Articles from this Category
14 October 2026
Leaving Kashgar Today we leave Kashgar for Beijing, then connect to Auckland after midnight. M has a flight an hour before ours and would leave for the airport separately not just due to the timing but also due to space constraints in a typical taxi. Before we parted ways, M asked me for the fourth […]
14 October 2026
Summary The Karakoram Highway is one of the world’s greatest road trips. When I decided to repeat the journey with Kim and Jo, I didn’t want the spare seat in our car to go unfilled. I wanted to share this special experience with a friend. Such a trip is expensive and difficult to organise for […]
13 October 2026
It was another relaxing morning before heading out around 1115 by car to the Tomb of Yusup Khass Hajip. M had decided to walk there as it was only 30 mins on foot. I would have been happy to do that too. Khass Hajip was an 11th Century Central Asan Turkic Poet. The site was […]
12 October 2026
Above: Plov, Central Asian style rice, in an extremely large pot. Exploring Kashgar’s fake old city We have time to relax again, with a lazy morning in bed followed by some muesli and fruit. Late morning, Kim, Jo and I popped out for a wander and found a Uyghur eatery just outside the fake old […]
11 October 2026
Transport hassle Today, we move from Tashkurgan to Kashgar, the last point on our trip. I had organised via WeChat messaging, for an MPV and driver to take us there for CNY800 (door-to-door). When he turned up at 1100, he saw the three white faces with me and promptly said that he couldn’t take us. […]
10 October 2026
Panlong Ancient Road It was dark when I woke at 0800 so I continued sleeping till 0900. China has only one time zone, so it really should be only 0600 if you go by Pakistan time just across the border. We took the hotel buffet breakfast at 0935 before it closed at 1000 and readied […]
9 October 2026
Leaving Sost I ran the hot water in the shower forever but to no avail. Kim went down to the lobby to report the issue. Jo & M had the same problem. After the staff had worked on it for a while, they managed to get the hot water working on M’s side of the […]
8 October 2026
Baltit Fort Anyway, I woke at 0555 in Karimabad and did an early morning walk to Baltit Fort around 0615. I remember the place fondly and didn’t want to miss it this trip, even though my visit would be only from the outside. But it is the view that is spectacular, so I was happy. […]
7 October 2026
Attabad Lake Today was meant to be an easy day or a spare day in case things had gone wrong en route due to road conditions. I had allowed time to go to Baltit Fort but Faisal had other plans. To ensure that we get to Sost early tomorrow, in order to secure our bus […]
6 October 2026
Hopper Glacier We left in the Corolla at 0830 and attempted to fill it up at a petrol station. There was no petrol available at the first station and we had to try a second. Faisal speculated that they had stopped sales at the first as a price hike was anticipated tomorrow. Leaving town, we […]