Passu and Hunza Valley offer some of the best hiking and trekking in the world with several 6,000 and 7,000 meter peaks in the area. K-2 is not far away near Skardu, though its difficult to see because of clouds and surrounding mountians. I took a day hike near a large glacier and then to a mountain lake, and another short hike to some shaky suspension bridges. Autumn colors are in full swing with brilliant yellows across the valley.

Then several hours down the KKH to Karimabad, one of the most popular villages in the valley and for good reason. First of all, its incedibly cheap. This has to do with the season, yes, but it is still the cheapest country I have traveled. The guesthouses cost from about US$.60/50 Rupees to $2/150 Rps. Most serve family style meals for $2/150 Rps that are delicious, refilling dishes (as many as 7 different ones) as much as you want.

First I stayed at Hider Inn, ran by the amazing Mr. Hider. This has probably been the best guesthouse of my trip. Not the cleanest nor does the electricity always work, but just friendly and great service. Mr. Hider is just one of those individuals you meet that resonates with you.

Mr. Hider

Karimabad and its surrounding villages have long been princely states enjoying a great degree of autonomy (over 900 years). Only 100 years ago these areas still derived much of their weath by raiding caravans coming through the valley. That thankfuly has given away to tourism, and the people of the Hunza and reknowed for their warmth. In 1974 was it finally disolved and absorbed into Pakistan by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.

Baltit Fort dates back over 700 years and is a testament to those fiercer times.

Baltit Fort, Karimabad

Like India, large trucks are garishly decorrated with bright colors. You can hitch rides with them, but they are quite slow.

The people usually don’t mind to have their pictures taken. Children will trail after you with requests of, “One picture!” And they are so photogenic; beards, Hunza hats, shawls, and smiles. Women predictably tend not to want photos though. Young girls are very skittish. Several times I’ve moved too fast and sent several running down alleys. Kind of funny really.

And the chai! Milk tea is to be enjoyed often and just walking around town will result in many invitations. Thats a great custom!

In all, the Hunza Valley has been my favorite destination thus far. It’s just a relaxing place with stunning natural scenery, very cheap, and extremely frendly people.

One of the most anticipated parts of my journey is the Karakoram Highway (KKH), the highest paved international road in the world. It crests the Khunjerab Pass 4,877 km on the border between China and Pakistan and marks the a section of the Silk Road that descends into the riches of India. The KKH claimed at least 892 lives in the making.

Karakoram Highway Map

China and Pakistan maintain sturdy relations. China has provided a lot of funding and workers for the road and its subsequent upkeep. Even today, China has just undertaken a huge upgrade of many parts of the highway to double its width in many parts. Chinese workers and their camps can been seen all along the road working very hard.

Fron Kashgar I met an Italian traveller, Eddy, heading the same way so we joined forces. The journey is a two day bus ride, but we opted to take a taxi with two others to Karakul Lake for the first night and meet the bus before it leaves in the morning.

About 200 km out of Kashgar, we have fully entered the Parim Mountians when we reached Karakul. The lake is 3,600 meters in altitude and has several mountains in reflection when it’s waters are still includeing Muztagh Ata (7546m).

Unfortunately, I took ill and missed much of the benefit of taking a taxi the first night. I think the altitude put me over the edge and I got a fever and spent most of the time sleeping at the Kirgiz settlement we stayed at, though I did walk by the lake for an hour. It was cloudy anway. Accomodation consisted of round cement gers and my favorite: yak dung fires.

The next day we hit Stone City and jumped on the bus into Pakistan in Tashkurgan. Immigration was quite easy; Chinese at Tashkurgan and Pakistani in Sost.

I received my visa on the border at Sost, getting a taste of the kind of bureaucracy awaiting on the Indian Subcontinent. I had to wait while the officer made a handwritten form for me to fill out before issuing a visa. Pakistan here I come.

Thus began about 36 hours of hellacious bus travel: 6 hours to Korla, overnight 22 hours 500 km on the Cross-Desert Highway to Hotan, and then a final 10 to Kashgar.

I had hoped for a day bus across the desert, but there were only two night ones (possibly a day bus coming the other way). I took it anyway and can say its been crossed, whatever that does. The scenery was predictably flat, barren, and grey.

The road bounced the bus every second of the journey quite roughly and a tepid headache turned into migrane status. I thought Minerva was going to spring from my head fully armored by the last leg, but finally Kashgar appeared.

Kashgar has been a hive of commerce for over 2,000 years and is the western most tip of the Chinese Empire, as the large statue of Chairman Mao in city center reminds you.

