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As you may remember, after crossing the Takla Makan Desert I came to Kashgar.

From Russia to India (part V: Karakorum Highway)

Alex Mumzhiu
2006-03-22 19:30:10

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(4,934 meters), which makes it the highest automobile road in the world. There are interesting places around Kunjerab Pass, near the border of China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

1. Those who look at the map of this area immediately will notice a long appendix of Afghan territory, which separates Tajikistan from Pakistan. It is so called Wakhan Corridor. This corridor was formed to finalize the outcome of the Great Game between the Russian Empire and the British Empire in 1897. This narrow corridor sometimes is 20 km wide. It separated the spheres of Russian influence, which later became Soviet Republics of Central Asia from the sphere of English influence, the Indian territory, which later became Pakistan. This Wakhan Corridor seems to me one of the most remote and difficult to reach place on Earth. However when I came to Sost, first village in Pakistan, I meet the local tour guide, who leads the groups of Western tourists from Afghanistan, through the Wakhan Corridor to Pakistan. Advertising of his company with map will be in my Yahoo photos.
2. Just 20 km West of the Kunjerab Pass is Mintaka pass (4726m). Here at the outermost edge of the British Empire the Lord Curzon proudly stood in 1894 and may be conceived his "Ultimatum Curzona" (Ne poboimsia byrjyaznogo zvona, otvetim na yltimatym Kerzona)
3. About 100 km West of Kunjerab Pass, the Mountain K2 is located and also the incredibly sharp pike of Trango Tower.
4. About 150 km South-West from Kunjerab Pass the town of Chitral is located. It is center of difficult to reach area where non-Muslim Kalasha people survived surrounded by the sea of Muslims. Area is recommended by LP for its unique ethnic experience.
5. Across the border from Chitral, in Afghanistan, the Kunar mountains where Osama Bin Laden supposedly is hiding. Type "Kunar Mountain" in Google and you will find a lot of information on his precise location. An US helicopter was shot down and a ...