From Kashgar you can take the Karakorum Highway, the highest international paved road in the world, also known by its initials KKH. It is a road that, with its 4,693 meters of height, connects the north of Pakistan and the Xinjiang region to the extreme west of China through the Khunjerab Pass. It is a 1,200 kilometer-long passage, built in the late 70s: a legendary project in which two countries have taken part for about 20 years.
Little by little, the landscape becomes really exciting: this winding road is a continuous sequence of hairpin turns that open the sight to nature. A nature which shows off all its wild power with steep valleys, raging streams and rivers where by small villages try to survive.
A remarkable landmark is the Karakul, the second highest saline lake of tectonic origin in the world, located on the Pamir plateau at 3,600 meters above sea level. From here you can see some of the highest peaks in the world reaching 7,500 meters. For those who want to experience this setting from dusk to dawn, it is possible to stay overnight in one of the many yurts all scattered across the lake shores.
When we got there, several locals asked us if we wanted to rent their yurt. In particular, there was a boy who made us visit two of them and choose the one we liked best. We took the one near the lake because the other was on the roadside. We agreed, and said goodbye. But he wasn’t leaving, quite the contrary. After a while, his sister came to us, said hello and introduced herself, then her husband did the same, then the younger sister and finally the mother. It was their yurt!! At that point, it seemed rude to say that we wanted to go to the other yurt to have some privacy, so we spent the evening with the entire family. We had dinner together with rice and vegetables. We tried to communicate with gestures and broke the ice when the younger sister played Toto Cutugno’s cassette on the tape recorder and everyone started singing Azzurro!!
We took some pictures together and they asked us to send them a copy once printed. We would have done it willingly if we had known how to write the address in their language correctly.
We got ready to sleep. There was no bathroom or room where to change. The yurt is one large common space and there were plenty of blankets for everyone. It was a memorable experience.
In the morning, after a nice restorative sleep we left for Tashkurgan, the capital of the Tajik Autonomous Province of Tashkurgan. It is an ancient center whose population is mostly of Tajik origins. Its fortified stone (tash) buildings (kurgan) gave the city its name. The ruins were used as a scene from the film “The Kite Runner”.
Here, in the past, people used to trade sheep, wool and other products, especially carpets. As always, we recommend taking a walk to the market and the fort located on the city’s outskirts.
