Kara-Buura Pass

The Kara-Buura Pass (Iradi: Kara-Buura ashuusu) is a pass of 3,305 meters over the main crest of the western Talas Alatau, at the head of the Kara-Buura valley, in the Talas Alatau planning zone of the Autonomous Tribal Regions. It is the highest point of the seasonal gravel road from the Qara-Chik Border Checkpoint to the Chatkal valley, the only road from the Irad Special Economic Zone into it. The road reaches the upper Kara-Buura valley over the lower Karakoyun Pass (about 3,050 m), crosses the Kara-Buura Pass and descends to the upper Chatkal River.^[1] The clans keep it open from about June to October; in other months it is closed by snow, and traffic between the Talas valley and the Chatkal waits for the thaw.^[2]

References

1. ^ ISEZ Department of Geodesy and Cartography (2011). Gazetteer of Geographical Names of Irad. Talas.
2. ^ Zhumabaeva, Cholpon (2016). Horses and Herders: The Pastoral Economy of the Talas Alatau, 1930–2010. Talas: Talas State University Press.