Osh – Ancient Glory and Modern Tragedy

Osh is a city of ancient glory and modern tragedy. Situated at one end of the Fergana Valley, a rich agricultural area that has long been one of the hubs of civilization in Central Asia and was a major node along the Silk Road, Osh has long attracted travelers to its markets. Solomon and Babur …

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Happy on the Silk Road

As we were traveling, Galen danced around in various places throughout Western China, using the Pharrell William’s song Happy as his dancing music. Some of the shots are done in hotels, an abandoned banqueting hall, on the interstate when our bus got stopped for thirty minutes because the road between Urumqi and Turpan was inexplicably …

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Karakul Lake – Volleyball at the Edge of the World

Volleyball at the Edge of the World We were far off the beaten path now. Where we were, Karakul Lake, we were as close to Beirut as we were to Beijing. We were fifteen miles from Tajikistan, fifty from Afghanistan. Our driver dropped us off at the lakeside and told us that he would probably …

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Getting to Karakul Lake

In the farthest West of China After we found a driver, we milled around for half an hour, eating pilaf for lunch while we waited for the pick-up truck’s other passengers to gather. It was around eleven o’clock, Xinjiang Time, by the time we left. The redneck Chinese guy driving our pickup gathered several other …

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Negotiating a Ride to Tashkurgan

We were trying to leave Kashgar for a lake on the Karakorum Highway, the world’s highest international highway, where we would camp out at Karakul Lake, just sixty miles from the town of Tashkurgan. Not sure where we could hitchhike from, we had originally wanted to take a bus there and hitchhike back. I went …

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Bezeklik Caves

The sun was beating down on us. We walked the half mile down the road to where the Bezeklik Caves compound was. Caves is not an accurate way of describing Bezeklik. Bezeklik is actually a series of man-made grottos carved into the side of a tall cliffface above a small river. The Mutou river runs …

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The Ruins of Jiaohe

We were able to get rinky-dink bikes and make our way out of Kashgar. It was not hitchhiking, but it was an unconventional means of transportation, and it gave us a chance to meet people and get a feel for the countryside along the six mile stretch between the city and the ruins of Jiaohe. …

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