Crossroads

Our next stop was the city of Kashgar, an historical oasis town and a crossroads on the old Silk Road. Our journey through Tibet had drawn to a close and I was left with the decision of where to go next.

Kashgar is out in the middle of nowhere. It is surrounded by huge expanses of desert and mountains, bordering a few Central Asian nations that most Americans have probably never heard of. It's historical relevance dates back to a time before there were trains or airplanes, when Silk Road merchants and adventurers would stop here to rest their weary bones or restock their camel caravans for the long trek around the Taklamakan Desert.

We couldn't help but feel a bit of pride at having finally arrived, having just traveled one of the most remote and desolate regions of the world, by Land Cruiser no less. We were like modern incarnations of the Silk Road heroes from centuries past...

Imagine my surprise, after settling into our hostel in Old Town Kashgar, at seeing a familiar face... A Japanese girl that I had met in Chengdu that had also been planning to travel to Tibet and had, in fact, just traveled the same road we did!

Only she did it by herself... Traveling illegally without a tour group... Having hitchhiked most of the way!

Not only that, but the next day she would be catching a bus to Pakistan. Again by herself, all 5 foot, 100 pounds of her!

I asked her if she thought it would be dangerous? If she was worried about the Taliban? She just giggled at me.

In these parts of the world, hearty adventurers come in all shapes and sizes.

Later while dining at a western cafe, we came across a large group of German and Swedish travelers. They were comprised of five smaller groups that had originally corresponded through the internet. They had all traveled individually by car from Europe through the Middle East to India, where they had met up. Then traveled as a caravan through Nepal and Tibet before arriving in Kashgar.

They had made the journey over the course of months, sleeping out of their vehicles when necessary. They had required a police escort when traveling through Pakistan and a tour guide through Tibet. Currently, they were waiting for their permits to drive through Kyrgyzstan, from which they would head to who knows where.

A pair of 22 year old German kids, just out of the military, had made the journey in an enormous red Mercedes Benz firetruck with a giant yak skull affixed to the hood.


A Swedish couple in their 50's was traveling out of a modified Land Cruiser, with a state of the art trailer attached to the back. They had just sold their business and were living out their dream of driving around the world. After traveling through Central Asia, they planned to double back through Mongolia, drive south through China and Southeast Asia, and then have their truck shipped to Australia so they could drive around there.

"We'll look you up in America in about four years," said the Swedish man, smiling but only half joking.

Later in the hostel, I met yet another amazing traveler, a Canadian guy who had traveled to Kashgar all the way from southeast China in Shenzhen by bicycle! Equipped with only a couple small bags of luggage strapped to the back of his bike, he had been traveling for months. And he planned to follow the Silk Road all the way up to Europe.

I have often found, that when traveling off the beaten track, that the travelers you meet are just as inspirational as the locales. These certainly weren't the type of people you would meet with great frequency in Beijing or Shanghai, let alone Irvine.

When I had arrived in Kashgar, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do next. I was a bit travel weary, my group had disbanded, and my friend Naz was flying back to the US. The first world indoor plumbing and stable internet of Macau beckoned to me.

But the group of people I met in Kashgar helped make the decision for me. When was the next time I would be in this part of the world anyway?

After spending a bit of time in Kashgar recharging my batteries, I would head east along the old Silk Road toward the ancient Chinese capitol of Xi'an. I would do so alone and, in the spirit of the ancient Silk Road travelers, would do so by land.