Irkeshtam Pass - The last village before China
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Irkeshtam is approached from Osh, the second city of Kyrgyzstan, in the South of the country. The road travels south along the valley of the Taldyk and Gulcho river gorges to the village of Sary Tash (“Yellow Stone” in Kyrgyz), which sits on a crossroads.
To the West lies the road to Dushanbe in Tajikistan through the Kyzyl-Suu valley; to the South lies the road over the Kyzyl Art pass into the Gorno Badakshan region of Tajikistan and Murgab; to the east, heading into the mountains, lies the road to Irkeshtam pass and the Chinese border.
This stretch of road is infamous for road accidents. It is asphalt until you reach Sary Tash, and then it becomes a stone road, and although the scenery is spectacular – with snow-capped peaks on one side and green mountain meadows on the other – travelling along the road is slow and can take a long time, especially if you encounter a broken-down vehicle which blocks the road. On the Chinese side, the road down to Kashgar is better, but still difficult.
As the shortest route to China from the Ferghana valley in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, there has been a lot of interest in repairing the road, which would take about 6 years to complete, including a TACIS-funded project. The work came to a stop after armed insurgents threatened the stability of the region in 1999.
In Soviet times, China was seen as a real threat, and this was reflected on the border. Now the two countries are allies, and relationships between the respective border troops are friendly.
The border post is named in honour of a frontier border guard, Andrei Bescennov, who was killed in a clash with the Basmachi rebels in 1931. Until the end of 1999, it was manned by Russian troops – who, apparently, took all their equipment when they left. The post is now manned by border guards from the Osh oblast. It is not an easy posting. By all accounts, the guards are not fed well, but no one has died of hunger. However, a year’s service here is counted as equal to two years’ military service elsewhere.
In this mountainous region, as in Kyrgyzstan generally, horses play an important role in daily life. The lack of roads means that soldiers who patrol the border ride the local breed of Kyrgyz pony, which are renowned for being sturdy and well-suited to this sort of terrain. The post also boasts some dogs, including German shepherds and several mongrels.
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