Kashgar is the heartland of Uighur culture filled with white beards, kebabs, and peculiar hats. The highlight was the Sunday Market and Livestock Market held on the same day.

The Livestock Market boasts an animal to people ratio virtually equal. Sellers and buys come to barter over sheep, horses, donkeys, and camels.

Livestock Market

The Sunday Market proved even more packed with stalls of silks, carpets, fruits, clothing, everyday items, and knives. The area is famed for its handmade knife production and I picked up the one in the middle:

Urumqi

The city is ultra-modern with all the parks, skyscrapers, and transportation similar sized Chinese cities have. It’s always cool to be in places where signs have to be written in two or more languages, and in Urumqi its Chinese and Uighur. Uighur is in an entirely different linguistic family as Chinese and looks like this:

ھەممە ئادەم زاتىدىنلا ئەركىن، ئىززەت-ھۆرمەت ۋە ھوقۇقتا بابباراۋەر بولۇپ تۇغۇلغان. ئۇلار ئەقىلغە ۋە ۋىجدانغا ئىگە ھەمدە بىر-بىرىگە قېرىنداشلىق مۇناسىۋىتىگە خاس روھ بىلەن مۇئامىلە قىلىشى كېرەك

The city lies in the gigantic (bigger than Alaska) sparse province of Xinjiang, meaning “New Frontier.” The history is rich with Silk Road routes and nearly 50 ethnic minorities lending a feel I’m in another country than China.

There are few travelers in the province but I’ve found some in the only youth hostel in this city. I’ve seen more adventurous Chinese and other Asians than anyone, the travelers being decked out with rain gear and backpacks sporting labels like North Face and Mountain Hardware. The Westerners I’ve seen tend to be more rugged than the usual South East Asia first-time wonder-struck kids you see elsewhere in Asia. The guys have beards of some rapaport and the girls have no shame drying their underware in the hallway. They’ve been around, some coming across from Europe and tend to keep their heads down and not say much. We’ve been through the “Where are you from?” routine too many times and know the road goes on.

Even so, I met a nice group of people and we went to a hot pot restaurant. This delicious dish is a Chinese staple (similar to Japanese nabe) and for some reason I have yet to sample it in my time in China. I think part of the reason is eating this seems to be a very communal activity, and I’m usually alone.

In the center of the table is a large pot, divided in two parts, on a burner. One side is spicy broth and the other plain. You peruse a large wall of skeweed vegees and meets to bring back to the table and stick them into the pots to be cooked. Not for chopstick beginners.

You pay by the amount of skeweers you eat, and six of us ate 152 sticks of food, though pricier items like shrimps have more than one skeweer. Including beer and a couple plates of meat to throw in, we each payed 26 RMB (~US$3.80). Super good since it is quite chilly here and I saw the first snow of the year the day I arrived, signalling an end to some of the markets.

The breads (pan) here are also cheap and delicious. You can get bagels and plate-sized sesame covered breads for one or two RMB and they make great resting places for kebabs.

The main thing I wanted to see in Urumqi is it’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region Museum, a newly renovated attraction for “Silk Road aficionados” (LP China). Sounds good. The only problem was navigating the draconian entrance requirements: closed Mondays (first day here), ticket dispensing times, entrance times, and limits on how many can enter. I felt like I was trying to see the Tonight Show and not some 4,000 year old mummies. Finally, Wednesday I got in but had to change my bus ticket to a day later to see it. To my surprise entrance is free!

Xinjiang Autonomous Region Museum

The museum was well done with exhibits following the history of the Silk Road, ethnic minorities in the region, carpets styles, and the main attraction: mummies!

The desert mummified Caucasoid bodies include the famous Loulan Beauty. The 45 year old’s face has been reconstructed from her remains, and she is (was!) considered quite attractive. The several on display and other Tarim Basin mummies are valued for their amazing state of preservation due to the desert conditions. Braids of hair, teeth, and clothing lie in remarkable condition for being up to 4,000 years old. No photos allowed but I managed to get a couple anyway. The light was very dark so the Loulan Beauty is blurry with a tripod.

Loulan Beauty

From AD 366, traders, merchants, and officials patroned the building and painting of religious caves for the next 1000 years. The area is particulary interesting as it lies in a crossroads of different cultures. Peoples from all over Asia and Europe meshed here and some depicitions have clear Tibetan, Chinese, Indian, and even Greek influence.

