Day 249: Walk around Osh city
August 10, 2024 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C
Also known as the ancient city. It is the second largest city in Kyrgyzstan 🇰🇬 and it is also called the southern capital.
Day 250: Sulaiman-Too Sacred Mountain
August 11, 2024 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
It marked the midpoint on the Ancient Silk Road, the overland trade route taken by caravans between Europe and Asia. It is a UNESCO World Heritage. There were a lot of legend or rituals that you couldRead more
Day 252: Osh Old Bus Station
August 13, 2024 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C
We went to the old bus station in Osh to catch the Marshrutka mini-van to Sary Mogul. The bus was scheduled at 2pm. We arrived at 1pm, the first bus was full already, Lucky that there was a secondRead more
Day 252: on the way to Sary Mogul
August 13, 2024 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
The view was absolutely stunning when we got closer to Sary Mogul. Started to see the snowy mountains. We looked forward to our stay in the area.
Day 253: Sary Mogol
August 14, 2024 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
First day in Sary Mogol! It’s a sick day for Chris to prepare himself for high altitude Sary Mogol is at 2,980m. We planned to climb a bit higher the next few days. So we decided to spend a day justRead more
Day 254: Hike to Tulpar Lake
August 15, 2024 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C
We were up and early today with the hope of hiking to Tulpar Lake, which was 20km from Sary Mogol. The scenery was very stunning. We could see Lenin Peak from afar!
Day 254: Tulpar Lake
August 15, 2024 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
After a long hike, we arrived at Tulpar Lake! It is at the foot of Lenin Peak, the highest peak in Pamir mountains at 7134m. We were just at Tulpar Lake, a high-altitude mountain lake at 3500m. WeRead more
Day 255: Hike to Lenin Peak Base Camp
August 16, 2024 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ☀️ 6 °C
Nice and early again to hike to Lenin Peak Base Camp area. The view from the yurt in the early morning was breathtaking!
Day 255: Tulpar Lake Yurt Camp
August 16, 2024 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C
We went back to our Yurt 🛖 and walked around the Tulpar Lake area.
Day 256: Hike out to Sary Mogol
August 17, 2024 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C
Nice and early again. We said goodbye to our Yurt and began our 23km walk back to Sary Mogol. Though the walk was long, we had fun just walking on the path.
Day 257: Transit to Sary Tash
August 18, 2024 in Kyrgyzstan ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
It’s a Sunday today. We transited from Sary Mogol to Sary Tash. The two towns are just 30 mins apart. The reason why we transited to Sary Tash was to prepare our border crossing to Kashgar, ChinaRead more
Day 259: Walk around Kashgar
August 20, 2024 in China ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
After a nice rest in the hostel, we started to explore Kashgar, Xinjiang by randomly walking around.
Day 259: Terrace Folk Residence
August 20, 2024 in China ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
The high terrace folk residence was a major renewal project that has brought changes to Kashgar. Many pottery craftsmen used to live here. Now, it was an area for people to visit and understand howRead more
Day 259: Kashgar Old City
August 20, 2024 in China ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
The Kashgar old city has a history of more than 2000 years. It contains a large group of Uygur residential houses. The main streets were not our cups of tea as it was too touristy. It was fascinatingRead more
Day 260: Kashgar Old City Day 2
August 21, 2024 in China ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C
The old city was so large that we did a second visit to cover the part that we didn’t visit yesterday. We deeply dived into the architecture of the old houses.
Day 260: Id Kah Mosque
August 21, 2024 in China ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C
This mosque is in the Kashgar Old City. It’s the Islamic cultural center of Kashgar & Xinjiang’s largest mosque.
Day 261: Walk around Kashgar
August 22, 2024 in China ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
Random walk around Kashgar today. We came across a large statue of Chairman Mao. Then, we visited the Pantuo City, the ruins of the castle where Ban Chao, a famous general of the Eastern Han DynastyRead more
Day 262: Leaving Kashgar
August 23, 2024 in China ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
Leaving Kashgar today at around 17:30 on a K-class overnight train to Kuqa. We would have arrived in Kuqa at 7am next morning. But….!
Day 263: On the train to Kuqa
August 24, 2024 in China ⋅ 🌙 19 °C
At around 2am, all passengers were waken up by the staff. They announced that the train could not move forward as the heavy rain had destroyed the rail ahead of us. So the train was instructed toRead more
Day 263: arriving at Bachu 巴楚
August 24, 2024 in China ⋅ 🌙 18 °C
At around 4:30am, we arrived at Bachu 巴楚. It was absolutely chaotic. It’s time to figure out what we should do next.
Day 263: on the way to Aksu
August 24, 2024 in China ⋅ 🌙 16 °C
We were not sure which part of the rail is damaged. Some people suggested us to go to a place Aksu, then take a train to Kuqa. They were quite sure that the train was running from Aksu to Kuqa.Read more
Day 263: Aksu Train Station
August 24, 2024 in China ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
At around 11am, we arrived and got settled in the Aksu Train Station. The ticket office was all lined up and there were a lot of people at the station. The major rail line between Kashgar to UrumqiRead more
Day 263: On the train to Kuqa fr Aksu
August 24, 2024 in China ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
This time, we were really heading to Kuqa! This was our final leg! The 2-hour standing train ride was fun. People were friendly and we had a lot of laughters!
Day 263: Kuqa Train Station
August 24, 2024 in China ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
Finally!!! After a more than 24-hour transit with a train, a taxi, and another standing train(originally was on 12-hour, one train ride), we were here! Both of us were absolutely exhausted.
Day 265: Kizilgaha Beacon Tower
August 26, 2024 in China ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
It is one of the oldest but also best preserved watchtowers along the silk road installed in Han Dynasty, which provided security for traveling caravans in Xinjiang. It was built between 2th CenturyRead more