Aksu to Kashgar
Xinjiang
China
July 1, 2017
Highway 314, a modern road, runs 286 mi (460 km) southwest from the city of Aksu to the city of Kashgar. It takes almost five hours by car.
It’s a colorful drive. The Tianshan mountains to the right. The Taklimakan desert to the left.
And what colors!
Have you ever seen orange mountains?
Me neither.
Tian Shan Grand Canyon
Kuqa County
Aksu Prefecture
Xinjiang – Uyghur Autonomous Region
People’s Republic of China
June 28, 2017
Dear Friends,
The Tian Shan Grand Canyon is a 5.5-kilometer-long canyon (3.4 mi) characterized by tall, thin pinnacles, massive buttresses, overhanging walls and heavily eroded red rock.
The canyon is 53 meters (58 ft.) at its widest point, but only 0.4 meters (16 inches) at its narrowest.
It’s quite easy to hike through the canyon. There are some stairs to climb and some water to avoid. But basically, it’s easy.
However, it’s quite difficult to describe the scenery.
Here is one description I found:
Kirzil Thousand Buddha Caves
Kucha
Baicheng County
Xinjiang
China
June 28, 2017
According to my guidebook, the Kirzil Caves contained some of the finest examples of Hinayana Buddhist art in Central Asia. * Unfortunately, all the statuary and carvings are gone. Even the frescoes were removed. What remains are fragments of wall paintings.
Kuqa City (pop 49,000)
Kuqa County
Aksu Prefecture
Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region
China
June 27, 2017
Sheep’s Head Stew.
Sheep Lung.
Lamb Ribs.
Grilled sandwiches: choose your fillings.
Blackberry juice.
At the Kuqa Night market, other items are more prosaic: fresh fruit and vegetables, kebabs and candy.
Kucha
Xinjiang
China
June 27, 2017
Xinjiang’s most extensive Buddhist site lies in a riverbed 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of the modern city of Kucha.
The Ancient Ruins of Subashi date from the Third Century CE and includes towers, halls, monasteries, dagobas (domed-shaped shrines) and houses, all severely damaged by time and the elements of the desert. Yet the basic mud brick construction materials are clearly evident.
The city held several thousand inhabitants but was sacked and burned in the Ninth Century and had been abandoned by the Thirteenth Century.
Korla
Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region
China
June 26, 2017
Dear Friends and Fellow Dreamers,
Stand with me now at the Iron Gate Tower … and imagine ….
Imagine that behind us lies the Tian Shan mountain range. Our Silk Road caravan has traversed the mountains carrying goods from Pakistan and the West. Beyond the gate we face steep cliffs and even more mountains.
Please close your eyes.
