Karakorum to Pamir

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The last part of KKH from Tashkurgan to Kashgar leads through the Pamir mountains and trough the Tarim Basin. Getting the Bus in the morning was not that easy. We had been told already to better come early, but the tickets were sold out when the ticket office opened. You could only recieve a ticket when your name was on a reservation list. Getting your name on the reservation list for the next day was not possible. Finally Gu Le managed to find out that a second bus was going. When this bus came to the bus station it was annouced that you should buy the ticket on the bus. Have of Tashkurgans inhabitants suddenly wanted to board this bus... we still managed to fight our way in. My friend told me better to hide my face, they would buy me a ticket to avoid any rip of. I was quite happy when I finally had my ticket and the bus was going.
Pamir was thickly covered with snow, very beautiful. We saw camels again and passed by Mutztagh Ata mountain at Karakul Lake. Road conditions were difficult, once we had to wait for an hour because the road was blocked by an accident. For the first 50km out of 250km we needed already 4h out of 8h.
Traveling trough the Tarim Basin is rather boring. After some inicial trees it gets very dry, rocky desert and very few towns until Kashgar.

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Photos

Winter
On the way to Kashgar the road leads over another pass between Karakorum and Pamir mountains. This part was all covered by snow. Although it looked very beautiful it made driving even slower. If not you end up like this police car.

Muztagh Ata
In the snowy highlands we pass by the mighty Muztagh Ata. In the foreground you can see some traditional style houses.

Sand Mountains
In Pamir highlands some parts are a sand desert in the summer. In the winter the sand is partly covered by snow.

Down to Tarim Basin
Here you can see the rim of Tarim Basin with the mountains of Karakorum and Pamir in the background.