Karakoram Hiway - Day2

After breakfast we pass the immigration process to leave for China. As we will be in China for only 3 days, we leave our big luggage/backpacks at the hotel. Without any x-ray system, our bags are opened to be checked manually. We rent the NATCO land cruiser for today since only Natco car company can cross the border.

Hotel dinning room


Or if one would rather have breakfast on the rooftop with the mountain.


Cyclists are ready for today trip.


A huge maintainace of the road.


We are sharing the road with others.




The tree starts changing its color at the entrance of Khunjirab National Park.


On the way of the Karakoram Hiway to Khunjirab Pass (4,700 m height).




At the highest point. Today I get some headache along the road either with the altitude sickness or the chain-smoking driver.


The road on the China side, very well maintain, is so much different from the Pakistan side.

However, at the border my bags have never been to any thoroughly checked as today before in my many previous trips. Every pictures in the camera and in any memory cards must be reviewed one by one. But if you have an X-drive then it would be checked at the city (Tushkurgan, Xinjiang Province) office where the computer is located. Medicine without proper seal is cut in half to be checked.(taste?)

And all cars must be lined up after check up to proceed to the city office together in caravan style. But that is not all, our belongings need to go through x-ray scan again. A temperature check up is required on us too.

We thought that after all these process we now can go and have a rest at the hotel, turn out that our guide, Altaf, is not permitted to stay in China and he has to go back together with other Pakistani to Pakistan tomorrow without any explanation. The officer only tells us that we can proceed our journey but not our guide.

What a long long day!!!. Stay overnight at Traffic Hotel in stead of Karakul Yurt as planned.