Took bus 120 back to Balaholka

to ask about buses to Urumqi. The bus to Urumqi will only leave Sunday night and not many seats left. Decided to take the route to Kashgar intead of going to Urumqi first. Mainly because I am curious about crossing the Irkeshtam pass from Kyrgyzstan to China. Irkeshtam border crossing is up in the mountains and it’s more challenging to cross the pass than to take an overnight bus to Urumqi. If I do that, I can probably get to both Kashgar and Urumqi a day earlier and don’t have to fly from Urumqi to Kashgar.

Took bus 141 back to Ulitsa Dostyk. As a reminder for me, bus 120 and 141 go to Balkaholka.

Visited KIMEP University. I was planning to visit the finance faculty and asked about teaching opportunities but the university was closed for holiday.

Why Teach at KIMEP?

Started my long journey to Kashgar at 4pm. Took bus 65 to Sayram bus station and waited an hour for the minibus to Bishkek to be full before heading out. It’s a 4 hours bus ride to Bishkek and got there at 10pm. (1200 Tenge~$USD8)

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Took a taxi to the shared taxi stand for Osh (100 Som). I only take the cab because it’s late and I am rushing for time. Again, a taxi driver tried to scam me by wanting more money. I have been in Bishkek just last week so I know how much does a short ride cost. It’s kind of funny that I had to hold tight to my 200 Som, grabbed his 100 Som before letting go my money.

Got on a shared taxi to Osh around 11pm (1200 Som ~USD$25). It’s a little more than I paid from Osh to Bishkek the last time. The driver drove so slow and he looked so sleepy. I wanted to shake him so bad since I wanted to get to Osh before 10am in the morning.