An Uphill Struggle: A Trucker's Journey from China to Kyrgyzstan

Davrat Shamsunsinov sits behind the wheel of his Kamaz truck. With screaming engines, two of these old Soviet forty-tonners are carrying Chinese goods through the Kyrgyz mountains in convoy. The plain asphalt road soon makes way for a gravel road full of potholes.

"For the next 20 kilometres we’ll need six to eight hours", Davrat explains. "We can only drive in first gear. Mountains, passes, not a single stretch of level road. They have started to build an asphalt road now, at least -- from both sides, both from China and from Osh."

Davrat is commuting between the Kyrgyz city of Osh and the Chinese border with his Soviet trucks. To cover the distance of 250 kilometres-- and that’s one way-- they need two days.

"We used to carry cargo on both ways", Davrat says. "We took scrap metal to China and brought goods back home. But there is no more scrap metal. Now we have cargo only on the way from China. We carry clothes, electrical appliances, whatever our customers order, to Osh."

Faster Chinese competitors

Shamsunsinov’s truck is a 1985 model, made in the Soviet Union. While it is moving ahead at snail’s pace, it is overtaken by modern trucks with Chinese number plates. The Chinese vehicles, which have been allowed to carry goods inside Kyrgyzstan for the last two years, are twice as fast as his truck. But Davrat doesn’t want to give up his old Kamaz:

"Chinese trucks break down easily. It’s bad quality. The parts are made from plastic rather than metal. But the Kamaz is hundred per cent metal. If something breaks, you can always weld and repair it. These Chinese trucks melt away when you start welding."

A trained doctor behind the wheel

Davrat has been a truck driver for eight years. With his brothers, they own seven Kamaz. Though he prefers not to drive himself, it's been difficult to find drivers. Most young men prefer going to Russia for work. He has begun employing 18-year-olds, who are hardly well-prepared for such a difficult road. Davrat, who is now in his early thirties, wanted to become a doctor before. "I studied medicine for seven years", he says. "But why should I become a doctor? You’ll earn a hundred dollars a month as a trained doctor. So, as my father had been a driver, I, too became a driver after medical school."

In this job, too, he has ample opportunities to help people in need. An overloaded truck is stranded on the road -- it didn't make it up the hill and can't start again on its own. Davrat sends his second truck to pull it.

The second truck has left its trailer on the hill and backed down towards the stranded truck. Two Kamaz engines are trying to set the 40 tons in motion. After ten minutes the job is done, and Davrat is back behind the wheel, steering his Kamaz through the Kyrgyz mountains at night.

Authors: Mathias Bölinger / Thomas Bärthlein
Editor: Disha Uppal