In Mongolia I had a few days repast waiting for the train and I ripped through 4 or 5 books, inluding Peter Kopkirk’s Foreign Devils on the Silk Road. The book describes in vivid detail how the caves lay dormat for about a 1000 years, bricked off or filled by the sands of the Taklamakan Desert that also ate many towns along the Silk Road after it’s decline.

For the first quarter of the 20th Century, several groups of European, Japanese, and American adventurers and archieologists (notably Aurel Stein and Paul Pelliot) took notice of the vast Central Asian area and its trove of history. They followed in one of the world’s greatest explorers footsteps, Sven Hedin. They came in force and dug up cities lost to the desert to find frescoes, statues, and manuscripts from a chapter in history long forgotten.

Paul Pelliot Sorting Manuscripts in the Library Cave

They hauled thousands of relics back to their sponsoring organizations. Their methods were often destructive, sometimes sawing off huge chunks of frescoes. China considers this a dark period and the items stolen. Counter to this is the fact local people were burning the precious items as a source of scare wood and the vast destruction of religious items during the Cultural Revolution. Some items were also destroyed in WWII bombing in Europe.

Even so, perhaps the greatest trove lies in the Magao Caves, 28 km from Dunhuang. In three sperate caves lie Buddha statues of over 30 meters, two sitting and one reclining. The frescoes are in various states of decay, some areas peeling away to show three layers of paintings covering different Chinese dynasties. Many statues still display vivid color.

The Chinese governement has poured a lot of resources into the maintainence and restoration of the caves. Entrance is strictly regulated and bears a high entrance fee of 160 RMB, plus 20 RMB for foreign language guides. Visitors are taken conveyor belt stlye and shown 8 - 10 caves. No photos are allowed, except from the outside.

Magao Caves

One of the most interesting is Cave 17, called the Library Cave. A self-appointed curator of the caves, Wang Yuanlu, discovered the small cave inside number 16 behind a false wall of fresco containg many thousands of ancient manuscrips in many languages, including some ancient unknown Central Asia languages such as Khotanese. Inside lay editions of classic Buddist texts by the most famous caligraphers and the oldest printed book known, The Diamond Sutra. The Europeans gained Wang’s trust and bought thousands of them for miniscule sums before China slammed the door shut.

Bible in Syriac

I had great interest in the site after reading the aforementioned book. It’s one of the highlights of the Northern Silk Road. The site is well maintained and has a nice International Research Project Building where 8 caves have been nicely reproduced (though half were closed) in addition to many relics. I found it extremely interesting but had a few reservations.

Cave Reproductions

The price is extremely high (highest I have paid for any entrance), having been increased from 100 RMB in the last year. For that price, I wanted to see more caves and have a better tour guide. She was knowlegable enough, but spoke hurried, making it a bit hard to understand, and moved me right along. It was only her and I, and I don’t think I saw as many caves as a larger group though I had great interest in the site. I did not come away disappointed, though I overheard other foreigners express as much later on.

More information about the caves can be found at the International Dunhuang Project.

The caves are located about 28 km from the city of Dunhuang. Halfway in between them is the train station. I found a sleeper available that evening for Urumqi, so just made a day of the caves and moved on.

Both the train ticket and admission were higher than expected, leaving me short of money before I could get to a bank to change more (plus it was Sunday).

Luckily, I met perhaps the nicest people of my stay in China; a couple from Urumqi visiting for the weekend. I arrived with 3 hours to kill at the station and found them camped by a foodstall passing time. None of us spoke the other’s language, but we got on well. They ushured me up to some hidden room with beds to chill out before the train, and gave me tangerines, bananas, water, and bought me a bowl of delicious noodles and a beer. Amazing, considering I didn’t have enough money to properly eat.

I checked their seat assignment (we had the same train) and found them later with a meeger offering of a couple of beers. They further supplied me with more fruit and snacks of spicy chicken toes and some kind of spicy hardboiled bird egg (yes, Chinese foods are crazy).

By the time I reached a bank in Urumqi, I had 4.3 RMB left (~US.50), so it worked out perfectly!

Wuta Pagoda

Via Lanzhou I took a couple days to explore Xiahe, a Tibetan town home to the leading monastery outside of Lhasa and home to over 1200 monks. The Labrang Monastery is one of the “big 6″ of the Gelugpa “Yellow Hat” sect of Buddhism.

Xiahe

Unbeknownst to me, this town has been off limits for foreigners until recently because of protests that took place in March and I had to be among the first to visit. China severly limited access to Tibetan areas in the buildup to the Olypmics much to my dismay.

