Xinjiang, China’s Central Asia and incredible Tibet – Recommended time of Travel

July 5, 2014July 5, 2014 by Kaushik

When you are spending so much financially and emotionally you should understand the best time to travel in the region. Actually there is no best time of travel that we know very well, few of us now have been to Ladakh probably in all 12 months of the year but still getting into Tibet so frequently is not easy, more so for Indians.

So let’s discuss first on Xinjiang:

Xinjiang is divided centrally by Tienshan Mountain. The Northern Xinjiang between Tienshan in south and Altai Mountains in North geographically called Jungar Basin which is mostly a desert and in northern side, Altai County is more of Siberian Tundra region. So From October to March it’s a long winter with mercury dropping down even to Minus 40 and it’s completely snowed out. All hotels remain closed during this time and unless you are eyeing for a specific Ski destination and using flight from Urumqi, Northern Xinjiang is out of bound in long winter. Southern Xinjiang which is between Tienshan range in North to Kunlun range in South, named as Tarim Basin, is mostly covered by Taklamakan Desert, very cold in winter with snow toppings on Taklamakan red sand makes it look very beautiful. Hotels in southern part usually opened during year long, though Kashgar, Hotan, Yarkhand, the main towns on silk road might be snow bound between December to February. Karakoram Highway is completely snow bound but kept operational by Chinese till Tashkurgan. The Western Highway 219 is anyway out of question which goes through Aksai Chin just because of terrific weather. Though trucks keep plying and Chinese keep this 5500 mtr road operational through out the year just for strategic reasons.

Spring time, April and May usually shoulder season and you get it in cheap but infamous for frequent Dust Storms, The Desert Dust Storms can be deadly to stop air traffic even for 72 hours and it sometimes take 2 weeks for the dust to settle down. Definitely it won’t be a pleasant experience to catch in Dust Storms in Xinjiang.

The best time to Travel is summer which is between June to August and usually lush green grassland of Yili (Kazak side) or Altai (Northern Side) are its best during this time with lots of Siberian Birds of different species. Weather is sunny with least rain and blue sky even in Southern side and all roads are open but of course this is time when everything is very costly.

Autumn is short, just in September for Northern and Sep and Oct for Southern Xinjiang show you tremendous fall colors and give still bearable temperature in North (We still got lowest 10 degree below freezing point) and roads are all open. But sometimes you will face dust storms in Fall too. But this is a shoulder season and if you are budget conscious and can give the green of grassland a miss (which is a huge miss) you can eye on this time.

Golden Rules:

1. Never travel in China in Chinese New Year (Usually in Feb) and Golden Holiday Week (First week of October) unless you want to make a complete mess of everything, starting from air ticket, to train ticket to hotel everything is costlier and still you might not get and you can’t imagine the rush of Chinese tourists during this time, who thinks Kolkata Durga Puja or Mumbai Suburban Trains are last words for crowd and rush, you will change your perception if you ever be in China during this time.

2. Xinjiang is avoidable in the month of Ramadan, this is a Muslim dominated region and you never know the threat perception of Chinese Govt, you might get caught in between and mess up your plan.

Tashkurgan Grassland – vast grassland gone till China – Pakistan Border for 125km:

Tashkurgan Stone Fort Entrance:

Tajik-China Border Immigration – Border is just 14km away but not yet opened for foreigners:

Karakoram Highway crossing the valley below Kunlun Range:

Reflection:

Kyrghiz Father and Kid:

Famous Uighur Knives dated back from the ages of Carpet and Silk, you love to have it but Chinese Govt doesn’t, it’s not even allowed to carry these knives in Check in Luggage:

Nice Kashgar traditional shop but even prettier shopkeeper :

Ruins of Kashgar Old City, Govt doesn’t give permission now to visit, we had to escape police to reach here, may be someone’s drawing room, so nicely painted wall, God knows how old these are:

Jiahoe Ruins, at Turpan again a 3rd Century Town’s Ruin:

Luilan Beauty – A mummy preserved in Uighur style (Different from Egyptian Mummy) dated back 1800 BC, almost 4000 years old – At Urumqi Museum

Let’s come to Tibet now:

Never plan Tibet between Feb and March though it’s the best to see most Tibetan Festivals, Spring colors and all in a low season during this time. The reason is this is the time when 2007 uprising took place and since then for these 2 months Tibet was closed for foreigners in every year. So better not to try it, let’s keep even January out of bound as sometimes Chinese Govt gives 48 hours notice to foreigners in Lhasa to leave Tibet, after so much plan and putting so much money you will never want that.

