Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ATOP THE WORLD: THE XĪNJIĀNG-TIBET HIGHWAY
With at least two passes above 5400m, the Xīnjiāng-Tibet Hwy is the highest road in the
world. Approximately 1350km from Kashgar to Ali, this is an epic journey that can form a
wild extension to a trip along the Karakoram Hwy. The route can be bitterly cold, however,
and closes down for the winter months from December to February.
The whole trip takes at least four days of travel. There are truck stops along the way,
about a day's travel apart, but it's wise to bring food and a sleeping bag. A tent can be
useful in emergencies. Coming from Kashgar, you have to be particularly careful about
altitude sickness as the initial rate of altitude gain is dramatic.
The Xīnjiāng-Tibet Hwy is off limits without travel permits, but companies such as
John's Café
(
www.johncafe.net
)
, with branches in Lhasa and Kashgar, or
Tibet FIT Travel
in
Lhasa can arrange vehicle hire (and permits) along this route.
Leaving Karghilik, the road climbs past Akmeqit village to Kudi Pass (kilometre marker
113; 3240m) then follows a narrow gorge to the truck stop and checkpost at Kudi (kilo-
metre marker 161; 2960m). From Kudi it's 80km over the Chiragsaldi Pass (kilometre
marker 217; 4960m) to the village of Mazar (kilometre marker 241; 3700m). The road
turns east and climbs over the Kirgizjangal Pass (kilometre marker 09; 4930m) to the
large village of Xaidulla (Sài Túlā; kilometre marker 363; 3700m), the largest town en
route. The road climbs again over the 4250m Koshbel Pass to the truck stop of Dahongli-
utan (kilometre marker 488; 4200m), which offers basic food and lodging.
From here the road turns south, and climbs to the Khitai Pass (kilometre marker 535;
5150m), past the military base of Tianshuihai. About 100km from the pass you cross an-
other 5180m pass (kilometre marker 670) to enter the remote region of Aksai Chin. For
the next 170km road conditions are bad and progress is slow. The construction of the
road here, through a triangle of territory that India claimed as part of Ladakh, was a prin-
cipal cause of the border war between India and China in 1962. The fact that China man-
aged to build this road without India even realising that it was under construction is an in-
dication of the utter isolation of the region!
The road passes Lungma-tso, shortly afterwards entering the Changtang Nature
Reserve, and 15km later reaches the small village of Sumzhi (Sōngxī; kilometre marker
720; 5200m). Finally at kilometre marker 740 you come to the edge of the Aksai Chin re-
gion and climb up to the Jieshan Daban pass (5200m). From here, Ali is around 420km
away via the village of Domar (kilometre marker 828; 4440m), the eastern end of
