Kyrgyzstan Summer 2016 Engilchek to Kara-Say ?
 

Hi,
We are investigating our trip by motorcycle in Kyrgyzstan next summer 2016.
Has anyone out there travelled between Engilchek and Kara Say. On my Kyrgyzstan map(GIZI Map) map it shows the road A364.
Many searches on the internet says that there is not a route or you have no permission to pass ??
If it is possable, I'm interested in what the road conditions are like and if the scenery is any good.
And do you need permit to go into this region? Where can i achieve one ?

Any help will be appreciated :)

Eric

get in touch with patrik at muztoo , he is based out there

West from Engilchek
 

FWIW:

Just poking around in 2012 I got as far as Engilchek, which was not very far, at all. At the bridge there is a guard asking for permits if you want to head further South / East. You want to head west instead. I have never been there, but have been poking around with the idea many times, including for my 2016 trip. I don't think it is going to happen for me (on 2 wheels).

OSM and satellite photos are your friend here. There is a track that runs west bound. Looking at the sat photo's it is clear that it used for 4 wheel traffic, but it looks like it could be very rough in places including multiple river crossings. There looks to be a power line running in that valley as well, so there is access. What is going to shoot it down for my 2 wheel travels is going to be fuel. From fuel in Karakol to fuel in Braskoon looks to be 214 miles per OSM. That would be doable fuel wise, but it also very possible you get to a place, well past the half way point, where you can't make it on 2 wheels and will have to turnaround. Coming from the other side (Braskoon) in 2012 I ran into a bridge at N41 40 35.8 E77 49 49.1 that was washed out and a huge river that would swallow any kind of truck without a burp. BTW, supposedly this bridge is back in place.

When I am back in the area again I would ride again coming from Braskoon South and East and see how far I can get. Lots of nice and challenging riding.

It will depend on how good / courageous / adventurous / foolish (take your pick) you are and how much fuel you can carry. Regardless not a place for riding single.

OSM mentions that at N41 34 06.4 E77 53 53.2 there is a military check point checking for permits.

For OSM maps for your Garmin go to garmin.openstreetmap.nl.

KP

Thanks for your interesting view and opinion.
We intend like you said coming from Barskoon going southward and explore a bit that region.

Kind Regards,

Eric

There is no road between Inylcheck and Kara Saj, the maps are wrong or very outdated.
You can try to get through in late season via the valley of Utsch-Kjoel when rivers are low, but better on foot, by horse or on a push bike.
I have not been there, only to Inylcheck and the Barskoon road from the south (over Suek), but was interested in the possibility to do it.
You can try and ask bikevagabond on the hubb, who has done it on a pushbike and with an alpaka raft.

"There is no road between Inylcheck and Kara Saj, the maps are wrong or very outdated."

Satellite photo's clearly show a track that has been used by 4 wheeled vehicles. The power line also indicates access. This is the track that is shown on OSM. As mentioned I am not aware of condition, but it could be rough going with river crossings.

I have started to add the power line. It actually has its own set of tracks in many places.

When are you going to be there Estrybos?

KP

I will pipe up here and enter the discussion.

I have drawn a track based on sat images (google, bing, yandex and others) from Barskoon via Kara Say and Enilchek to Ak-Bulak / Ak-Bulun where the main Enilchek road begins about a year ago. Havent had anyone test it out yet but Kito of this forum will probably guinea pig it for me this summer.

Some short sections are not 100% clear. And there is no fuel for just over 400 km from Barskoon to beyond Ak-Bulun. There is one crossing of a major river (Uchkel) and many crossings of high altitude river beds that will flood in the rains. There are three passes above 3800m, and lots of kilometres of what looks like very rarely used double track that will be challenging either on a loaded dirtbike or well prepped 4wd. There are very few signs of humanity between Kara Say (41.569 77.903) and Enilchek.

From Barskoon to near the Kumtor Gold Mine the road will be in excellent condition since the gold mine is the single biggest contributor to KG GDP. Further on to Kara Say the road seems reasonable. (Panoramio - Photo of Jürgen Grösel, Kirgisistan Juni 2012)

Do take a GPS so you know what to do when you come to forks in the road (Panoramio - Photo of Jürgen Grösel, Kirgisistan Juni 2012)

The track seems decent as far as the Kara Say river crossing (
Panoramio - Photo of Мост через Кара-Сай 2009г.)

Beyond there is probably an old military 4WD track and any military you encounter are unlikely to be happy to see you.

I would not treat this section of the track lightly (KaraSay River crossing to Enilchek). I would carry some form of sat communications, fuel for well over 400 km when you leave Barskoon, and as for motorcycles, I would be very cautious of doing it alone.

I would also take a planned track on a GPS cause getting lost cause you cant find the track would be bad.

I would also refer you to panoramio.com where there are some interesting pics on the route.

Panoramio - Photo of Sarychat–Ertash

Panoramio - Photo of Sarychat–Ertash

Here is one illustrating the quality of the track.
Panoramio - Photo of Ottukh camp - Лагерь "Огниво"

For that better take horses, not motorbikes
lonely traveller

For the better of what?

This seems abit like your post/opinion about motorbikes travelling through Bartang valley would spoil it ?

I've been in Enylcheck in summer 2014: they told me there's no road to go west to KaraSay. You can get detailed info by Turkestan in Karakol, write at Sergey psi61@mail.ru
Have fun!

There isnt a road.

but there is a track

looks like a nice places
i just checked some satelite maps and it seems there might be two possibilities, one more north and one more south

but on both tracks there are sections where i'm not sure if its possible to pass
the water level might also be a problem, does anybody know what's the best time? I will be there in July...

@colebatch
might it be possible for you to share the track?

i can share the track (see attached in garmin gpx format - use GPS Visualizer to convert to KMZ google earth format), but then I ask anyone who rides it to email their actual ridden track and send me some key commentary regarding the track on wcolebatch (at ) gmail .com or on this thread.

It would certainly be useful for future adventurers.

Walter

thanks for the track
it looks like it might be possible, but it all comes down to the water depht
I'm really keen to try it, if you make a little fuel depot it's also no problem if you have to turn around after 70% of the track

@estrybos
when are you going to be in that region? I would prefer to not try it all by myself...

The last couple of weeks I spend many hours updating and adding to OSM including for this area. It is amazing how many other tracks there are, but most of them dead end at farms. I did not see see a second thru route. Let me know where you may have found a second route.

There are two side trips from the "main" Kara-Sai - Inylchek track: to Uch-Koshkon (N41 49 53.6 E78 39 37.7) and beyond, eventually dead ending and going South from Kara-Sai, also dead ending. I found a couple of interesting looking tracks that are now added on OSM.

Fuel remains a problem for motorcycles unless there is somebody in Kara-Sai is willing to part with fuel. That would open some opportunities.

Besides fuel and water crossings the tracks themselves may be a problem as well, they could be real rough. Some look like they are used very infrequently. Going thru dry river beds full of big rocks can be really challenging as well and there are some places where you have to follow them for some distances.

I hope to be in the area late August - early September to poke around. My main travel target area this summer is the Pamirs though since i missed it in 2012. I edited / added a lot around the Zorkul Lake area. If that does not work out due to permit issues the area South of Barskoon it will be. That dead ended for me in 2012 as well due to a washed out bridge.

Who has gotten a permit to go beyond Kara-Sai and if so where?

From Inylcheck supposedly a permit it be asked for somewhere in Karakol, has anybody done so?

KP