So now let’s think between April to December period.

For Western Tibet (Ngiri Region) best time is June to September as you will get hotels / guest houses open and weather at its best, though last few years I have been observing serious of Eastern Disturbances from South China Sea hit this region and cause substantial rain fall. (One such stream met with an Westerlies from Arabian sea, did the massacre in Uttrakhand, this summer, the other side of hill Tibet was battered too.

For Northern Tibet (Nag qu region), the grassland is at its best in June, July and August, from Sep the grass started turning brown and red. Rest of the time it’s very difficult to approach this part.

For Eastern Tibet (Nyingchi Region) it’s best to travel between Oct to Dec and April – May as these part receives highest rainfall in whole Tibet and during June-Sep its prone to landslide and road block. The weather is very similar to our North East, more close to Arunachal.

For Central and Southern Tibet (Lhasa, Shegatse and Shannan Prefecture) it’s anytime between April to December. Cost is lowest in Nov and Dec with weather slightly with you, you can enjoy even the clear view of Everest. April-May is shoulder season when you get some discount but between June to October it’s high season with everything costly. July and August usually is rainy season when Lhasa receives highest rainfall and Everest will be covered in cloud. So weather wise if you want best, May and October is the best bet for you.

Golden Rules:

1. Keep eyes closely on important Chinese events and don’t plan anything close to that even if it happens far from Tibet. During whole 2008, the year of Beijing Olympic they kept the Tibet shut, as I mentioned in some early post, it was closed during the Communist Party Congress in October 2012.

2. Don’t plan in Chinese New Year and October Golden Holiday as I mentioned earlier.

3. Don’t plan between Jan – Mar as Tibet usually gets closed for foreigners during this time.

4. Keep eyes on Tibet’s situation as anytime if there is some disturbance like Tibetan monks self immolation bid might lead to closure of Tibet, as you are applying visa one month before your journey date, keep yourself updated.

5. Just pray that things go well during your visit, Tibet is terribly uncertain.

Food and Accommodation

Food is cheap, in Xinjiang it should USD 5 per person per day and in Tibet would be 10 USD per person per day. Accommodation widely varied and catch is foreigners can only stay in few selective hotels in China and cheapest accommodations won’t fall in this categories. This is very strictly followed in China and so for accommodation you can’t get away very cheaply here. Travel Permits in contrary is not costly, many times absolutely free but need so much effort and ability to speak fluent Chinese, you have to depend on agencies and they would certainly charge you something.

Language

It is impossible to speak / understand Chinese so easily, not having any link to any of my known languages. I was depending on my drivers (English speaking) to manage the show but most who travels independently using public transport prefers to use some offline Chinese – English Translator to manage it. You can search it in Amazon. But don’t try to depend on Google Translator or something, China is famous for its National Firewall (almost as famous as Great Wall) which blocks Google, Facebook etc.

First Glimpse of Mighty Himalayan Range and first time in life, I am looking South to see these glorious ranges:

Himalayan Wall, that changed India’s History and Geography for its sheer presence, read so many times first time realized the protector wall of our North, mighty Himalayan ranges, an amazing experience:

Tibetan Landscape will cast a magical spell on you, see the far away small village, near one is Tingri, gateway to Everest North Base Camp and enjoy the amazing colors:

Can you see the little dark cone in middle, highest point in world, Mt. Everest North Face – My first sight of the dream:

How much colorful a landscape can be? Has God used all colors in His palettes to draw this canvas:

And here it is, North Face of Highest Point in Earth in its full glory: Watching Mt. Everest North Face gives you more clear view of the whole ridge than when you watch it from South, because of other high mountains in front it, Just left see the 4th Highest Peak of World, Mt. Lhotse – Another long cherished dream accomplished.

