Features

Kashgar's High Roads

31 Aug 2008 by business traveller

Cell phones and motorbikes may now penetrate the mountain reaches once surveyed by Genghis Khan and Marco Polo, but as Daniel J Allen discovers, the wilderness remains as awesome and treacherous.

What a difference 60 minutes and a thousand metres can make. From the relative comfort of my mid-altitude yurt at Lake Karakul, I now struggled with burning lungs toward the tiny Kyrgyz village of Jambulah, perched below Muztagh Ata base camp at 4,600m. Turning my back on the massive, snow-blanketed mountain for a moment, I caught sight of four trucks on the Karakoram Highway below, toy-like as they traversed the tarmac ribbon connecting the Chinese city of Kashgar with Islamabad, the Pakistani capital.

Western Xinjiang, of which Kashgar is the regional centre, is steeped in history, most famously the Silk Road. Led by its teenaged owner, the camel carrying my outsized rucksack disappeared over the crest of yet another ridge, and I began to appreciate what a daunting task it must have been to enact trade in this mountainous wilderness, all those centuries ago. Life hasn’t changed that much for the nomadic Kyrgyz farmers who inhabit this remote corner of China today, but at least the cell phone, solar panel and Suzuki motorbike, together with the Karakoram Highway itself, have rendered the perils of the terrain a little less treacherous than before.

Completed in 1986 after two decades of construction, the Karakoram Highway is the highest paved road in the world, extending 1,300km over some of Asia’s most awe-inspiring landscapes. It mirrors the route that Marco Polo took on his journey into China from Pakistan over 700 years ago.

Head spinning and heart pounding, I finally made it up the last gentle slope into Jambulah, with the bulk of Muztagh Ata forming a magnificent backdrop. No more than a small cluster of mud-brick buildings, yurts and animal pens, the village is only inhabited during the summer months when yaks graze the grassy slopes below the mountain’s cloudy headdress, glacial tendrils and rushing meltwater.

Despite half a dozen languages, the region crossed by the Karakoram Highway today has a unique identity, defined by religion (predominantly Islam), a burgeoning trade revival, the demanding environment and a sense of isolation from Greater China and Pakistan. Jambulah is one of many Kyrgyz villages dotted along the Chinese side of the Highway, inhabited by resourceful Turkic people who were separated from their homeland by shifting geopolitics and arbitrary border-drawing.

The people of Jambulah also proved to be extremely generous hosts. As I reclined inside the smoky confines of my accommodation, I was served milk tea, yak butter, bread and cheese in quick succession. The two young boys of the house, their faces sun-darkened and prematurely wrinkled, took me on a tour of the village, posing for countless photos.

After a surprisingly refreshing sleep in the communal bedroom, followed by a shepherd’s breakfast of milk tea and Kyrgyz-style bagels, it was time to head up to the Muztagh Ata glacier, another 500m above. Despite the previous half-day spent at altitude, I knew it would be a gruelling ascent. Our feisty camel, which had tackled the mountain paths with nonchalance earlier, began to demand regular breaks, and I was happy to oblige.

With the sun high in a sky of almost purplish hues, I scrambled over one final boulder before the jumbled, creaking, icy blocks of Muztagh Ata’s longest glacial tongue. Despite total bodily exhaustion, I knew my achievement meant nothing beside the countless trading voyages in times gone by. Still, I’d certainly earned the right to take in one hell of a view.

GETTING THERE

From Urumqi, take a one-hour flight or 24-hour train ride to Kashgar, then take bus, taxi or organised tour to Lake Karakul. Journey to Jambulah (with guide and camel) from there, taking one day to get there and one day to return.

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