Karakum Highway

We traveled south from Kashgar on the famous Karakum Highway. This is the ancient route to the Silk Road from Pakistan and India and today is the main trade route from Pakistan and Afghanistan into China.  

We paralleled the Tajikistan border winding through red rock, sandstone, and granite canyons. We were just a few miles from both the Pakistan and Afghanistan borders. We actually passed a China/Pakistan checkpoint and our passports were verified. We looked to the mountains for Taliban strongholds. Yikes!  

The dust storm was intense and made visibility poor.  We could barely see the snowcapped Himalayas peeking through in the distance.  At a reststop we saw a huge collection of jade and agate for sale. Through one canyon the road was narrow and the rock walls were within inches of the truck. 

We continued to climb. At 11,000 ft we came across a large dam project and reservoir. We stopped for pictures long enough to realize we should not have left our long pants at the laundry in Kashgar...smile!  It's cold in the mountains!

We reached Lake Karakol around 6pm and found herds of yak grazing. The landscape was breathtaking!  There were a couple of possible bush camps. That is until the dust storm engulfed us and then the rain started. 

Suddenly we were surrounded by vendors on motorbikes representing the yurt complex nearby...and the negotiations began.  After an hour of price fluctations snd dealing with the Chinese "mafia," we just didn't feel right about their behavior and our safety so we opted to head back  along the highway and find a bush camp.

About 30km down the road we found a small village with an area overlooking a lake.  Perfect!  That was until the local townsfolk descended on us along with their constable. It was apparent that we were going to have to jump through some hoops. They wanted all but the two cooks to go to the police station with our passports.  This plus one of the family having some altitude problems caused us to finish cooking, eat in the truck, and then head back to Kashgar.

We reached the border checkpoint midnight and were tucked safe and sound in our comfy beds by 2:30am. Quite an adventurous day!

Kashgar Sunday Markets

We left the hotel early and visited the market/bazaar. There we did some shopping for our next three meals. This market was different than any other so far. There was a lesser selection of fresh vegetables mixed with lots of cooked food vendors. Someone is getting this pretty purple scarf...i wonder who?  The one most interesting thing about this bazaar was that everything we saw was made in the local country - China-ha-ha!  An interesting paradigm for a change. ALL OF MY CLOTHES and accessories felt at home, having returned to their place of birth. 
 

Next was the world famous Sunday Animal Market. We arrived just as animals were arriving.  Hundreds of tuktuk and wagon, one after another, each loaded with critters, all bound for barter and trade. The sounds, smells, and activity was overwhelming. It was fun to watch the men, and women, bartering angrily, only to smile and shake hands when the deal was made!  We ate at a local noodle bar and watched them make the noodles on the spot. Very cool. 

Then it was down the Karakoram highway toward Pakistan with our destination today at Lake Karakol.