This is the highest part of Himalayan Ranges from left Mt Everest to right Cho-Oye, dream to see that with Tibetan Landscape fulfilled:

Road is going to Eternity as the Friendship highway turned south and started climbing high Himalayas:

Previous: Travel Restrictions in Xinjiang and Tibet

Next: Visa and Flights to China

Xinjiang, China’s Central Asia and incredible Tibet–Travel Restrictions in Xinjiang and Tibet

July 5, 2014July 5, 2014 by Kaushik

This is an important part of any planning to this region, China is a very much controlled state and information is few and far, also getting latest yet correct information is quite a big challenge even for big travel agents. So whatever I am writing here is current regulation as on Sep/Oct 2013 which might get changed anytime (during my preparations in this year itself rules change several times), take an idea but do your own research before taking this trip. Best way is to connect as many as local travel agents (who can speak at least some English) and then use their network to get more details about that, it is time taking and plan your travel accordingly.

Let’s first see Xinjiang:

A state with 8 international borders must have complex restrictions, refer to be the same photograph again, and see the red marked areas with number marked (that I am going to refer below) where you need some kind of permission / fulfill some formalities before you start. Most of the land border crossing is only operational during week days and in certain hours and you need to keep in mind local time too (Kazak and China is having 3 hours time difference)

1.Takashiken (China) / Bulgan (Mongolia) Border Crossing – Since 2011, this border is opened for 3rd country tourists to cross over, easier logistically if you cross from China to Mongolia, no visa on arrival, you must have respective country’s visa before you are allowed to border post, public transport available in China side to reach there. Vehicle crossing permitted with appropriate regulations to be followed in both end.

2. Habahe County / Baihaba Region : They say it’s one of the most wonderful fall colors you can witness in this region with best mountain scenery of Altai but it’s fenced border with Kazakhstan and completely closed for foreigners. There is no formal border crossing here.

3. Maikapchagai (Kazak)-Jeminay (China) – This Kazakh border is open for 3rd country tourists to cross over but no vehicle crossing permitted.

4. Dostyk/Druzhba (Kazak) – Alashankou (China): – Open for 3rd country and this is the rail road crossing as you might be aware now trains connect Urumqi to Almaty, if you take train expect long delay here (like trans-mongolian rail) as china and Soviet railroads use different gauges, and the wheels of the train need to be changed.

5. Khorgas – The largest and busiest border crossing between China and Kazakh, open for 3rd countries, neither of the above does allow vehicle crossing as far as I understood, most Europeans thus choose to cross to China from Kyrghiz specially those in a driving trip.
For all of 3, 4 , 5 you will be allowed close to immigration town even if you don’t have a visa of Kazakh in your passport but of course there is no chance of cross the border without visa, no visa on arrival.

6. Torugart Pass between China and Kyrghiz – Restricted crossing but opened for foreigners and need to take special transport from Kyrghiz Immigration to Chinese immigration or vice versa and in both side you need prearranged transport with adequate proof. I heard this crossing is costly takes around 550 USD. Vehicle crossing possible with usual Chinese Vehicle crossing restrictions. Presently road is good in Chinese side.

7. Irkeshtam Pass between China and Kyrghiz – Cheaper crossing as you can use public transport to border to cross unlike Torugart. Opened for foreigners, Chinese side 250km road is in very bad shape, supposed to be rebuilt and ready by 2015. Vehicle crossing is allowed with usual restrictions.

8. Qolma Pass Crossing between China and Tajikistan – Not opened for Third Countries (only opened for Tajik and Chinese Nationals) but if opened it will be one of the easiest route to to Europe – Asia Drive with minimum number of border crossing.

9. Wakhan Corridor between Afghanistan and China – At historic Wakjhir Pass (4900 mtr) this is difficult pass and Marco Polo crossed China through this, this is completely closed border, though China has finished a metallic road up to the border, in Afghanistan side there is no infrastructure as of now for next 100km. During battle with Taliban, NATO wanted to use this route for their supply lines as this area is relatively free of the strong hold of Taliban but Chine declined it showing internal security concern. This is sharpest official change of clock of 3.5 hours between any land border in world.

10. Kunjerab Pass between Pakistan (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) and China : Highest paved border crossing in world, at 4700 mtr, this pass is closed between 30th Nov to 1st May every year due to snow. When opened, due to inhospitable terrain, the actual immigration happens 130km away at Tashkurgan in China and 75km away at Sost in Pakistan. You need to board the bus between Kashgar to Sost / Gilgit to cross this border as vehicle crossing is not allowed. With a special pass arranged from Kashgar, foreigners without Pakistan Visa can travel up to 2km of actual border gate (shown in the picture I posted earlier)

11. No International Border (Actually the border with India) but more sensitive to China than any of these international border as Western Highway 219 crosses Aksai Chin which is claimed by both India and China. World’s highest and remotest road is strictly barred for foreigners without escorted guide, driver in a rented land cruiser. Some foreigners get special permit to drive through this epic road which became now much more difficult after 2008 Tibet uprising and for Indians this road from Mazar (150km from Karghilik from where K2 North Base Camp Trek starts) to Rutog is completely prohibited. Police even keep watching every tourist staying night in Karghilik to watch is someone tries to sneak into this road by hitch hiking in a truck.

