountains with snow, plains, and red mountains and even though it was a 12 hour day we enjoyed it.
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| Tash Rabat Caravanserai |
Cattle, sheep and dogs were everywhere on the drive as well as vintage Audi vehicles. These old German cars are imported into the country and valued by the nomads for their quality and ruggedness. We wondered about the low wheel clearance but obviously it was not a problem. Old spare parts for these cars are also imported to maintain them.
We were happy to arrive at our guesthouse "Celestial Mountains" which gave us a Russian salad and traditional noodle beef meal for dinner. Our guide Aiperi is a young 24 year old woman who speaks excellent English, Russian, Turkish as well as Kyrgyz. She speaks in Russian to our driver Alishaar but he also seems to understand English as he knew what a "pit stop" meant. Roadside toilets are the lowest form of squat toilets.
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| Yurt with felt carpets |
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| Tash Rabat Caravan Sar |
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| that is yak behind us |
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Arriving at Naryn
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