...and we're out of here

Kashgar is a funny place. I can only imagine what this hub on the silk road must have looked like in its heyday (whenever that was - it has a long history). It has now taken on or rather, been given the anonymous looks of any other Chinese city. The old parts of the city have largely been revamped with square concrete and neon KTV signs. The redevelopment of the area around the Id Kah Mosque offers a sanitised version of the former bazaars of my imagination. As with much Chinese history, selected parts have been cleaned off and put on somewhat inelegant display. Now and then, while walking around the city, I still catch glimpses of old architecture, but these have become rarer in the last couple of years that I been visiting this place.

Work complete, finally we have enough permission and vehicles to move out of Kashgar and towards the mountains. We will begin scouting routes in attempts to find our way in so at long last I might be able to provide snow leopard research entries to this blog. However, I'll have no web access for a few weeks, so the glorious Dawn will post updates from our brief (but blissful) safety check in calls (that's what we're calling them anyway).

Break a leg.
P.