Author archive
4 August 2024
Animal market After a day of attending to online matters and cleaning my shoes yesterday, I have what might be the highlight of my Kashgar visit this morning. Being Sunday, I was keen to revisit the animal market to compare what might have changed since 1998. Coming along for the ride was Simon from Switzerland […]
2 August 2024
Kashgar’s recreated old city Breakfast was served at the hostel at 0930, which is 0730 on the unofficial local time. I headed out for a haircut and a walk back on the lively Azirete Rd where I got some fruit. A little after midday, I walked to the Kashgar’s old city, one of the oldest […]
1 August 2024
Long-awaited opportunity Today, I start the next chapter of my trip, undertaking independent travel once again from Sary Tash in Kyrgyzstan to Kashgar in Xinjiang, western China. Entering China’s Muslim west from its Muslim neighbours may have caused suspicion when applying for a visa. So, when visa-free travel was introduced late last year, I was […]
31 July 2024
Hike cut short Breakfast was meant to be at 0700 and we were supposed to depart at 0730 for our hike. But breakfast ran late and we weren’t ready to go till around 0800. Then some confusion set in. Some thought we were meant to be driven in the car to the start of the […]
30 July 2024
Border crossing Today, we cross the border from Tajikistan to Kyrgyzstan at a crossing that’s closed to both nationalities but open to us foreigners, presumably to facilitate tourism. In fact, it was closed to all parties until more recent times. After breakfast at 0700, I settled my homestay bill and then proceeded to exchange my […]
29 July 2024
Above: Lake Karakol and the mountains in the background. Long break at Murghab We departed Alichur at 0900 headed towards Murghab, hometown of Altynbek, our driver. It is where we rejoin the M41 Pamir Highway, and also the largest town on the highway. The scenery had changed from desert to grassland in parts. And the […]
28 July 2024
Socialising at breakfast Finally, the altitude has started to have an effect on me, with a bad night sleep. I probably had only 2h of dozing. Apart from that, I didn’t have any other issues. It was a very social atmosphere at breakfast, like at dinner last night. Two Spanish guys whom we had run […]
27 July 2024
Nasty surprise With such luxurious ensuite, of course, I slept through the night without needing it. [Edit: in later parts of the trip, I go multiple through the nights when it is an outhouse!] We had been given a leisurely departure of 0900 today. Upon settling the bill, the Germans were presented with a nasty […]
26 July 2024
Roadworks and landslide We had been given a choice of starting at 0400 today or 0700. The earlier time was to avoid road works and Altynbek, the driver, didn’t seem to offer an in-between option. So, we chose the later departure, as 0400 is obscene! With delays settling up the bill at the homestay, we […]
25 July 2024
Yesterday Dushanbe isn’t exactly loaded with sights apart from museums. In this heat, I didn’t feel like wandering around repeating exterior visits to various governmental buildings or white elephants. I did walk around the Rudaki Ave area and beyond, quite early around 0800 to explore and try get rid of about USD5 of UZS. If […]