12. Centrally Located Narat – Bayanbulak Grassland region – No apparent reason why this is protected but unofficial sources said this is sensitive for Military installation and permits are required to be obtained from CIT (China International Travel, Xinjiang) for any foreigner to stay night in this region. This is year I heard this is little relaxed but even last year people were simply thrown out of the town in middle of night during police checking in the hotels when found without permit.

13. The actual remote off roading paradise between Xinjiang and Tibet via Qinghai, Highway 219 is historical and deadliest paved highway but if you want sheer 4X4 adventure this is the road for you that starts from Charkilik and goes till Golmud and then connects Lhasa highway, but almost impossible for foreigners to access as you need a lot of permission and in many places enroute you won’t get a place where foreigners are authorized to stay, so you have to spend your night under the sky literally.

Kazakh man with his pet – at Narat :

Yarkhand Tomb:

That’s the border gate between China and Pakistan, at Kunjerab Pass – A long born dream Accomplished

Tajik Mother and Kid:

Now let’s come to Tibet:

See the below pic, Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) is having 7 administrative prefectures:

1.Lhasa – You need Chinese Visa and separate Tibet Permit for which rule changes frequently.

2. Shigatse – Outside Lhasa, in any prefecture you need Chinese Visa, Tibet Permit and on top of that Alien Permit (Issued by PSB, Public Security Bureau). Everest North Base camp comes in this prefecture and you need a separate and costly permit to go there.

3. Shannan – Same as Shigatse

4. Nyingchi Prefecture – Completely different, called Tibet’s Switzerland it’s lush green and resembles close to Arunachal and this have a long disputed border with Arunachal. Need Army Permit, Sensitive Border Permit and Foreign Affairs Permit on top of what you need for Shigatse and Shannan. The famous Tsangpo Gorge considered as world’s highest waterfall (where Tsanpo River drops several meters before being Siang in Arunachal and Brahmaputra in Indian Plains) is still a big mystery for many is located here. Not at all easy to get into Tsangpo gorge zone from permit perspective. For Indians it’s almost impossible to get access deep into this prefecture.

5. N’giri Prefecture – This is Western Tibet, landscape wise more close to Ladakh and Changthang Plateau in this part is equally attractive as we see a small glimpse in Indian side, more famous for Mt Kailash and Mansarovar. For foreigners permit requirements are same as Nyingchi Prefecture. But for Indians, it’s completely restricted and out of bound unless you come as pilgrim to visit Mansarovar and Mt. Kailash. India Pilgrims are offered separate kind of permits and handled through a body called CIPSC (China India Pilgrims Service Center). Only 3 Travel agents in whole Tibet are eligible to apply Pilgrim permits for Indians in Ngiri through CIPSC. All the Nepal based operators are connected through them only and any India based agent is mostly connected through one of those Nepal based agents. So with different layers of agents Manas – Kailash travel becomes so costly but it’s not cheap either if you directly approach CIPSC, they charge permit cost per group and hence usually agents take bigger groups (sometimes unmanageable though) to this Yatras. CIPSC is have jurisdiction from Lhasa to Ali and hence they won’t arrange your trip, if you want to come from Kashgar and also they won’t be able to arrange other permits like EBC, even though you find it logical to visit EBC on the way to Manas/Kailash. If you approach any Lhasa based agent, 95% of cases they will express their helplessness when you tell you want to visit Ngiri and holds an Indian passport.

6. Nagqu Prefecture – The vast grassland in North, best way to see them to take the train, road is very limited and most of the part of this prefecture is closed for foreigners.

7. Chamdo Prefecture – Since the uprising of 2008, this area became most politically sensitive and closed for foreigners since then, with Chamdo’s closure, any overland travel to Tibet from Sichuan (Chengdu) or Yunan (Kunming) are now closed for foreigners, no one knows if they will reopen again.

