Himalayas & China 2005: 9 - Karimabad, Pakistan to Urumqi, China

We were up at 5:30 AM to be away by 6:30, but it turned out to be almost 7. The first 45 km of the Karakoram Highway we had been over twice already. Were I to organize this part of the trip the Hoper Glacier and the Baltit Fort would be on the same day, then on the last day we'd stop at the school at Gulmit Village and the two glaciers on the way to Sost. It would save 90 km of driving and make a shorter drive to China. There is a PTDC motel at Sost that made delicious box lunches for us, and has rooms at least as good as the Hunza Baltit, plus they have 24-hour hot water!

The highway is in better shape than it was further south, except for areas damaged by landslides. The scenery on the drive was indescribable. The canyons were narrow and high, which while spectacular had the disadvantage of shutting out the sun, our sole source of warmth on this freezing morning. The van heater didn't work very well.

Sost is the customs and immigration centre in spite of being 85 km from the border, and Chinese immigration and customs are another 85 km past that, so there is a very large no-mans-land. A steady stream of trailer trucks rolls in from China to be unloaded, then after clearing customs the goods are shipped by local carriers. The trailers then return empty to China. Very little trade from Pakistan is going the other way. The pass is closed due to snow from December until March.

Our guide Shahid shepherded us through straightforward customs and immigration formalities at two widely separated locations. We then said goodbye to him and met the driver who would take us to Taskhurgan in China. Shahid, in spite of some difficulty in English, was an excellent and intrepid guide. He certainly had a way of making things happen. With few exceptions we were pleased with the services provided by Sitara Tours in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Like all Bestway affiliates we have travelled with they were very professional.

After leaving Sost the valley closed in again with even higher and narrower canyons. Heavy equipment is in the area at all times clearing frequent slides. We passed several checkpoints along the way, and at Post Dhee we paid $4 per head park entrance fee. This was worthwhile, as behind the building they had a 3-month-old snow leopard named Leo. The mother of this rare species had been shot, so they adopted the 3-week-old kitten. It weighed one kilogram then, but is up to 8 kilograms now and playful as any kitten. The guys had obviously fallen for Leo; he was likely better fed than they were! They have the idea of introducing him into the wild and watching to see how he does. This likely won't work as he is too used to humans and would not know how to hunt, but the back up plan is to fence off a large area in this remote spot and keep Leo as a one animal zoo.

Security from Sost to the undefended Chinese border is by the Khunjerab Security Force, a special police force for this area. In addition to snow leopards the park has wild yak, of which we saw many, the rare Ibex and Marco Polo mountain sheep, which are nearly extinct.

Once we ran out of rivers to drive alongside the road began a long series of switchbacks to the broad plateau where the pass is located. We cleared through the last Pakistani checkpoint and proceeded into China. Their first check point was not manned, so we went a few kilometres to the next one. The only military were a few soldiers attached to immigration, and none had visible weapons. We were at 4,934 meters (16,188') and it felt like it when moving around. That is more than three vertical miles (almost 5 kilometres) above sea level. Lakes and streams are frozen, and there were patches of fresh snow along the road.

There is some controversy over the actual altitude of the pass. Ali, our guide in Pakistan, said it was 4,733 meters; a map on the wall in Hunza said 4,934 meters with 4,703 meters in brackets beside it. There was no sign with altitude at the pass, and our guide in China had a different figure again. The map I brought has the 4,934-meter figure on it, so that is the one I've gone with.

All vehicles were minutely searched for drugs inside and out, even the returning empty transport trucks. After the vehicle inspection was done an unarmed Chinese soldier joined us for the trip to Taskhurgan. When he climbed in we were sharing our lunches with the driver. At first he was very stiff and unsmiling, but after giving him some candies and joking a little he relaxed, took off his hat, leather belt, webbed belt and settled down to sleep.

