Into the Pamirs

Day Trip to Lake Kalakuli

Our fourth and final destination within Xinjiang Province was the Pamir Mountains. The Pamirs are a group of mountains at the crossroads of Asia’s great ranges – the Himalayas, the Hindu Kush, the Kunluns and Tian Shan. Pamir means “roof of the world,” a phrase used liberally to describe the astounding geography of the region. The Chinese section of the Pamirs is located in the southwestern corner of Xinjiang Province, south of Kashgar. Due to time restrictions, we were only venturing a short distance into the mountains to visit a popular lake, known as both Kalakuli and Karakul.

We opted for a day trip up to Lake Kalakuli with a private driver. Now, to be honest, neither the DH nor I had ever heard of Lake Kalakuli or even the Pamir Mountains, so when we picked this particular trip is was just because it sounded good. Without access to the Internet or even a good map, we had no real idea where we were going being taken. It all started out rather ominously with police roadblocks and lots of passport checking, but eventually we made our way up and away from warm and dusty Kashgar to a cool and snowy 3600 meters (11,800 ft.) (The first passport check was at a temporary police roadblock on the outskirts of Kashgar. The second was at a military checkpoint higher in the mountains. That one was much more serious. We had to get out of the car and present our passports to a soldier. He copied down our names, passport numbers, and car license plate number. This procedure was repeated on our return.)

Fiery foothills of the Pamir Mountain Range

The road up to Lake Kalakuli follows this river through wide glacial fields, narrow gorges and finally, vast lake beds. This is the Karakoram Highway, which eventually leads to the Khunjerab Pass border crossing into Pakistan. One branch of the ancient silk road followed this route.

House on the Karakoram Highway

Although the vistas are spectacular, life in this region is simple and, in winter, probably very harsh. Most of the locals living in this area are Kyrgyz and Tajik shepherds.

It seemed that every 30 minutes or so the scenery changed. Here are some examples:

Into the mountains

This lake bed was covered in small streams

This area had huge sand dunes

Grazing yaks

Camels in their natural habitat (I actually have no idea if this is their natural habitat or not!)

I was awed by the massive glacial fields

This whole area was covered with strange rounded humps

At one point, when we were deep in gorges and climbing up the mountains, we passed so many mining operations I was straining my neck to look up the sides of the hills to count them all. I lost count. The road was dotted with heavy trucks laden with earth and rock.

After about four hours we reached the lake. It was cold and deserted, but the lake and surrounding areas were beautiful. Thick clouds covered the nearby Kongur (7,719 m/25,325 ft) and Muztagh-Ata (7,546 m/24,757 ft) peaks, the highest of the Pamir and Kunlun ranges. Both of these peaks are popular for climbing, especially since they are easily accessed from the Karakoram Highway. Our driver was disappointed for us as the mountains are evidently very impressive on clear days. The clouds eventually parted to reveal a lush blue sky, but just as quickly as they parted, they closed in again. The pure air was exhilarating.

Kalakuli Lake translates as Black Lake, but the colors ranged from dark blue to light turquoise, depending on the sun.

We had the dubious distinction of being the only tourists, as it was the beginning of the low season. A few hardy locals took the chance to offer us all kinds of trinkets and camel rides at “discount” prices. After declining all offers, including motorbike rides, we somehow agreed to horses. That’s how we came to spend the next hour riding two of the slowest and most stubborn horses ever born, plodding around the lake in the company of two Kyrgyz shepherds. All four of us speaking in broken Mandarin, we managed to converse on a surprising amount of topics. (Their age, marital status, the lack of money in their village, a wedding that was happening that day, yak milk, etc.) I never want to be on a horse again.

Me and my trusty steed

Yakkity-yak-yak

Yaks and horses are not the only animals we saw:

I always enjoy any opportunity to see the rural areas of China. That night in the Kashgar Airport I flipped through a coffee table book on the Pamirs and was impressed by the spring and summer photos. The now gray and barren hillsides and stream beds will turn brilliant green with wildflowers come May. I would love to return to see that. If the world to the south was not in the sad state it currently is, I might even want to follow the Karakoram all the way to Pakistan. I was a little surprised to later learn we had been so close to the border with Tajikstan and Afghanistan, as well. After seeing some of Xinjiang, I feel more excited about visiting the ‘Stans. Pakistan and Afghanistan, however, will have to wait…

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Tagged as: camels, China, lake, mountains, nature, Pamirs, Travel, Xinjiang