Looking eastward over the route from Kashgar to Tashkurgan. Beyond is the Tarim* basin, filled with the Taklamakan Desert- through and around which the ancient silk routes flowed and wandered, ebbed and dried like a braided river passing through alluvium- leaving little oasis towns and ghost cities amidst wind and sand; and, to this day, a far more Turkic and muslim culture than Chinese. To the north, unseen on this shot, are the TianShan Mountains, to the south the Kunlun range- northern boundary of the Tibetan Plateau.
Setting out from Xining, far beyond the horizon of this map, we aimed to cover at least the northern crescent route from Lanzhou to Turpan to Urumqi to Kashgar. We had no plan- but vaguely hoped to return by one of the southern routes near the base of the Kunlun Shan, or, maybe cut through the Taklamakan itself. Our goal was to see, taste, smell, hear and experience as much as health and luck would allow in 10 days- when we had to be back in Xining for the start of spring term.
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Kashgar is on the far western end of the Tarim basin, and the road south leads into mildly disputed territory at the confluence of China, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. In recent years, the Chinese have been investing in improving the route along with other projects in Pakistan. Above is an elevation profile of the road from Kashgar to Tashkurgan. This was the final leg of our outward journey- and it's from here that I'll start sharing the story through maps and photos and, when time allows, a story or two.
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*corrected 2/27/2012: previously I had said it was the Qaidam Basin, which is actually farther to the east and south- an inter-montane basin on the plateau, in Qinghai. Both basins can be read about on Wikipedia.
