📅 25th August 2025 📍Border to China

At Dawn Over the Torugart Pass

In the quiet hours of night, long before the first light touched the horizon, we found ourselves refueling in our own way—not with gasoline, but with electricity. At a lonely roadside gas station, where no official charging station existed, we unfolded our lifeline: the mobile charger from Stoida. To our surprise and gratitude, an electrician was called out especially at this late hour, ensuring we could continue the journey. The hum of the current flowing into the ID. Buzz felt like reassurance, a silent promise that adventure could go on.

From there, the road pulled us into the heights of the Tian Shan mountains. Slowly but steadily, we climbed toward the Torugart Pass, rising to 3,500 meters. When we reached the summit, the timing couldn’t have been more perfect: the very first beams of morning light spilled over the jagged ridges, painting the peaks in gold. Yet despite the dawn, we found ourselves in a swirl of light snowflakes—yes, so high were we that summer seemed far below. For a moment, we worried about slippery roads and the strain of frost on the battery. But the ID. Buzz proved steady and reliable, carrying us safely across and down the serpentine road.

Behind us, the panorama grew ever more monumental: the Pamir mountains stretched wide into the sky, and we could even catch a glimpse of Mount Lenin, majestic against the morning air. Along the roadside, nomads welcomed us with curiosity. Their yurts stood simple and proud in the alpine meadows, and from one camp a small herding dog came trotting toward us, eyes bright, tail quick, full of youthful energy. We laughed and took a photo—it was one of those fleeting moments that lodge themselves in memory forever.

Then the road dropped once again, twisting downward into valleys, the ID. Buzz gently winding its way toward the Irkeshtam border. As the landscape opened before us, a mix of excitement and anticipation grew in our chests—we were curious, almost restless, to see how the next border crossing, the entrance into another world, would unfold.

Next stop: China!