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Between China and Pakistan

lovedubs — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 13:57:53 +0000

This was snapped from the back of a bus on a 2-day journey from Kashgar in Xinjiang Province, western China, down into Pakistan.

After my journey across China from Shanghai to Kashgar, the first thing I did as I crossed the border into Pakistan was to have a cup of proper tea. The owner of the tea-shop was so amused when I explained why I was so happy to drink it that he would not take any money for it (which was just as well, as I’d not yet changed my yuan into rupees).

May, 1996

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Tibetans and Horse: Xiahe, Gansu, China

lovedubs — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 12:07:33 +0000

My epic trip across China was from Shanghai in the east to Kashgar in the far western province of Xinjiang.

I stopped off at Gansu in Inner Mongolia (northern China), to visit Xiahe, which is a Tibetan town next to the Labulang Monastery. In fact, I have to say (sadly), that the population ratio of Tibetans to Chinese in Xiahe is greater than in Tibet. The Tibetans in Xiahe were also somewhat more relaxed than those in occupied Tibet.

This photo was taken in ‘The Grasslands,’ an area beyond Xiahe that is very much like the pampas of Argentina.

Xiahe, China, April, 1996

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Camel Train, Xinjiang, China

lovedubs — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 07:30:22 +0000

Not everyone realizes that there are camels in deserts of the far western Chinese province of Xinjiang. This area has a large Muslim population, and it really doesn’t have much of a Chinese feel to it – the flavour is much more like the neighbouring ex-Russian republics.

I passed this camel train on my way from China down into Pakistan.

Xinjiang, China, April/May 1996

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Blacksmith in Kashgar

lovedubs — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 09:09:51 +0000

Keeping your horse on the road presents as many issues in Kashgar as we might have getting our cars repaired. Roadside blacksmiths are abundant, no doubt as they were in the West over 100 years ago. I had not come across this type of strange apparatus before, but I can see the logic of it; the horse did not appear unduly fretful, so I assume horses are used to it.

Kashgar, Xinjiang, China, April, 1996

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