So before any planning, keep your thumb rules ready, Xinjiang is possible with some tweaking in visa application, Tibet is your luck and Ngiri and Nyingchi is almost impossible unless you are extremely lucky. (As I wrote N’giri visit for Indians mean basically Manas – Kailash and a defined route but freely roaming in N’giri and explore this most exciting prefecture is still a dream for Indians)

Old Lhasa Town :

The amazing Fall colors around Lhasa:

Is there any dog which is bigger than this Tibetan Mastiff? I don’t know, but paying 10CNY (Rs 110) you can take a snap with this one:

Grazing Yaks are one of the typical landscape of Tibet:

Maiterya Buddha at Tashilunpa Monastery, Shigatse:

Landscape beacons:

The Landscape around Friendship Highway will amaze you:

Reflections are abundant :

Previous: Route Overview

Next: Recommended time of Travel

Xinjiang, China’s Central Asia and incredible Tibet–Route Overview

July 4, 2014July 5, 2014 by Kaushik

Well, before going to detail planning, let me try to give an idea of the route map, it was so long a trip and we touched upon so many places, you might feel lost unless I show it in a map. It’s actually too big to be shown in a map, still trying with 3 snaps, first one on whole route map at a glance and next two are detail maps of Xinjiang and Tibet. This is the best Xinjiang map I ever seen in a travel agent’s office and took a snap of it, Tibet map I found in net, can’t recall from which site I downloaded it. But both are pretty accurate.

Overview of the route:

We flown from Kolkata to Kunming (which is around 2 hours flying) before changing flight there to Urumqi (Pronounce most q as ‘ch’ there, so it’s more like Urumchi), which is capital of Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR), the largest province of China, totaling 1/6th of whole China’s land mass. The flight between Kunming to Urumqi takes 5 hours (Close to East-West Coast Flying time of US). The flight route was bypassing Tibet Plateau, rather going north to fly between Chengdu and Chongging and then go up to Langzhou in North and then taking a West turn to cross the Gobi desert just south of Mongolia – China Border to reach finally Urumqi.

The Road journey starts from Urumqi.

Day 1 – Kolkata – Kunming – Urumqi (Flight)
By Road:
Day 2 – Urumqi – Burqin (Pronounce as Burzin), our one of the longest drive 750km drive through Jungaar Basin (A part of Gobi Desert) to Northern Altai Region, Burqin is gateway of Altai Prefecture. We saw multi colored Bay on the way. (A-B)
Day 3 – Short drive of 150km from Burqin to Jiadengyu which is gateway of Kanas Nature Park and explore the park, this is extremely close to border of Mongolia, Russia and Kazakhstan with China and the climate is just like Southern Siberian Tundra, in Sep, we were experiencing -15 degree C at night here. (B-C)
Day 4 – Full day explore the Kanas Park
Day 5 – Jiadengyu – Back to Burqin – Karamay, a drive of 400 km. Karamay is the oil city of China, you can see natural oil spring here. This is the place where you see the amazing landscapes created by Air Erosion called Ghost City (Chinese are very imaginative and they name almost everything to Ghost or Dragon, you will find hundreds of Ghost Cities and Dragon Bays in China) (C-B-D)
Day 6 – Karamay – Sayram Lake – 300km drive (D-E)
Day 7 – Sayram Lake – Nalati Grassland – 400km drive (E-F)
Day 8 – Nalati – Kuqa (Pronounce Kucha) – 500km drive (F-G)
Day 9- Kuqa Around
Day 10 – Kuqa – Niya (Minfeng) – 750km, crossing World’s longest Desert Highway to South Silk Route’s first Oasis (G-H)
Day 11- Niya – Hotan – 200km (Hotan is somewhere between H and I, not showing here)
Day 12 – Hotan – Kashgar – 550km (To Point I)
Day 13 – Kashgar – Karakul Lake / Tashkurgan on Karakoram Highway (Somewhere between I and J) – 300km
Day 14 – Tashkurgan – Kunjerab Pass till border of Pakistan and back to Tashkurgan on Karakoram Highway – 250km (Kunjerab Pass is Point J)
Day 15- Tashkurgan – Kashgar Back – 300km
Day 16- Kashgar Around
Day 17 – Fly Back to Urumqi (I to A)
Day 18 – Drive from Urumqi to Turpan (A to K) and back to Urumqi – Total drive of 450km
Day 19 – Fly from Urumqi to Xining (A to L)
Start of Tibet Leg
Day 20 – From Xining (L) catch the Mountain Train to Lhasa (O) via Golmud (M) and Nag qu (N), Total journey of 2000km
Day 21 – Reach Lhasa (N)
Day 22 – Explore Lhasa
Day 23 – Lhasa – Nam Tso – Lhasa (We skipped this later as my daughter was not well, instead we explore Lhasa more)
Day 24 – Lhasa – Shegatse (Taking the Friendship Highway) Drive of 350km
Day 25 – Shegatse – Shegar, 300km Drive
Day 26 – Shegar – Everest North Base Camp at Rongbuk (Drive of 100km) (We couldn’t finally made it because of super cyclone Philine, which blocked road for more than 72 hours)
Day 27 – Rongbuk – Drum (Jhangmu) 300 km drive
Day 28 – Drum clear Chinese Immigration and proceed to Kathmandu (Nepal) (P) Drive of 130km
Day 29 – Kathmandu – Kolkata Flight back home