I walked the 3 km kora (pilgrim route) around the monastery and peeked in on chanting and meditation sessions. Prostrating brightly dressed pilgrims were abundant walking the route and spinning prayer wheels.

One of the workers at my hostel took me to meet his friends at the local watering hole. Interesting evening of singing, dancing, and what converstation we could manage. The Tibetans proceded to tell me how badly China is treating them, pantoming hitting each on the head and cocking guns.

The next series of bus rides was long and uncomfortable but scenic. One leg I shared a seat next to a rather wide monk and I think we were the biggest on the cramped bus. I had time to step off at Zhangye, where Marco Polo stayed a year to write, and see the world’s largest reclining Buddha at 35 meters long:

I arrived finally to Jiayuguan (at the recommendation from some Chinese on the train out of Ulaanbaatar). This city is a major destination on the Silk Road and the start of what I’ll consider my Silk Road leg.

The Silk Road is more accuratley the Silk Routes and were “important paths for cultural and technological transmission by linking traders, merchants, pilgrims, monks, soldiers, nomads and urban dwellers from China to the Mediterranean Sea for thousands of years.” The routes stretched from Turkey to the then Chinese capital in present day Xi’an. My route will take the branch down through Pakistan to India.

The fort here is effectively the western most stronghold of the Chinese Silk Road and guards a pass between the snow-capped Qilian Shan mountains and the Hei Shan “Black Mountians.” Its the start of the Great Wall in the west and also known as the “First and Greatest Pass Under Heaven.” It was built in 1372 Ming Dynasty.

Jiayuguan Fort

Marco Polo traveled this way and described this outpost. Quite excited for this leg since I have an interest in the history here. Its easy to feel as if you are a traveler of old. With that I’ll leave you with this gem:

Thou shalt not pass

Traditional Mongolian Deel

I went on a 3 day horse and camping trek with some Australian girls. The first night we spent camping in a national park with a destroyed and rebuilt monastery, then camped of the open steppe. Great weather and a nice chance to get the horses moving.

Cooking on the Steppe

You say, “Chuu, Chuu!” to get horses moving in Mongolia. Mine seemed hard to motivate until I adopted a strap to whack his hindquarters with. Walk to gallop in no time.

Back in UB, I’ve had a few slow days, but did head out to the Gandantegchinlen Khiid Monestary, better known as Gandan Monastery. They boast an impressive 27 meter tall statue of Migjed Janraisig, the Buddha of compassion.

Gandan Monastery

Migjid Janraisig

I was unable to find any groups going to the Gobi Desert that I could join for cheap. Surprisingly, tourism in Mongolia is not cheap. With the general lack of infostructure, trains and long distance buses are not existent. Instead, you can fly (expensive), public mini-bus (slow, bumpy, and completely cram packed), or hire private vans/jeeps with up to seven others. The latter can range from US$25/day to upwards of $90, with most end up paying $40 - 50. Tourist season is tailing off, so I decided to save some money and continue back to China for continuation along the Silk Road.

I really think there are lots of business opportunities in Mongolia, including tour companies and restaurant establishments. There is little to no hiking or biking, and the rest exist in such small number they can charge exorbitant amounts.

For food, in UB there is hardly any vegetarian options, and, get this, no American fast food chains. Apparently McDonald’s has chosen not to pursue business here, which I think is utterly wrong from an economic perspective (morally??). Fast food here consists of establishments such as Berlin Burger and Hanburger (sic), plus a popular Mongolia food one that I can’t pronounce. The Western places’ food sits in hotplates behind glass and is additionally reheated upon order. Good as it sounds. Not sure I would want to be that guy, but whoever opens a McD’s in UB will be rich.

A few further observations:

Attractive Mongolian girls represent some kind of Central Asian supermodels. They are very fashion aware, very Westernized, and very nice to look at.

Customer service is perhaps the worst and most inattentive for any one country I’ve been to. While nomadic families are some of the warmest and friendliest, city Mongolians don’t give a f*ck. Faces are impassive and sour. Tasks are completed slowly, during which all other communication is severed. Often people completely ignore questions and even your presence. This extends to markets, such as the famous Naran Tul or Black Market. In China, bargaining starts at 300-500% of the settled price. Mongolians will have none of it and I never got anyone to come down more than US$1.50. Market stall’s owners mostly sit around and wait for you to initiate conversation, and cut it off if bargaining continues. The answer to most questions is “no” and they have already turned away from you in answering, leaving you staring at the back of a head. Unfortunately, the friendliest places are foreign owned, and while I usually like to shop locally, I don’t feel too bad frequenting them.

