Day 59_to_60

Our goal today is reach Tashkurgan, the last town before the border with Pakistan! It is situated at 3094 m, and we will visit the Kara Kul lake on the way. This lake is a must see, not just for the incredible views … Because of my nephews, they find the name so funny (in Catalan it means something like “ass face”) that they knew it even before we were planning the travel.

We try to refill the canister in Kashgar, but it is impossible. The morning is boring and slow, the road is limited at 60 km/h and we have to stop a lot due to the checkpoints to show our passports and all the procedure … This is not normal in all China, we are crossing a very sensitive area. It is controlled by military and the police due to separatists movements in the past. I’m not going to enter into politics, and I really don’t have all the information, but I know what we have seen. Walled villages like in Middle ages with checkpoints and barriers at the entrance, a crazy number of checkpoints on the road with facial recognition systems, and cameras EVERYWHERE. I can say that the people living here it’s not really free, and that’s just what we are allowed to see.

Some pics from “the gang” on the road:

After having some noodles in a restaurant, the road starts being more and more interesting… We are in the mountains again!!! Loooots of photos comiiiiing!

I can do a lots of photos because I’m on the car with Gerry and Tony!

My “soloforawhile” rider!

A lake with no name… and yess you see in the same image a lake and a sand desert at more than 3000 m.

Happy face!

Yaks near Kara Kul lake… Am I dreaming???

The Kara Kul lake!

We keep going through this amazing landscapes until the last checkpoint of the day; there we stop to wait for the others to come. At the no name lake Tià and Marc said that they needed gas, because they don’t have enough to reach Tashkurgan. So they are going to search for some. Lukas arrives, but no clue about where the others are… then we wait more, and more, and more… we start getting nervous when Samuel, Eloi and Lucy arrive. Of course something peculiar happened. Tià said repeatedly to the guide, that he was not going to make it because he had any gas on the canisters. Getting gas was mandatory, not optional. Well, when they arrive to the gas station, it is impossible to refill the tank due to the selling politics in the area. Just 5 l for a local (ad the guide is from another region, so it doesn’t count as a local); After trying unsuccessfully that some guys buy for them gas, Eloi shows up and he offers 5 l from his tank to Tià (that’s a life saver!!). That’s the first time sucking benzine for Tià, it took around half an hour to fill the canister! Meanwhile, Marc and our beloved guide bribed the guy in charge and got 8 extra liters, those were shared between Marc and Tià.

Finally we are all together again, and we arrive to Tashkurgan safe and tired. We go to sleep soon, tomorrow it will be a long great day! We’ll say bye bye China and hello Pakistan!

AS said, next day we’ll reach the Khunjerab Pass, that’s a dream made true!!!

We try to be the first ones at the Chinese border/customs in Tashkurgan. Yes, I know, we are still 30 km away from Pakistan, but it’s here where we have to do all the paperwork and procedure to exit China. Of course it couldn’t be a normal border!!!

Well, I’m not going to bother you with all the details. They made us pass all the vehicles through the X-Rays again, they “checked” our luggage (the process is so ridiculous that they checked my camel bag … full of water!), and they simply made us wait. Then, at some point we had to hurry, they were closing (lunchtime!!) and we were not ready to go. So, they just put the stamp on our passports and we are free to go, just a little thing … a Chinese soldier will escort us to ensure our “safety” (here read, “that we are FOR SURE leaving China”). A nicefact… here is my first time going escorted by a soldier to the toilet; yes… he waited just outside the door!

As we start leaving Tashgurkan the landscapes is again wonderful, we are surrounded by high peaks. The road is just perfect. The only thing that it’s not all-right are the villages… They are all fenced; it feels like an “open” prison.

As we are reaching the Khunjerab pass our feelings are intense and encountered. We are leaving China, and that means being free to do what we want. We are entering to Pakistan, an unknown country for us (and being honest, the things that we knew about it were not good), and we’ll do it through the highest border in the world at around 4800m (even the Bonnie starts feeling the altitude!)!

Finally we see it, the Khunjerab pass is in front of us. I can’t contain the tears. Wow, that’s intense! As the official checks that everything is alright I start crying. I can’t believe it! WE DID IT! It was hard, it is hard right now even breathe (we are at 4700 m above sea level), it is cold, my ankle is in pain and, as always that we do something special, I can’t stop thinking about the ones that we’ll never see again. It’s my little tribute to them.

Then we have to move, and everything happens really fast. We are surrounded by lots of Pakistanis cheering and welcoming us. It’s just amazing! It’s the first time ever that someone (and here is a lot of people) says to us “Welcome to my country”! Then everything is just crazy; we want to have a picture of the whole group with the pass at our backs, but it’s simply impossible. The people start doing photos and asking selfies with us and the motorbikes, and the car…

At some point the Chinese officer gets annoyed and says that we cannot stay there anymore, so we have to enter officially to Pakistan and continue through the road. We pass the first checkpoint easily and creating a lot of expectation. Wow, this country promises to be an experience!

And now we don’t need to do any paperwork until Sost so we just have to enjoy the Karakorum Highway. When we start riding I notice that the cam has no battery, at first I’m annoyed, but then, I’m really happy because we can ride the road just enjoying it, and not thinking on taking the best pic (don’t worry, when the views are exceptional we stop). If someone sees us, he’ll think we are dumb, or that we never have seen mountains before. Ever here and there we shout an OOOOH!!! LOOK THEREEEE! THAT’S THE HIGHEST! OH NO WAIT… THIS PEAK IS HIGHER! COME ONE! ONE EVEN HIGHER HERE?? with every curve we discover a new wonder, a snow peak, a river, a valley … It’s true what they say, this region is heaven on earth!

The paperwork is incredibly easy and friendly, we are astonished. We have our first Pakistani meal and it’s good, but so spicy that I can’t eat it!

We decide to keep the group at least until morning, so we ride to Pasu and we spend there our last night all together.