Many years ago, the poet-philosopher Allama Iqbal wrote the following couplet: “Aik hon Muslim haram ki pasbani ke liye/ Neel ke sahil se le kar ta ba Khaak-i-Kashgar [All Muslims from the shores of the Nile to the sands of Kashgar/ Unite to protect the Kaaba]”.

There must have been something extraordinary about Kashgar which caught the attention of Iqbal. And to no surprise, it was a popular topic of conversation throughout my interaction with the expedition team.

“Kashgar is an eight-hour drive from the Khunjerab Pass and is a ‘must visit’ city,” says the expedition leader KM Ali, whom I now refer to as captain. “Its history, culture, food and people — and for the ladies, shopping — beckons you. The adventure of the drive along the top of the world [the Karakoram Highway] makes the trip a lot more fun.” (I have heard that an airplane service from Islamabad will start very soon.)

In the third part of a series retracing the old Silk Route, our group makes its way to China’s last city before its border with Pakistan

Of the various oasis towns and cities explored across China, Sabiha Omar tells Eos, we found Kashgar to be the most economical city. Besides, it’s the closest to Pakistan! On an average you can expect to spend 160 dollars (4-star) to 70 dollars per day (2-star) as a tourist in Xinjiang. This would include hotels, transport, admission fee, food and guide, she says.

Since the group comprised a good number of women, a tad bit of shopping insights was a must. “Go to the Yengi Bazaar and the handicraft street next to the Id Kah Mosque,” chimes in Nasim Chaudhry. “There is such a good variety of copper kettles, wedding chests, Uighur hats, musical instruments and colourful costumes. I could not resist the locally-produced raisins, dried apricots and figs, pistas [pistachios] and salted kaghzi badam [almonds].”

But among the many memorable experiences, there were some odd discoveries worth pondering over.

“Kashgar is an eight-hour drive from the Khunjerab Pass (I have heard that an airplane service from Islamabad will start very soon) and is a ‘must visit’ city.

During their stay in Kashgar, Imran Chaudhy lost his way back to the hotel and asked a person for directions. The person, Ahmad Baig, was an English language teacher so they indulged in a casual conversation about the place. “Ahmed called out his wife and daughter from inside the house and we were having a great discussion about the colourful cap that Layla was knitting for him,” Chaudhy recollects. “Suddenly, he gazed into the distance and stopped talking. He pointed at a video camera on a nearby pole and said that he cannot talk more and quickly went inside his house!” he adds with a puzzled look.

It is odd that almost every street in Kashgar is surrounded by cameras and more so, mosques. “Is that an indication of some underlying troubles and that Uighur people are being monitored closely?” he wonders, while pointing out how people in China are generally loathe to have political discussions and change topics whenever pursued.

Lost abode in Gobi Desert

While sifting through the expedition pictures, Babar Ali, the photographer for the team, kept diverting my attention to images of the two-humped camels in Dunhuang. On the edge of the Gobi Desert, in the city of Dunhuang, the team went for a camel ride enjoying the visual treat through huge mountain-sized dunes to a crescent-shaped lake which is completely surrounded by the desert. “The Bactrian camels [which have two humps] in China are easier to ride than the single-humped camels we see on the beaches in Karachi,” he tells Eos.

On the subject of Dunhuang, Lubna Khan recalls an interesting culinary experience. “At an up-scale restaurant, we were told that there was no pork in our food and it was all halal, which included hamburgers,” she relates. When asked about the meat in the burgers, the staff said it was not pork but was in fact — dragon meat! On further inquiry, the team learned that the meat in the patties was actually donkey meat.

Onwards to Pakistan

“One of the most emotionally stirring memories of the trip,” says Mehvash Ali, “was the sight of the Pakistan border at the Khunjerab Pass from China.”

After an exhaustive journey and security checks, the team arrived at the immigration point which operates only for two hours. A military officer accompanied their van and they were not allowed to stop even for a pit stop!

“Despite spending almost a month at the Chinese side of the border, the urge to travel across to Pakistan was uncontrollable,” recalls Mehvash.

At the sight of the Pakistan border, even the van driver (a Tajik) said out aloud “Azadi,” she laughs. “We could finally speak in our own language!”

The writer is a member of staff

Published in Dawn, EOS, October 22nd, 2017