The procedure to leave China by land at the Uluquat border post is another exhausting chapter. The customs officer confiscates my mobile phone and I have to sit down in front of him. He looks through pretty much all the photos&#8230;except the ones I deleted, which I can easily restore afterwards. Then he asks me where my WhatsApp is. But I had already deactivated it before entering China and so I show him the WeChat, which he ignores. Now it&#8217;s my turn to take my luggage. I have to take everything out of the bike bags. It&#8217;s strange I thought I&#8217;m travelling out of China by land&#8230;. Yes indeed I am leaving China but it is the way they check. However, the complet opposite at the border to Kyrgyzstan. The official takes my passport. A minute later he waves me through with a &#8222;welcome to Kyrgyzstan&#8220;, gives back the passport and wishes me a good journey! He is not interested in my luggage (he probably relies on the strict controls by the Chines).
I spend the night in the mountain village of Nura. The children are very interested in foreign people and try to speak English. From Nura the route leads over the Irkeshtam Pass at over 3780 metres above sea level.  The drive up to the top of the pass is unique and can hardly be put into words. I am overwhelmed! Down the mountain I drive through barren highlands to Sary-Tash. Cars are rare, now and then I meet a horse rider.
The next few days are also filled with beautiful landscapes with little traffic and agriculture. Sometimes whole herds of sheep block the roads for a few minutes and there is no getting through. There are also frequent interesting encounters with the local population and always a warm welcome.
Most of the way now leads downhill to the city of Osh, the second largest city in Kyrgyzstan. Here I spend a day as a tourist visiting the bazaar, the Lenin statue and the Suleiman Too mosque. Before crossing the next border into Uzbekistan, I go to the exchange office to change Som (the currency in Kyrgyzstan) into So&#8217;m (currency in Uzbekistan).  For the equivalent of 166 Swiss francs, you get a whole 1 580 000
(ONE MILLION FIVE HUNDRED EIGHTY THOUSAND) So&#8217;m !
Here you can become a millionaire overnight. With so much money, however, I will have to carry quite a bit more weight from now on. Yes, the possession of money can quickly become a problem.

The procedure to leave China by land at the Uluquat border post is another exhausting chapter. The customs officer confiscates my mobile phone and I have to sit

Kashgar – Osh

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