The Kulma Pass between China and Tajikistan was finally opened to foreigners last year, so I seized the moment and took a road trip through from Kashgar to Murghab, then up through the high passes into Kyrgyzstan. There had been a little early snow, enough to make things scenic, but not enough to block any of the passes.
The Kulma Pass border crossing is at 4362 meters (14313 ft), on the Eastern edge of the Pamirs. I had transport pre-arranged on both sides. West China Expeditions took me from Tashkurgan to the main Chinese border post and also drove me the final 20 km up to the top border post, which was very helpful. On the Tajikistan side, Pamir Off-Road Adventure met me and took me down to Murghab.
The Chinese border post didn’t open until 12:00 Beijing time, but they then processed me out quite quickly. They X-rayed my bag, but didn’t ask to check inside, let alone review my laptop or phone. (But you shouldn’t rely on that – this border post is known for sometimes making very thorough searches.) At the top of the pass, the final Chinese review took only a couple of minutes and the Tajikistan entry took about 20 minutes. I noticed a score or so trucks waiting on each side to go through, but I seemed to be the only foreign traveler.
After a day in Murghab, we headed up the Pamir Highway to Osh (Kyrgyzstan). After a quick stop at the scenic Kara Kul lake, we went up though the Ak Baital Pass (4655 meters = 15272 ft) and then through the Tajik-Kyrgyz border at the Kyzyl-Art Pass (4282 meters).
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We hit some shallow snow drifts on the road and got stuck a couple of times. But we eventually made it through. I was very glad to once again safely reach Osh, with its fine statue of Lenin and its excellent Hawaiian Pizza. 🙂
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