Before long we came across several two humped, furry camels. We'd been warned that no photo stops would be permitted on the China side, but after the soldier examined my passport he said we could get out to take photos. The Swiss couple in the car behind us were also out of the car. Our driver explained that most nationalities, including citizens of the US, Britain and Japan, are not permitted to stop for photos, but Swiss and Canadians are two of the few exceptions.

When we stopped later for the call of nature the driver got out as well, wearing the Chinese soldier's hat. I didn't find out if the disguise was necessary, but he kept in on for the next hour in spite of sideway glances from the soldier. The driver needled the soldier on a few things, but the soldier just ignored him. The soldier was obviously relaxed, as he looked very official when getting into the car, but by the time we stopped at a checkpoint and he got out his shirt was untucked, he had no leather belt or webbing and no hat.

On the Chinese side of the border there were no dramatic mountains. A long, broad valley slopes gradually away from the border; with relatively lower mountains on each side. The slope must have been greater than it seemed, as we descended from the pass to Taskhurgan at 3,200 meters (10,500') in 2 ½ hours.

There is a new highway being built from Taskhurgan to the border, so we were slowed by the inevitable road construction, but there were three or four newly paved sections several kilometres long where we made good time. Work is being carried on rapidly, with many sections under construction at the same time. Bridges need to be finished, and a plant has been set up to build the reinforced concrete spans. They won't finish this year, as weather will close them down in October.

Construction has certainly changed since we were in mainland China 15 years ago. Then roadwork was done by swarms of labourers, each with buckets attached to the ends of a pole across the shoulders. Now it is all excavators and heavy equipment - mostly Hyundai or Caterpillar.

After a fairly detailed customs inspection in Taskhurgan we went looking for our guide. There were a number of guides outside customs but ours was not to be found. After a while we decided to taxi to the hotel, so a helpful guide who spoke English found us a moneychanger and a taxi. Our Pakistani driver came with us, as he speaks the local language and knew people at the hotel. The taxi fare was 5 Yuan, or about 67 cents.

At the Pamir Hotel they claimed to have no reservation in the travel company name or my name. They tried to phone the contact numbers I had, but neither the emergency cell number nor office phone were answered. Our driver declared loudly, "This isn't Pakistan, this is China!" as if this was par for the course. Comforting!

Marilynn used the toilet in the lobby, and came back with the declaration that there was no way she was staying in that hotel, it was that disgusting! I pointed out that to meet up with our guide we needed to be in the assigned hotel. They had rooms available, so we decided to check in, but I wanted to see a room first. Accompanied once again by our stalwart Pakistani driver, a room door was opened and he immediately said "No Way!" It was awful. We were then shown a room in another building, which was an improvement. I guess seeing the other one first lowered my expectations enough!

Marilynn asked the reception people to keep trying the travel company while we looked at rooms. Bestway puts contact numbers on their vouchers, so working from these numbers contact was finally made. It turned out that our guide was in the hotel all along! We were very happy to meet up with him, as we'd decided the next step would be to hire a car to get us to our next stop at Kashgar, which would have been interesting, as the hotel had been changed from the one on our schedule.

We thanked the driver from Pakistan profusely for his assistance and our guide, Joseph, helped get our gear to the room. Some effort made it liveable - Marilynn took a small towel and soap to get the urine off the toilet seat and put a large towel on the floor as the drain from the sink floods the place. Light was from a bare bulb hung over the bathroom mirror, but the bed, though hard as a rock, was clean and had lots of blankets to offset the lack of heat. We were told we could get hot water if we let it run for ten minutes or so, but that turned out to be a myth.

Josef confirmed that food in this frontier, border town was horrible. We had some not great Chinese food in the hotel restaurant accompanied by a very good local wine, while Josef gave us a history lesson about the area. Anna Song, our contact at China Golden Bridge Travel, called to apologize profusely for no one meeting us. Apparently the car was being washed, we were earlier than expected and she was out of cell phone range when originally called.

There is a 3-hour time change from Pakistan to China, as all China is officially on Beijing time. As a result sunrise is after 8:30 AM. This will be the first time I've had jet lag from a 7-hour car ride! The people here use two times, the local one is two hours off official time. It is necessary to specify which one you mean.