It’s been exactly one month here in Mongolia. I feel there is much still to see in this amazing place and I haven’t covered the countryside like I usually do. But it’s financially smarter to move on, and someday when I complete the Trans-Siberian Railway I can fill in the gaps.

Chinggis Khaan

Oh, I’m hilarious… The Mongolia steppe (pronounced ’step’) is the grassland plains that dominate the scenery. Slightly surreal, my train departed Beijing and passed by pieces of the Great Wall and Gobi desert before completing the 32 odd hour ride to Mongolia’s capital Ulaanbaatar (UB for short), which means “Red Hero.” Yes, the Soviet influence is unmistakable; Cyrillic script, statues of Lenin, colorful and blocky buildings, and all the vodka.

View From the Train

Train Berth

Sunset From Train

Upon arrival, I began the hoof to Sukhbaatar Squre where I met Mendee, owner of Steppe Riders, taking in the scenery along the way. Ulaanbataar is dusty and under construction. Dirt piles and dilapidated sidewalks make walking a day activity. Near the square is a huge parasail shaped building that I am told is creeeeeping along in construction.

The square itself is impressive with a huge statue (above) of Genghis Khan, known here as Chinngis Khaan. I believe it was Marco Polo who popularized the spelling as we know today in the west. Genghis is revered here to a high degree, unlike the villainy he is associated with in the West. And its understandable because this ruler of the largest ever kingdom introduced currency, written language, stabilized the Silk Road, and generally used the brightest minds of his conquered lands in their strengths. I’ll point to Jack Weatherford’s fascinating Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World for more info (the author is actually in UB right now and gave a talk that I missed out on since I didn’t know until several days after!).

Sukhbaatar Square

Mendee is the owner, along with his family and brothers, of the aforementioned Steppe Riders, a horse trekking company I have the fortune of helping as an assistant for a few weeks. After about a 30 minute drive into the steppe, I found myself settling in to a ger, the traditional nomadic home perhaps better known by the Russian yurt.

Mendee Tovuujav (center) & his Brothers

Steppe Rider's Base Camp

Mongolian Ger

Inside of my Ger

The gers are fantastic. In fact, I’m going to have to get one when I have a suitable place for it. They go up in about an hour and come down in half that time. These five wall versions hold four beds and a wood heater. They also have a cooking ger and communal eating one.

Other than that, I’n in UB for a few days to arrange another Chinese visa. Should be possible now, provided all the hassle of correct paperwork is there. During my stay at a guesthouse here a thief as struck via an unlocked door and I lost two small bags. Nothing really of value, so I can’t complain considering a German girl lost her passport, camera, and some money.

My toiletries bag was snatched, which just ticks me off since it is comprised of various items from the last two year’s travels; rehydration salts from Nepal, sunscreen from Vietnam, nail clippers from India, plus my first air kit and other items. The other bag had some books and sadly my moleskin journal.

And now gratuitous Great Wall pics:

The Geat Wall

Picked up my train tickets to Mongolia and leave tomorrow!

Packed Xi'an Train Station

Beijing is nice, clean, and easy to get around in. The Para-Olympics are going on and there are info booths everywhere to ask directions. Flowers and newly painted buildings add to the very relaxed attitudes of the Beijing-ites. Where most larger cities I’ve found to be a swarming bustle with people yelling about who knows what, the locals here slowly walk their little dogs or sit outside playing Chinese Chess.

Paraolympics

Tian’anmen Square and the Forbidden City are amazing. The Tian’anmen Gate, or Gate of Heavenly Peace, sports the famous public portrait of Chairman Mao Zedong and serves as the front entrance to the Forbidden City.

The Forbidden City was built from 1406 to 1420 and served as the seat of ruling dynasties. Today, the World Heritage Site is home to the Palace Museum.

Chairman Mao on Tian'anmen Gate

Hall of Supreme Harmony in Forbidden City

Gilded Lion

Don’t forget the Temple of Heaven.

Temple of Heaven

Detail

Communist leaders seem to like to preserve themselves for display after their death (or their followers do despite their wishes) and Chairman Mao is no exception. But just like in Hanoi, I was thwarted with short open hours and missed my chance, but I did get a nice red alarm clock with the Chairman waving his hand as the seconds click away.

I was able to couch surf a few days with a great host originally from Spain. Very nice flat and he and his friends are into just the kind of work I’d like to do with artistic projects using new media.

Hiking the Great Wall tomorrow!