Sary-Tash

Sary-Tash is a village in Kyrgyzstan in the North of the Pamirs. It is close to the Chinese and Tajik border.

Understand

Sary-Tash is small village and part of the Pamir Highway (M41) between Karakul and Osh. It lies in a valley at an elevation of 3,170 m, about 25 km from the Kyrgyz border checkpoint with Tajikistan.

Sary-Tash is an important junction for travellers, connecting Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and China.

Get in

Descending the Kyzylart pass into Kyrgyz territory

Coming from the Tajik border checkpoint across the Kyzyl-Art pass, a steep descent (on very bad roads) leads you through about 20 km of No man's land until you reach the Kyrgyz border checkpoint. From there it's another 25 km on mostly good roads until Sary-Tash.

Get around

Sary-Tash is very small and easily walkable.

See

While Sary-Tash itself doesn't have any sights, the location in the valley and the backdrop of the surrounding mountain ranges make for stunning scenery.

Buy

• Few small shop sell groceries and essential produce.
• There is only one ATM in town. If it is not working you can exchange foreign currency (US$) at the gas station.

Eat

In 2019 there are several places in town that serve traditional Kyrgyz food.

• 1 Akun cafe. Solid food. Beef or lamb soup (140 som), Manty, Oromo (120 som), Plov (140 som) (updated Sep 2019)

Sleep

Sary-Tash has a couple of homestays, some of them signposted.

• 1 Aida (homestay). Friendly family. Small, basic rooms. Toilet and hot "bucket shower" outside the house. Bed in shared room 200 somoni. (updated Sep 2019)

Connect

SIM cards can be purchased in the small shops. As of 2019, Beeline has 4G reception reliable enough for streaming.

Go next

• Across the Taldyk Pass towards Osh
• Karakul (Tajikistan): a village situated at a lake by the same name
• Irkeshtam: Travelers heading towards China should be aware of travel restrictions in China's Xinjiang province (e.g. in 2019 it wasn't allowed to bring knives in)