Setting off bright and early tomorrow morning (car pick-up at 6:30am... UGH) to go back to western China - Kashgar, which sits close to the border between China and Pakistan. Have enjoyed a short and sweet 3-day "refresh and replenish" break in Hong Kong but it's now time to get back on the road again. The timing is fortuitous as I managed to catch the sunday "bazaar" in Hetian last weekend and this weekend I will catch the famous sunday bazaar in Kashgar where there is apparently a lot more trading in livestock and rural produce. I have always loved bazaars and souks in the Middle East, so that's one reason to look forward to Kashgar.
I will be staying at a hotel in Kashgar that used to be the Russian embassy and one of the sites of the "Great Game" when the english and russian governments fought over Central Asia. The hotel looks alarmingly "Soviet" on the website but I hope it will have some traditional Russian charm too. Let's see.
Next tuesday, I will leave Kashgar to approach the border where the terrain gets rougher and more mountainous, and I expect to be getting onto the Karakoram Highway around next wednesday.
I will be travelling by bus/car throughout this journey until I get to India. This will be a 22-day trip from China, through Pakistan (Hunza Valley, Gilgit, Fairy Meadows, Islamabad and Lahore), and then crossing into India where I will visit Amritsar (the location of the Sikh Golden Temple) and then Kashmir and Jammu. China has been amazing so far in terms of Internet access (I was connected even in the middle of the Taklamakan desert) but it will probably start getting patchy after leaving Kashgar. I hope to write whenever I can.
