by Gabriele Greenwald
“The name of that mountain? Madam, we don’t give them names unless they are higher than 6,000 meters (ca. 19,500 ft)”, our Pakistani guide Zafar instructed a member of our group. Though somewhat of an exaggeration, Zafar’s point was well taken. After three days into our Karakoram Highway (KKH) tour from Islamabad to Kashgar, most of us had a stiff neck from throwing our head back to gaze at the icy giants of the Hindukush, Himalaya, and Karakoram Ranges lining the Highway and the Indus River.
The KKH, a two-lane road blasted into the flanks of the world’s most awesome mountain chains, took two decades to build, and nature keeps it still a work in progress....
Read the full story (requires Adobe Reader) 1. Indus River at Thakot (temporarily stopped Alexander's progress towards India) |
 3. Work of art on wheels: a Pakistani truck |
 2. Farm with watchtower in Kohistan |
 4. Nanga Parbat, seen from KKH |
 5. Left, a portion of the old Silk Road at Chalt, right, KKH |
 6. Sunset over the Rakaposhi at Eagle's Nest, Karimabad, Hunza Valley |
 7. Tibetan-style Baltit Fort in the Hunza Valley, erstwhile seat of the Mirs of Hunza |
 8. The famous Hunza apricots |
 9. An old (centagenarian ?) Hunza man with his great great grandson |
 10. Hunza River near Gulmit with Passu Cones |
 11. The enormous Passu glacier by the roadside |
 12. KKH at almost 20,00ft, the Khunjerab Pass into Xinjiang |
 14. Kyrgyz nomads at Lake Bulun Kul |
 13. Kyrgyz tombs at Lake Bulun Kul between Tashkurgan and Kashgar |
 15. Kashgar livestock market: A mediator setting a fair price for a heifer |
 16. Kashgar livestock market: Taking a break |
 18. Kashgar: The Uigurs' favorite SUV |
 17. Kashgar: Fast food, Uigur-style |
 19. Kashgar Sunday market: Dried snake coils at Chinese medicine stall |
 20. Kashgar, the new indoor bazaar |
 21. Kashgar, mosque in the Shrine of the Fragrant Concubine. Lots of fake Bactrian coins for sale in nearby antique shops |
 22. Street in old town Kashgar |
 24. KKH near the Chinese border, crumbling under the onslaught of glacier water and rock slides |
 23: The KKH on the right running along the Indus in Kohistan |
This page last updated 23 Feb 2021
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