Journal entry dated 3 Sept 2010 Kashar to the Mountains departed 9.00am.The Khorakorum Highway passes over the Kunhjerab Pass (4800) gateway to Pakistan/India for centuries this was the route used by caravans plodding down the Silk Road. Kunjerab means valley of blood. Named as this was the place the camel trains were robbed and the merchants murdered by local bandits. This is now Taliban territory. Somethings do not change.
Citt and I hired a driver/car to take us to the lake approx 220 kms south of Kashgar, we did not want to go to the border as it was too restricted and the altitude would make us sick. The area borders Tajikistan/Pakistan/Afghanistan and is the meeting place of the Hindu Kush and the Tian Shan Mountain ranges. (It holds a special place for Citt and I as we passed through Tajikistan over the mountains on the Silk Road journey 2007 through Central Asia).
The road starts off in desert changing to the foothills where it becomes lush farms and friut orchards of Peach, Almonds, Apricots, Plums and Apples. The fields are full of honey and water melon with corn and wheat in the drier areas. Kids play on the road on their way to school we are traveling fast with loud horn. The road is excellent.
The flats give way to mild hills with worn out cliffs of clay. Then suddenly we are on the cusp of a hill and the mountains rise up before us. The road follows the river through a red rock canyon leading to a vast plain of grass and a shallow lake. The hills turn to sand dunes. We are blessed with a sunny still day so you can enjoy the superb images we captured.
There is no one about except for some kids selling antiques and carpets from Pakistan. A fellow sidles up to us with some precious gems to sell. Amethyst, or crystals? We are warned by our driver it is illegal to buy antiques to take out and the gems carry a jail term. Good; as about 3 kilometers down the road there is a police road block. This is one of many as we are on the road to Islamabad, Pakistan and the whole area is in a state of war. We are close to the Kashmir region about 150 kilometers down the road. People smugglers are operating big time and so is the drug trade. We are warned and rightly so. The next police check is heavily armed outpost with machine gun posts and armed pill boxes. We are given the once over. The trucks are lined up for a kilometer and being searched thoroughly we suspect for people, arms and contraband. The topography changes from sand to rock and we note huge mines. The road is badly damaged and washed away by the recent rains and floods. Complete mountains have slipped onto the road and deviations are common.
In time we reach our destination "Lake Karakul". It is a beautiful clear blue lake surrounded by snow capped mountains, the dominating mountain Mush Tagan 7317metres, The locals are here with camels and small mountain horses to try and make some money off the tourists.
Again we are offered rare gems, antique carpets, antique glassware and other stuff coming out of Pakistan to get some cash to live. I buy a china hand carved chop for Susie and a Tajiki necklace for Pam, Citt is conned again into going to look at Carpets but we get to share a Gur for an hour or so. We both figure it is better to give these people money than give it to the organized charities as these people need to eat.
We return to Kashgar in time to catch the last flight to Urumqui in North West China we are well aware of our time restriction but we did meet a camel with attitude on the road.
Next blog Urumqui and the Altay.
To get the best out of the images >click on the arrows in the lower right had corner >select options for speed >select comments. Enjoy