Total overland distance traveled around 10000km

Xinjiang Map (See the Blue Lines and above description to understand the route.) :

Tibet Map (See the Blue Lines and above description to understand the route.):

Overland travel from Kashgar to Lhasa, which would offer an alternative to backtracking to Golmud:

This epic highway 219 that starts from Karghilik (Yecheng in Chinese), a town between Yarkhand and Hotan, crosses more than ten 5000 meters pass with average altitude of 4000 meters is considered as deadliest and loneliest highway in planet earth. The highway ends at Lhatse when it meets with Highway 315 between Shanghai and Kathmandu via Lhasa more often known as Friendship Highway.
The Highway 219 is now completely paved and the road work was completed just in 2012 and after forking it from Yecheng, it goes up to cross Kunlun and part of Karakoram ranges through Mazar (From where the Mt. K2 North Base Camp Trek starts, you might be knowing the K2 North side climb starts from Xinjiang, China) and Dongluitan (which is just a trucker stop) and then crosses Aksai Chin which is a flat salt basin (which is considered disputed between India and China and led to 1962 war when India discovered about Chinese built up highway 219 through this in 1960-61 period) to reach Tibet and first Tibetan town Dorma is again a trucker’s stop. Then it crosses through amazing Pangong Lake at Rutog before entering the capital of Ngari prefecture of Tibet at Ali (Named as Senge Kabab in Tibetan). The road goes further down south and then turned East and passes through Mt. Kailash and Mansarovar region which is considered holiest place in Hindu and Buddhist religion. After Mansarovar the road goes further 450km east to reach last prominent town of Ngari, named Saga and from here the road is forked in 3 different direction. The right turn towards south will take you to Zhangmu, Tibet-Nepal border and further to Kathmandu. The Left will take you to remote Changthang in North crossing Tsochen and further crossing Gertse and Geggye to meet in Ali again. The main road goes further East and meet Highway 315 in Lhatse and ends there.

My original travel plan was , after Kahsgar, I was about to take Yecheng – Dongluitan – Dorma – Rutog – Ali – Tsada – Darchen – Saga – (fork right) – Zhangmu – Kathmandu and Lhasa was never in my plan in this trip.

The major problem of taking this route from Kashgar to Lhasa direction was

1. The altitude jump between Yecheng (1200 meter) to Dongluitan (5200 meter) is proved to be fatal in one night as there is no place to stay in between. AMS can be triggered severely and in that remote region can be fatal.

2. Getting all necessary permits for Tibet is a big ask to arrange from Kashgar end and you need more logistics support of getting all done in Lhasa and then couriered to you in Kashgar, which is costly and prone to chance factor. Of course the cost will be high.
To go through this road one need
a. Tibet Permit
b. Alien Permit
c. Sensitive border permit
d. Army Permit
e. Permit from Foreign Affairs Ministry

3. Foreigners are not allowed to use local transport in Tibet and you need to hire private transport and guide for Tibet. For this leg, it’s extremely difficult to get this from Kashgar end and most likely you need to hire a Lhasa based agency for this logistics support and the cost is extremely high.
It’s easier to arrange this trip from reverse direction if you start from Lhasa and end up in Kashgar but ready to pay huge premium for this journey if you take it from Lhasa. Usually many foreign tourist adopt a trick of hitchhiking the stretch between Yecheng and Ali in some trucks and then when caught in Ali without permit, they pay the fine and the Chinese send them to Kathmandu border or towards Lhasa. That’s easiest way to do this section but if you are unlucky you may be deported back to Yecheng again. With family this was not possible for me and also now a days police monitors every truck and catch anyone who tries to sneak in without permit.

