As far as exciting cultural tours go, this one has it all - from epic mountain scenery to vibrant towns and cities, from drifting around on tranquil lakes, to visiting evocative temples and mosques, it’s a trip for the travel connoisseur eager to see life on one of the world’s most important and influential trade routes.
The tour starts in Kashgar, one the Silk Road’s great crossroad towns. Today Kashgar is a tale of two cities with modern China on the one hand and the old world of mosques, tombs and narrow alleyways on the other. And you’ll be there for the famous Sunday Market.
The Yakshambe Bazaar, or Sunday Market, is a fascinating place to spend a few hours watching the Uighur, Tajik and Kyrgyz locals as they come into town to trade their goats, camels and donkeys. It’s a vibrant place, full of characters, and it doesn’t take much to imagine you’re back on the Old Silk Road.
From here, heading on the southern branch of the world’s most famous trade route, on what is now the equally famous Karakoram Highway, or KKH as its known, you’ll drive through Tashkurgan, pass the 7,000 metre Mount Mustag Ata, cross the Khunjarab Pass - the highest tarmacked border crossing in the world - before heading down into Pakistan and clearing customs in Sust.
And of course one of many highlights on this trip is to come and spend time in the beautiful Hunza Valley. They have an expression in Hunza, a house without a view is like a house without a roof… kind of useless in other words. And it’s hard to imagine them ever making a house here without a view. That certainly won’t be a problem from the hotel we use, the Eagles Nest, high above the valley floor… just look where we have breakfast. From a view point just above the hotel seven 7,000m peaks can be seen making it surely the most accessible cluster of giant mountains anywhere in the world.
And from here it’s back on the road, to carry on south along the Karakoram Highway. The KKH runs all the way from Kashgar in the north to Abbottabad in the south covering some 1225ks. The Pakistanis like to call this the 8th wonder of the world and I have to say its hard to imagine a more dramatic road journey.
Next stop is the hugely spectacular Fairy Meadows where we’ll have the chance to stretch our legs in front of one of the best views of the giant Nanga Parbat, before heading on south, out of the mountains and on to the plains.
And here we’ll visit one of the most exciting cities in South Asia, a place which is modern in parts, but in others deeply medieval.
you can see behind me.
Other places we’re likely to see in Lahore are the old cathedral, the amazing fort, which was the seat of power for both the Moghul and Sikhs Empires. We’ll visit the hugely impressive Badshai Mosque, which is almost identical to the Jama Majid in Delhi. We’ll take a stroll through the busy bazaar, where you’ll also see the Wazir Khan mosque, which has to be one of South Asia’s most beautiful places of worship.
From Lahore we drive the 30ks to the border, where we’ll also get to witness the extraordinary closing of the gate ceremony, before heading on to Amritsar.
The Harimanda Sahib, or Golden Temple to give it its more popular name, was recently voted in best places to see before you die dot com as the most beautiful temple in the entire world… sanding here it’s easy to see why.
But it’s not just about the beauty of the temple itself, the whole enclosure has a really special feeling to it, and I love to just walk around and let my mind unwind. Although many people visit, it’s one of the most peaceful places I know.
And finally, saving the best till last, is the magical land of Kashmir, that mythical worldly paradise in the India’s far north. Here we’ll have time to relax on the wonderful houseboats, float on the lakes, walk in the hills and just enjoy the end of what has been an truly amazing adventure.
(223) The Karakoram Adventure is an epic journey through some of the world’s most spectacular mountain scenery. But above all it’s an incredible cultural odyssey, along one of the most important trade routes in the history of the world.