Kashgar - Karaokam - Hotan - Kashgar - Two week self-travel Itinerary for Culture Addicts

An important Silk Road trading post at the junction of the Northern & Southern Routes in the extreme western fringes of China. Closer to the Middle East than it is to Beijing and a world away.

Kashgar is located in the far west of China in Xinjiang Province.

It’s is the home to Uyghur people, a suppressed ethnic minority within China, yet the majority in the Xinjiang Autonomous Uyghur Region.

I spent only two months in the area, but this place is definitely one of the really really must ones to visit in China.

When you arrive you Kashgar make sure you arrive in the middle of the week not to miss out the Sunday Animal Market.

This travel plan assumes you arrive on a Tuesday, but feel free to adjust your plan accordingly.

Day 1 (Tuesday) Arrival to Kashgar

Kashgar, known as Kashi to the Han Chinese, is located at the junction of several routes along the Silk Road. It has thus become a renowned and important trading centre for travellers arriving from Central Asia, Russia, India and Tibet.Arrival by plane to Kashgar:

Kashgar airport is located about 14km north from the centre of the city. Taxi cost approx 15-30 yuan to get into town (dependant on your negotiation skills)Arrival by train to Kashgar: Kashgar train station was built in 1999, and located about 8km northeast. The bus (No 4 - that takes you to the centre ) stop is right in front of the entrance.

If you are not familiar with Uyughur culture I strongly recommend to visit the tourism info centre on the main square in Kashgar. This is you best chance to have a good chance to learn. The staff is very friendly and they speak English.

The tourism Info Center is located near Id Kah Mosque(ھېيتگاھ مەسچىتى‎ 艾提尕尔清真寺) near Aitigaer square.

Check into your hotel and spend the evening roaming in Kashgar Old Town to get familiar with the culture.

To save time I recommend: Kashgar Old City Youth Hostel (喀什老城青年旅舍, NO.233 in Wusitangboyi road) in Kashgar Old Town. This place is right in the heart of town within walking distance to everything.

Day 2 (Wednesday) - Karaokam Highway Kashgar to Karakul Lake

Located on the Western part of China, Kashgar is city-oasis sourrounded by yellow valleys.

One of the highlights of your Kashgar trip is a journey from the Karaokam Highway that connects the west of China with Pakistan.

This is the highest elevated highway in this World and its more than just a highway: along the way, you will pass through an endless number of regions, where a large number of ethnic and religious groups live: from the the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, the nomads around Karakul Lake or the Tajiks in Tashgurkan- this epic road trip travel will definitely be something you won’t forget for a while.

The highway goes through the big mountains of Muztahg Ata (7546 m) and Kongur (7719), while on the north-east a chain of red-brown mountains are visible.

Although the drive is only about 4 hours, if the weather permits you are going to stop along the way to take tons of pictures!

Accommodation in Kyrgiz Yurt by the Karakul Lake

Day 3 (Thursday) - Karaokam Highway Karakul Lake to Tashgurkan

The drive to Tashgurkan take only two hours, but again - you will want to stop along the road to enjoy the beauty of the changing landscape.

Tashgkurkan China’s most westward settlement and it isn’t always accessible to tourists.

Here, perhaps, the most curious and interesting fact is that most of the population are Tajiks, which should not be surprising at all, given the fact that this city is so close to Tajikistan.

Day 4 (Friday) -Karaokam Highway, Tashgurkan to Kashgar

This day is a whole day drive back to Kashgar

Day 5 (Saturday) -Roam Around Kashgar

It’s never enough of Kashgar Old Town: it’s the soul of Kashgar, if not the whole of Xinjiang.

A perfect place for strolling, peeking through gates, chatting to the locals and admiring the craftsmen between the houses in the age from 50-500 years old.

Dinner at the night food market.

Day 6 (Sunday) - Kashgar Animal Market and Sunday Market

Early morning:

Head out to the livestock market, where locals from all the surrounding villages come to town to buy and sell animals. This market only takes place on Sundays, so plan your Kashgar visit around that!

Roam around the animals, farmer and food stalls.

Afternoon:

Head into new town and explore the Sunday Bazaar.

Day 7 (Monday) - Visit Shipton Arch near Kashgar

This single rock formation is one of the tallest ones in the world and located about 1 hour drive from Kashgar.

The hike up to the top is a moderate level hike, going through the valley and rocks.

You can use a local driver organise by the Tourist Office in Kashgar (located next to the Ida Mosque on the main square in Kashgar’s Old Town.

The trip is a half day trip, but if you like taking photos the day can be longer.

Day 8 Travel to Hotan

Time to say - temporary- goodbye to Kashgar and head towards the southern part of the Taklamakan Desert, Hotan.

The easiest way to get to Hotan is to take the train from Kashgar’s train station. The train station in Kashgar can be reachable by the bus leaving from the main square in Kashgar.

There’re five trains a day (between 4.45am and 6.30pm) and the trip takes between 5-6 hours dependant on the train you choose and costs between 70 yuan and 130 yuan (seat).

Day 9 -10 - Explore Hotan

If you want to know more about Hotan, head to Marco's Dream Cafe, which is run by an ethnic Chinese woman from Malaysia who speaks excellent English and is very helpful, and who maintains a binder full of travel information with lots of updates contributed by travelers.

Day 11 - Take a Camel trip to the Taklamaran Desert

No trip to Hotan is complete to experience the Taklamaran desert, the second largest

The name of the desert in Uyghur means "to leave alone/out/behind, relinquish, abandon" which can be translated such as "once you get in, you'll never get out" or similar

Day 12 - Travel back to Kashgar

Take the 6 hour train back to Kashgar

Day 13 - Spend your last day exploring the outer Kashgar

Walk towards old town, eat local, chat up with the locals and enjoy this “Aladdin” movie scene life.

Make sure you eat at the night market.

Day 14 - Leave Kashgar

Time to leave this special city that managed to keep it’s traditions and customs thorough hundreds - if not thousands- of years.

You can leave Kashgar either by train - heading towards Urumuqi - by plane - Shanghai / Beijing or other main cities in China, or you can leave towards Kyrgystan if you would like to explore the Silk Road in more depth

Would you like to get more information about the area?

Hello

My name is Katalin and I have been traveling in China (on and off) for three years now. I mainly focus on border provinces as I am more fascinated by exploring the life of minorities. I can’t stand travel agencies - totally disagree with their principle of keeping the “secret of how to travel” to themselves.

My favourite way of traveling is by public transport, I do it usually with minimal planning and just let the locals “drive” me to the spots.

This site is my experience of how to travel with no agency, by yourself taking local transport to these majestic places in China.

If I am not exploring you can find me hiking somewhere in the mountains / bushes or taking photos. Oops, wait a second that’s exploring too!