Now for Indians this stretch between Yecheng to Ali (read crossing Aksai Chin) is absolutely off limit. I got 4 permits and spoke to their external affairs ministry and they said I could take the rest of the trip except between Yecheng and Ali overland. My only option then was to take a flight from Kashgar to Ali which was very overpriced and only a weekly connection and the biggest risk was I needed to get all permits in place to board the flight. Also that way I couldn’t take the overland between Kashgar to Kathmandu as planned, so I finally dropped it.
To cut long story short, if you are in Non-Indian Passport and take this trip from Lhasa to Kashgar direction and ready to spend a fortune, you can experience this amazing road.

Now some snaps.

This Carpet needed 5 crafted women worked for 4 months:

One young Uighur Carpet Maker, they retain it generation wise:

Natures own painting:

Muztag Ata – 7750 mtr high peak in Kunlun range in the backdrop of Karakul Lake with Kyrghiz Yurts, you will love to stay:

Driving on famous Karakoram Highway, 1500km engineering marvel connecting Kashgar in China to Islamabad in Pakistan across high Pamir and Karakoram Range

A small town on the way:

A truck in rugged terrain:

Lhasa River:

Potala Palace – Residence of Dalai Lama until mid of last Century when 14th Dalai Lama Fled to India after Chinese Aggression : Another dream accomplished

Authentic Tibetan debates on Buddhism still taken place in Sera Monastery of course under supervision and closely guarded:

Unintentionally I took this snap, trying to take street photo, see the anxious Tibetan faces, anxiety in all corner, note the background, those black dressed are police and that’s one of the many X Ray Scanning machines in most part of old Lhasa. Every 100 mtr your hand bag will be scanned and you will be searched. Normally photography is strictly prohibited in these searching places and they can snatch your camera if they find you shoot this. Tibet is now like a closed cage, worries are evident even in these young faces.

This cutie has played a long hide and seek game with me before I could catch a snap:

Previous: Prologue

Next: Travel Restrictions in Xinjiang and Tibet

Xinjiang, China’s Central Asia and incredible Tibet–Prologue

July 4, 2014July 5, 2014 by Kaushik

We never thought we would go for a trip out of India so soon when India has so many things to offer but destiny had something else written for us.

With reading and more reading, I found a place with amazing diversities, the place where it’s called roof of the world, Pamir Plateau and north face of world’s second highest point Mt K2 coexists with Turpan Depression, second lowest place in earth (After Dead Sea, Jordan) at -154 mtr below sea level, the four out of five fingers of Pamir spread over the entire region, starting from Altai at North, Tienshan in middle and Kunlun and Karakoram at South, a paradise for anyone who loves mountains. The place has the origin of only river in Asia that flows Northwards to meet North Sea and rest of all the snow melt waters of all these big mountains fades away in the world’s fiercest deserts, yes Taklamakan and Gobi. The place hosts 13 different ethic minority groups starts from Mongols, Kazakh, Kirghiz, Tuwa, Tajikh etc. apart from Uyghur’s who are more like European faces than typical Chinese and of course Hun Chinese. The otherwise deserted land produces China’s best fruits like grapes, Melon, Pomegranate, apples. The area produces 35% of Petroleum products of whole of China and we saw some natural oil springs just like water springs in Northern side (and that’s one of the major points of interest of China in this piece of land).Possibly only province / state in world which has almost 5000km of international boundaries with 8 countries named Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrghizstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. Now when I started reading about its history it was even more amazing, the history dated back 3000 years from 2000 BCE when first trade established between Rome through Turkey, Iran to China through this route famously known as Silk Route. The then Persian Empire in helm of power, this land and its natives have a root with that Persian Blood saw many bloodsheds starting from inter group conflicts to its switching loyalties to two of biggest empires of history (Russia and England) and finally settled to be part of modern days People Republic of China in mid of last century. In the early 19th century, the region experienced conflicts between 2 biggies Russia and England to expand their imperialism, Kashgar was the center of ‘big game’ as history fondly calls it and many British officers starting from Thomas Montgomery to Francis Younghusband, started taking keen interest in these region to keep buffer states ruled by locals to distance Russia in coming to rich Indian plains. This was the time when they employed native Indians, disguised as Buddhist Pilgrims to survey these most treacherous region of earth starting from Pamir to Tibet and it was time when world came to know highest points on earth lies in this region as Himalayan peaks were measured for their heights and they tamed all other mountains, this resulted into creation of famous McMahon line that still runs as demarcation of India and China with lots of disputes.

