We’d heard horror stories about the border crossing from Pakistan to China and how many checks there were and hours it took but in the end we didn’t find it too bad and it only took about 7 hours. Today though we were travelling from China to Kyrgyzstan via the Torugart crossing. I couldn’t find…
Category: China
Exploring the Silk Road city of Kashgar | China no
Kashgar has been an important stop along the Silk Road for the past 2000 years. It sits in the far western corner of China in the Uyghur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang. The old city has mostly been demolished and rebuilt, many people don’t like it because it now has a Disney-style feel to it and…
Driving along the jaw dropping Karakoram Highway | China
We checked into a rather expensive hotel at £23 but my goodness was it good. China has great hotel rooms, the mattresses are proper thick ones, not thin slabs of sunken foam. The bed sheets are always crisp and white, fresh from the laundry company, unlike in Pakistan where 50% of the rooms had filthy…
Crossing the highest border in the world | Khunjerab – from Pakistan to China
The Khunjerab border is the highest paved international border crossing in the world, set at 4600m elevation it closes for half the year due to snowfall. Our plan was to cross from Sost in Pakistan to Tashkurgan in China, via the Khunjerab pass. We stayed in a lovely homestay about 10km south of Sost, it’s…
Chengdu and it’s Giant Pandas | Our final week in China
After two months exploring China we’ve decided it’s time to leave. We’ve had the most incredible time and seen some of the best scenery in our 16 years travelling around the world but when things start to annoy us in a country we know it’s time to go. Things that were minor and never used…
Exploring pristine mountains | Four Sisters, China
There are three valleys you can visit in Four Sisters Mountain National Park which sits to the north of Chengdu. Shuangqiao Valley is to the west and by far the most developed with a shuttle bus travelling over 30km through the park to the end of the valley so due to the easy accessibility it’s…
Exploring the Tibetan villages around Danba
Danba is considered to be one of Sichuan’s gateways into the Tibetan regions but for us it marks the end of our time in this magical area of the world. We had a long walk with our backpacks through Danba to our hostel which was very rustic. I felt like we were backpacking in 2009…
A wild west Tibetan town in western Sichuan
Tagong is a one road town, surrounded by pastures, backed by mountains and full of Wild West charm. It’s home to Tibetans who pride themselves on their horsemanship skills. After exploring the very traditional Tibetan towns of Litang and Garze we were a little surprised to find Tagong had catered to domestic tourists with lots…
Challenges travelling the Tibetan Plateau and hospitable locals
Getting from Litang to Garzi (also known as Ganze) took a long while. We woke up to a fresh layer of snow on the hills, it’s April but Litang sits at 4000m elevation so winter lasts longer up here. We made our way to the shared van area which can be a little intimidating on…
First impressions of a Tibetan town in China | Litang
Our adventures in China are about to change as we make our way through western Sichuan which is part of the Garze Tibetan Prefecture. It’s basically a vast region on the Tibetan plateau where Tibetans live in China. You could call it eastern Tibet and I’ve even heard someone call it ‘Inner Tibet’, similar to…
NON STOP TRAVELLING 