Friday, September 30, 2005

Breakfast in the hotel wasn't so bad. Taskhurgan is a city full of Tajiks, who according to Joseph are the descendants of the remnants of the defeated Persian armies. They still wear their very colourful traditional dress.

We headed off in light traffic, and were soon in road construction. I swear we are destined to try every road under construction there is! Our vehicle is a Mitsubishi SUV with Japanese power train and Chinese built body. We were climbing again, with the Pamir Mountains becoming higher on our right until we could see a snowy range with a 7,719 meter (25,325') peak. They didn't look as high as in Pakistan, but the valley is over 3,600 meters (11,810') so the relative height was less.

After about three hours we arrived at Karakuli Lake. It covers about 10 sq. km. and is surrounded by high mountains, which reflect in the lake. Marilynn rented one of the two hump camels for a short ride, and then we had a good lunch of Yak stew accompanied by a large, cold, delicious beer. They come in quart size bottles - very sensible.

We continued to climb until we crossed the second highest pass at 4,200 meters (11,810'). The highest is at the border. We were now in Kyrgys territory, and along the way we passed several yurts. The resemblance was only from a distance - close up it was apparent they were made of concrete! The countryside became more interesting as we descended through rocky canyons.

The area we are in is the Xinjiang Autonomous Zone, which was captured by force years ago by the Han years ago. The celebration tomorrow is to commemorate 50 years of Chinese Communists occupation. As most people are Chinese citizens, they call those people we generally refer to as Chinese "Han". In this zone there is a population of 20 million, of which 46% are Uyghur and 39% are Han. In the Kashgar prefecture only about 6% are Han and 90% Uyghur. Bilingual highway and other signs reflect this - they are in Chinese characters and Uyghur script.

Kashgar was the crossing point of most silk routes. Two roads arrived from Han territory to converge at Kashgar, and then headed out in three different directions.

The one child policy of China is apparently more relaxed in this area. While Han are allowed only one child, minorities are allowed 2. In total there are about 19 million minorities in China, and about one billion 200 million Han, according to Joseph.

After arriving in Kashgar, a modern looking city with wide, tree lined streets we headed for our hotel, the Quinibagh. It is about as deluxe as could be hoped for in the area, with a five star lobby area and good rooms with working, quite air conditioning - not a real necessity this time of year. We thoroughly enjoyed the hot water bath/shower, though. It also had a great feature which last night's hotel had as well - wall plugs that take three different types of connector, including the North American variety. It also has the hardest beds we've come across yet. I actually checked under the lower sheet this morning - I was convinced it was a thick piece of plywood with a sheet on it!

Joseph took us to dinner in a local restaurant, and we had a great feed of local specialties accompanied by cold beer. This area is Muslim, but very relaxed Muslim, including the way the girls look and act. When we got back to the hotel Marilynn wasn't feeling great, so she lay down while I took a walk around the area. People are obviously used to Westerners, as few heads turned as I went by.

Saturday, October 1, 2005

Today is the national holiday, and Joseph showed up wearing a suit. We walked about a kilometre to the main square where the ceremony of raising the flag took place in front of a crowd of thousands while the national anthem blared out from many speakers. Behind the official stand was a towering statue of Mao. The crowd started to disburse when the speech of the leader of the area began. We didn't know that there had been a big celebration with music and dancing the night before. We would have like to have attended. Joseph said he went to it after we had dinner.

We then visited a mosque from the 1400s, a historic mausoleum and the small museum before having a great lunch of local food at the luxurious Palace Restaurant. There are some great restaurants here, in appearance and quality of food. After lunch we walked miles through the old part of town, where a maze of alleyways about 10 feet wide is home to many local people. Dwellings above cover many sections of alley. There were also many traditional craftsmen with small shops, including gold and silversmiths, blacksmiths, wood turners, shoemakers, tailors, carpet weavers and so on.

