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Published: August 5th 2005
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Hi again,
A little bit south-west of Kashgar (that is - about
400 km), is a pass through the mountains that connects
the Chinese Silk Road with the Indian subcontinent,
and actually connects China to the western world. The
pass, 4700 m high, is the border between China and
Pakistan.
The way to the border is called the Karakoram Highway
(even though a highway is not the name I would choose
to describe it), and it passes through amazing scenery
- desert, snow peaked mountains (the Pamir Mountain
Range), and high altitude lakes.
We gathered a small group in order to fill up a car
that will take us along the way, with Tim, a British
guy, and David, a guy from Taiwan who also speaks
Turkish, and since it's similar enough to the local
Uigur he also took the part of the translator. Since
the way is so beautiful, a car is a better way to
travel there because you can always stop for pictures
and viewing, which is not possible with the public
bus.
The views along the way were really amazing, even
thought the weather was cloudy and it was raining at
some parts. First we went through
a desert, then we
started to climb some desert mountains, passing near a
lake surrounded with sand dunes, then we climbed
higher and started to see the snow. Later we passed
near Karakul lake, the main attraction here, but we
moved forward, with the intention of returning to the
lake on the way back to Kashgar.
The road itself was pretty rough, and the car we took
was a simple private car. In one of the river
crossings along the way the car just couldn't pass,
and we were stuck in the middle of the streaming
water. After a short while a truck pulled us out of
there, which is a common site along that road as we
realized later, and we continued our journey while our
driver's shoes were soaking wet.
In the evening, after a long day on the road, we
reached Tashkurgan, the last city before the border
with Pakistan. That night I started to feel bad, and
had a fever. Probably caught a cold that day, maybe
even while walking around the car and waiting for our
rescue in the river. In the morning I stayed to rest
while everybody went to explore the city and
the
surrounding, and then we took the bus going back to
Kashgar, and got off at Karakul Lake.
First thing to do, as always, is to find a place to sleep. There is one hotel on the lake, which is avoided by backpackers like ourselves. We walked further along the lake towards some yurts that belong to local Kyrgyzstan people who live here. We knew that people always sleep in yurts here. We were warmly welcomed, and offered a place to sleep. They just said that when the police comes to check at night we should say that we are just eating there and that we are staying in a tent somewhere else. Apparently the hotel people don't like the fact that people don't come to their hotel and they call the police whenever there are tourists staying with the local families. The police plays along - probably because they get money for it. We didn't mind because we knew many people stayed here before, and one Swiss couple actually built a tent outside and wanted to sleep there, so the story looked real.
We ate lunch in the yurt, if it can be called lunch. They gave us some
butter tea (like the Tibetan tea), and some bread. The bread was a little old, and hard. Very hard. The Swiss guy wasn't careful enough, and actually broke his front tooth when he bit it. He will have to spend the rest of his trip looking like a can opener. I just soaked the damn thing in the tea to soften it. This is what we had for breakfast and lunch for three days on the lake...
Since I didn't feel that well I just walked around the lake close to the yurt, rested in the sun, and enjoyed the quiet and the amazing views. The weather was better than before, even though it was still cloudy.
For dinner we had some hand made noodles with some boiled vegetables, which is the only real meal we had. After dinner they brought up the issue of the police again. They were really scared and asked us to move to another yurt a little further away. We didn't mind, and went to the 500 m trip that became about 2 km to that other yurt. The other yurt was empty and didn't even have rugs on the floor. We refused to stay
there. I started to feel weak again because it was late, a long walk, and cold, and I wasn't really healthy. After a long discussion, during which I even considered going to the hotel itself because I didn't want any more trouble with the local police, we got into a little house there and slept in it.
The morning was great, with clear blue sky. The mountains were beautiful, and we decided to stay for another day. We moved to a village called Subax a little further away from the lake to avoid more problems. I really wanted to climb the mountains, but I thought I should rest in order to get better. Instead we hired some motorcycles (with drivers) to take us up the mountain. They drove up to what they called "the base camp" and from there we walked up for about an hour to the snow line. The walk was very hard - I was sick, and it was very high. The local drivers said the snow line is at 5500 m, even though I find it a little hard to believe. The mountain itself, called Muztagata, is 7546 m high.
The way itself was amazing! green
mountains, small streams flowing down, so many birds and golden marmots all over, and snow peaks all around - but really all around.
Back in the village things were quiet and calm. I read a book, walked around, enjoyed the area. All the people in this area are Kyrgyzstan, and there is also a small mosque in the village itself. We kept eating the same meals - tea, hard bread, and noodle dinner.
The family that gave us a place to sleep was very nice. They had three girls and one boy. The little girl just danced and sang songs all day, and looked like a little princess. The older boy tried to exchange his watch with mine, showing some terrible marketing skills - "your watch is so good, and my watch is not that good, want to trade?" I had to refuse politely...
The next day we tried to catch a bus back to Kashgar. We thought that people will get off the bus like we did, and we will have seats to go back. But that day nobody stayed at the lake, and the bus was full, and the driver refused to let us on. Instead, the bus
driver stopped a passing truck with a big "China Post" sign on it, and arranged us a ride with that mail truck (for the same price as a bus ride...). It was quite funny.
When I got back to Kashgar I still didn't feel healthy. I didn't have fever anymore, but my throat was still hurting me. It was going on for a few days, so I decided I should better see a doctor. I went to the hospital, which was a scary site. When you are there you really can't believe that China is a nuclear super-power. To see a doctor cost me around 0.3$. The line was inside the doctor's room, and while he was examining me there were four other people looking in my mouth and in the papers he was writing about me. He decided I have some sort of an infection, and that I have to get antibiotics to the veins for three days. I thought that not pain in n throat is worth getting AIDS, and I just refused this treatment. After a long argument he gave me antibiotics pills, and said he doesn't think they would help much...
Well, I see I wrote
a lot for one time, so I would stop here. The next trip out of Kashgar will be told separately.
Till then,
R.
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dannyboy
Daniel
danny
wow great pictures... what made you visit this part of the world in particular?