And as I continue my journey through life

But real questions remain...

As with all greatness, mistakes were made.

And a watch was kept to give forewarning against dangers.

Walls were built to keep invaders out and knowledge and power in.

Jiaohe was chosen for fertility, defense and water.

Who lived here and where do I live?

On my last day in China I visited the 2200 year old ruins of Jiaohe. The city was built atop a plateau encircled by two rivers. It made me think...

Turpan square by night

Isn't she cute!

On the right is the Secretary to the local Communinist party - he knew the party line well

Uiger family that we visited with

Greens and blues and browns

Irrigation tunnels

And they do taste good

Local wildlife

Cold nights and blisteringly hot days make for sweet grapes - and Turpan is well known for them

Turpan's Persian, Russian and Chinese mixture of cultures in food, architecture and language come together beautifully.

Lunch

The largest windmill farm in Asia. It stretches in all directions from my vantage point. Really quite mesmerizing.

Caucasian mummy found in western China.

Urumqi is a city of two million in the middle of a desert

Desolate desert airport outpost

Wonderful Tashgurkan fashion

I have spread

Cherry is the best known Chinese car manufacturer.

Dropping 3,000 feet has a funny affect on water bottles last sealed way up there

A solar powered yurt

The clouds alight upon the tops of mountains holding back as Sol's ever powerful prsence burns them away

Heading back east towards Kashgar and denser populations

The fort from an artistic direction.

The old Tashgurkan plains. Yurts, yaks and running water. Very pretty.

The sun rises

A traditional dress Tashkurgan photoshoot with Chonese military on top of the Stone City fort. A cultural marketing experience.

Stone City - a 1300 year old fort built by the Paris Dynasty. It was ravaged about 1000 years ago by invaders, yet still stands today.

Chinese guard was an asshole, especially being as how he was on the Pakistani side of the border

Welcome to China

Now leaving Pakistan

Off in the distance is the Chinese entrance gate and the Pakistan-China border fence

I got the napping seat on the bus

Pakistan Customs Special Task Cell - hrmmmm...

On the road to Sust (last city in Pakistan before China)

Leaving Pakistan

I leave Pakistan in the morning. The Hunza Valley in the disputed
Northern Territories specifically. Having really only explored one
city significantly I can't say I know this place, but I can say
Karimabad is one of the most beautiful places in the world.

I ate breakfast with a family early one morning when discovered during
a long walk by a young boy. Apricots fresh from a tree and milk from a
goat. Neither of us spoke the others' language but we communicated all
that was needed to understand.

I believe even more now in people. I believe even more now in their
inherent goodness.

Mountaintop lake in Gilmut

Landscape

Those eternal questions - who are we?

Jost has left his mark

If you're sick hold them in your hand just do hard and the poisons in the flower can help heal, so they say.

Small rockslide as we approached

...but life is hard.

A picturesque existence...

While the military presence in the Northern Hunda Valley was non-existent, Gilgit was a bit tenser with at least half a dozen military checkpoints on our way through the town. High walls surround the nicer residential areas. I'm told to not take the hard looks personally but to instead see them as a studied stare.

Children of Gilgit

Ping Pong and Prayer

I'm at the Selena Hotel in Gilgit, Pakistan. We have armed guards
outside and inside of our hotel. While waiting for our first excursion
out into town (going to see a mountainside Bhudda statue I believe) a
few of us decided to go play ping pong outside. That is where I found
the pictured guard.

I spoke to him about his family (he has five daughters and comes from
a family of 11 brothers and 10 sisters). I spoke a little about
politics as well. In his home town Peshawar he talks about how there is
fighting everyday with the Taliban. It hurts him and you can tell it
in his face.

At 4 pm the guards changed and he then rolled out his rug and prayed
to g~d. We kept playing ping pong protected in a relatively safe haven
surrounded by a war.

I am very lucky.

Hotel guard - nice rifle. The gate guard (who I will picture later) had a shotgun

Glacier water refrigeration

Memorial to those who died during the building of the Kharakoram Highway

Freedom is Universal - Karachum National Movement

Beef or mutton, onions and potatos wrapped in wheat

Goodbye Karimbad, I did love thee so.

Mount Racapuc (bad spelling) highest peak around 7,780 meters

Feet hanging over the edge...that goes straight down.

Our path on the middle right during the walk back.

Cold rain, slippery rocks, lacking equipment and an irrational (or not) fear of heights stopped me at this point.

Our path wound around to the right. Clap your hands for the people who made it.

See the little person on the lower left? That's Clive and he is from Hastings, England.

This photo I call tight sphincter

Everywhere you go smiling, playing children

Drying apricots

It doesn't look real

Pretty

24,000 feet plus behind the Baltit Fort

Craftsman working with slate

Gentleman at the fort. I envy his facial hair.

Apricots. As you can guess, the breakfast was wonderful.

Sidewalks

You say potato, I say potato

All of the glaciers pour down into a river that grew as we came down from the mountains. Little rivulets seem to pour from everywhere. The result is a lush farming region.

Hotel room view 2. And an iPhone camera has no ability to appropriately capture this place.

View from my hotel room in Karimabad. Paradise.