Virtual ROTW - Chilas

Today they were pushing on to Chilas, probably only passing through Gilgit. From Chilas though they should be able to see Nanga Parbat in the distance.

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Virtual ROTW - Karimabad

Actually not a Google Earth/Flickr photo but from the hotel web site where they are staying - the Eagles Nest, nestling in the hills above Karimabad/Baltit in the hamlet of Duikar. The hotel is just by the Ultar Glacier, and has a fine view of the Lady's Finger peak.

I actually spoke to Deb for 60 seconds on the phone to sort out a bank issue. She says that despite initial reports saying they may have to stay 2-3 days in Karimbad whilst the road is cleared from a landslide they should now be able to move on tomorrow.

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Virtual ROTW: Karimabad

Haltit Fort that Deb mentions is just visible on the side of the mountain.

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Virtual ROTW: Taxkorgan

Didn't have any idea why they'd be stopping here til I saw the photos.

From http://www.silkroadcn.com/kashgar/Taxkorgan.htm

Taxkorgan in Tajik means "The Stone city"
It was so named because the Stone City is just 100 meters away from Taxkorgan Tajik
Autonomous County,
The history of the City can be traced back to Han Dynasty about 2000 years ago.
It was the Capital City of the Puli Kingdom,one of the 36 states in Western Region
under the jurisdiction of Han Dynasty.It had small scale at that time.It had been gradually
expanded during the Wei and Jin Dynasty. After Tang Dynasty had united the Western
Region,The Pamirs military office were set up here.At the beginning of The Yuan Dynasty
,the people went in for large-scale construction to build the city.During the Guangxu's reign
in the Qing Dynasty,The Puli Office had been set up and the City was restored once again to
to the scale we see the present day.

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Virtual ROTW: Karakul Lake

Warning: Stunning scenery approaching as they head south from Kashgar into the Karakoram. That is Mustagh Ata 7546 m in the distance. Check out the panoramic photo.

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Virtual ROTW - Kashgar

They made it! Unfortunately they missed the Sunday market (above) which was what most of the schedule was predicated on :-(

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Virtual ROTW - Irkeshtam Pass?

Still no news since they were refused entry to China on Friday. Hopefully they got through today - but in the mean time here's some shots of the truck park which is the Irkeshtam Pass.

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Virtual ROTW - Sary Tash

Of all the new places I've learnt about this trip I think that Sary Tash is the best. 3000m up in the Pamirs (the Roof of the World mountains), this small village sits on a vital T junction between the roads North to Osh and Uzbekistan, South to Karakul and Tajikstan, and East to Kashgar and China (the way the team is heading). Of everywhere it appears to be the place that still exhibits spirit of the Silk Road and the Great Game. The Lonely Planet guide even says its still rumoured to be on the major smuggling routes in and out of Pakistan to the south east.

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Virtual ROTW - Osh

Osh has this wonderful peak - Sulayman Mountain - looming over it. Next it's south into the Pamirs - the Roof of the World mountains.

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Virtual ROTW - Samarkand 2

Deb said that they were heading off to see the Shah-i-Zinda Mausoleum complex today - which includes the Stairway to Heaven set of steps.

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Are there somewhere islands....

Found it. It's in the short section that plays as they play on the beach at Herne Bay (really Sandbanks/Studland in Dorset).

Are there somewhere oceans
Rivers still run down to
Oceans deep and briney blue where china clippers soar

Are there somewhere oceans
Boys still run away to
Flying fishes jump for joy and the roaring Forties roar

Are there some where dreamers
Drifting on the high road
Are there somewhere caravans, approaching Samarkand

Are there somewhere dragons, leprauchans and centaurs
Unicorns and Camelot and Never-never land

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Virtual ROTW - Samarkand

What place more evocative of the East is there? For me the cult-ural reference will always be the line from the theme to Dominick Hide (the best BBC SF ever):

Are there somewhere islands?
Over the horizon,
Hidden by the morning mist, forever out of reach.

Are there somewhere islands?
Where the coco ripens
Wild canaries in the palms, a foot print on the beach

Are there somewhere mountains?
Talked about is whispers
Himalayas, mountain men never dared to climb

Are there somewhere mountains?
Where the tiger dances
Hillsides sweet with temple bells, half as old as time

(weird, just played it through and can't find the Samarkand reference, will have to watch the DVD tomorrow to find where it is - the finale version obviously has different verses!)

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Virtual ROTW - Uzbekistan Border

Really into the desert now, and hopefully they can get across the border in a day - I wouldn't fancy camping out there. GE shows the whole area full of tracks radiating out of distant oases, it looks like craters on the moon.

And this is the border post, note the trucks queuing on the Kazak side.

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Virtual ROTW - Beyneu

The landscape is suddenly desert - although the camel is probably a bit of a give away! Looking on Google Earth Beyneu (about the size of Moseley, we checked) has a whole bunch of buildings with bright red roofs - metal anti-rust paint I suppose - perhaps Deb's can enlighten us. It also looks to be at a major rail junction, one back to Astrakhan, one further S into Kazakhstan and one on to Uzbekhistan which it looks like the road follows pretty closely.

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Virtual ROTW - Kazakhstan

Interesting as they cross into Kazakhstan there are lots of things to note:

• They are now very much in Asia, not Europe
• It's harder to find the red dots of Flickr photos, this one is probably 50 - 100 miles from their real location
• We don't know their real location - this is the first time since they set out that they are "somewhere", in this case between Astrakhan and Beyneu, probably camping
• They have been gone 2 weeks, a fifth of the time
• They have visited 10 countries out of a total of 15
• They have traversed 52 degrees of longitude, out of a maximum of 79 degrees
• The mad dash across Europe is at an end, now they can enjoy exploring asia

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Virtual ROTW - Astrakhan

Astrakhan, and Europe is being left behind as the deserts of central Asia approach.

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Virtual ROTW - Volgograd (Stalingrad)

Forget the two below, judging by Steve's post this is the one they mean, far more like it! (but still find the one below possibly more interesting and moving)

Volgograd War Memorial

Holzunov Monument

They did get to Volgograd last night after all. Deb talks about "There is the most incredible memorial to the Russian dead of the Battle of Stalingrad" - I guess its probably the first picture above having looked on Google Earth, although I must admit I'd expected something more like the second (also at the memorial), although it may have even been the more grecian looking thing.

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Virtual ROTW - Sea of Azov

Given Deb's text (see www.converj.com/rotw) is sounds like they only made the Russian border today, not yesterday. So here's a nice pick of the north coast of the Sea of Azov which they'll have been following all day (and yesterday probably).

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Virtual ROTW - Rostov-on-Don

And into Russia! Facade clock in Rostov overlooking the Don. Another major Russian river, just upstream of where is flows into the Sea of Azov.

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Virtual ROTW - Mariupol

A very industrial looking place down by the Black Sea.

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