October 1 is not only a national holiday, but a big shopping day as well. One place had both sides of the city block in front of the shop stacked with refrigerators and TV sets on which they offered big discounts. The privately owned telecom company offered a selection of Nokia cell phones free for signing up for the service.

Dinner was at the AK Altun Restaurant where we ate last night. Along with other dishes we had BBQ pigeon. The guide always made sure he had the receipt from the restaurant, as each official receipt has a scratch and win lottery on it to encourage people to request receipts so the government can collect tax.

Back at the hotel we met our guide for tomorrow, Muhammad, as Joseph has a US group of 14 people coming in. We are just as glad - he will likely do better with a larger group. He didn't seem happy with only the two of us, and Marilynn was not that happy with him. He had a tendency to smoke all the time, including at meals, and was short on information other than the Uyghur version of history. He did introduce us to some great restaurants, though.

Sunday, October 2, 2005

Today, being a light day, we decided upon an 11AM start. I tried to get email away, but when I slide the floppy disk from my laptop into the computer all I heard was "clunk". The hole was there, but no disc drive. I had to take the computer apart to recover my floppy! We tried three more internet cafes, but there were no floppy disc drives to be had in town.

I skipped the breakfast buffet, as it really is pretty horrible to the Western palate. The slimy, white gruel just doesn't cut it for my stomach first thing in the morning. Our first stop today was the animal market, where one camel was for sale along with hundreds of horses, donkeys, sheep and cattle. Sheep were being sheared as I guess the wool didn't go as part of the package, horses and carts were racing around in circles showing off the quality of the animal and donkeys and their carts were being thoroughly examined by prospective purchasers..

Back in town we had a sandwich at a restaurant owned by an American who came here to study Uyghur (pronounced WE-gur) music and stayed. We then walked through the huge Sunday market, which in reality is open more than just Sundays. The main building has 3,200 stalls in its 9,000 sq meters, but the market spills out for blocks in every direction. Buying price worked out to be less than 50% of asking price, so hard bargaining was required, but Marilynn was very happy with some of her bargains.

Public phones here are interesting. There are lots of them, but they are regular big number desk type telephones on a table on the street. You pay the attendant to use them.

In the late afternoon we stopped for a beer in a garden outside what used to be the Russian Consul, then hung around the lobby of the Qinibagh Hotel where we had stayed. We ate at a restaurant behind the hotel that used to be the British consul in the days when the central Chinese government was weak. We apparently couldn't order what we wanted, so a dozen dishes of very mediocre food showed up, most of which we didn't touch.

Our flight to Urumqi left 15 minutes early, and they found me a seat with room for my legs. China Southern Airlines has been privatized and is very different from the last time I flew it. There was a first class section, while before everyone was equal. The snack served was better, and they ended with an announcement that promoted their frequent flyer program and said, "We realize you have a choice of carriers. Thank you for flying China Southern". The cleanliness and maintenance was far higher as well.

This was one of six flights a day between Kashgar and Urumqi, so I'd expected a small plane. This one certainly wasn't - it carried around 300 passengers in three economy sections plus first class.

We were pleased to be met at the airport by Hanna, our guide who escorted us over modern freeways to the Xinjiang Grand Hotel downtown. This used to be a Holiday Inn, and is very nice. It was certainly the cleanest hotel we have seen for awhile. The beds, while softer, were a chopped version that ended just below my knees when I lay down. The only thing we found a bit much was a 1,000-Yuan ($ 125.00) deposit we had to make in case we used something from the minibar, as the room was prepaid. That would have bought the contents of the minibar several times over. When we asked why others didn't have to pay, the answer was that large groups are exempt.

Items in all hotels in China are toothbrushes with mini toothpaste and combs. These are replaced daily if used. If nothing else, we emerged each morning with combed hair and clean teeth! Another standard item in the bathroom was condoms. There was always one brand for sale, but tonight's hotel had a wide selection. Maybe that is what the large deposit was for!