So I found a place which was so much discussed in my school days history and geography text books and that triggered my childhood dream to visit this place and walk on the same path Marco Polo and Huen Tsang followed. Not sure how and when I slowly started thinking that I must visit this place, a dream slept for quarter of a century was rekindled.

Initial plan was traveling the state of Xinjiang and following the ancient trade route that used to get diverted from Yarkhand, start elevating to cross Kunlun and Karakoram Pass to enter the Daulat Beg Oldie area of Northern Ladakh and then follow Saser La to Panamik and Nubra Valley and finally reaching Leh by crossing Khardung La, the road continues to Kashmir Valley via Zojila and finally hit Punjab Plains. We thought of taking western highway regarded as deadliest and loneliest road in earth to cross over Aksai Chin to Tibet and then coming out through Kathmandu. The plan was in place until June when recent Sino Indian conflict reached it peak and I got taste of my first sweet Chinese diplomacy. We would cover in depth later but just to let you know to cover this region you need 5 permits on top of Chinese Visa and one of them was foreign affairs permit for which I spoke to the foreign affairs ministry of China and what I finally got was a raw deal (expected for an Indian). I was given few conditions which was not just way too costly but impossible and conflicting my main objective of driving through this region. More of that later but finally I learnt hard way Chinese usually neither say nor like to hear the truth, they prefer what is correct (you know that’s again a relative word), so you should understand and follow what is correct in Chinese eyes and I modified my trip and to compensate my broken dream planned to include the Tibet by riding the famous mountain trains from Xining to Lhasa and following friendship highway to Kathmandu to end the ambitious trip.

The plan was born but execution was a real challenge as I understood I have chosen two largest provinces of China (XUAR – Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region and TAR – Tibet Autonomous Region) and not only that, the word ‘Autonomous’ region means something wrong in Chinese language and actually I chose two major uncomfortable areas of Chinese mainland where they want least international focus, least attention for number of reasons. For those who might be new to these regions, an Uighur needs to spend 5 times more time and money to get a Chinese Passport than a Hun Chinese and for Tibetans it’s grimmer, the don’t ever get a Chinese Passport. So obviously if you write in your visa application that you would like to visit Xinjiang and Tibet, Chinese would take the application with 3750 INR and thankfully send you a polite note declining the visa (but they would mention you can apply again as if this is just an isolated case and if you apply, you would loose again your application money, nothing else would happen). As I mentioned earlier play the Chinese game in Chinese way, you need to be correct but not honest with them, that’s the bottom line for anyone who want to travel this part of China.

In home front Rupee touched all time low of 69 against USD and Chinese Yuan reached all time high of 6.1 against USD, double edged sword actually. I booked major international tickets long back, so that was a relief but again I can’t book domestic tickets so easily, the name of the country was China, they allow you apply Visa one month before your departure date and so we had to wait to see how INR falling sharply against dollar, then there were hassles of getting lots of permits specially in Tibet, then it was a challenge of traveling inside China as you can’t book train tickets without knowing Chinese and having a Chinese Credit Card, you can’t book bus tickets without going to bus stand just 2 days before journey, you can’t be sure the hotels you might book would really accept foreigners are not (Very selective hotels specially out of big cities like Beijing / Shanghai / Kunming / Guangzhou / Chengdu etc accepts foreigners and they need a compulsory registration of foreigners to Public Security Bureau (PSB) whenever you move from one town to other. So challenges are countless and we are just two adults and one child, determined to go to Chinese hinterland, see the China what few Chinese even have seen in their life.

We started our ambitious trip on 21st Sep early Morning and back on 19th October making it a month long trip, let’s see few highlights first before going to more texts to give you an idea if it was really rewarding taking so much pains to travel this part of world.

Danxia Landform inside Gobi Desert – Painting by Nature herself: (Anyone finding any similar scene in the film “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”):