European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 9, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse The Karakoram Highway link Between two worlds by John of Burns new York times t o stand at the Pinnacle of a Kunj Era pass in China is to stand in wonder at Thea complis Yaj inels of i Point 16,072 feet up amid the mountains thai Divide China irom Pakistan in is natural to think Al Marco Polo who is said to Havo passed through the nearby mint aka pass seven centuries ago. Also remarkable were be eats of the Road building soldiers who cd a pain Lor motor vehicles Tong ridges Hal served Only camels and horses Lor More than 2.000 years. The Road builders finish cd the 20 years of blasting and bulld02ing that went into the Karakoram Highway in 1976. Al the Cost of Moio Ihan 400 lives and a budget Large enough thai neither Pakistan nor China has disclosed i a permanent Overland link was forged Between two worlds hat geography had conspired of keep apart to the Easl China and to the Wesl the civilizations of the Indus Valley. Asia minor and the Mediterranean. Became the 15,000 chinese and pakistanis who built the Road worked in areas that had Long been closed 1o foreigners. Their feat went Little heralded elsewhere. Only since May 1 has it been possible for Tatiana is of other countries 10 travel the full 795 Miles of the Highway from i s twin Starling Points in he Ancien cily of Kashmir on the Western fringes of China and the modern pakistani capital of Islamabad. Although a journey of months Lor Camel trains has been reduced to 36 hours of jeep driving in remains As arduous a Road trip As can be found anywhere in Asia and possibly beyond. From Kashgar. ,1 own known Lor its wily uighur traders. The Road runs South through areas inhabited by kirghiz and Tadj his Peoples Wilh Warrior pass who have settled peaceably in to Upland valleys Wilh their sheets and camels. In fell lined urls. Houses of to Vijh a piled Stone and More elaborate sell elements of Renud ind Straw families were invariably welcoming to intruders even when they had never Saen westerners before. In Kashgar a Sand coloured City of mud walled Homes Hal gave respite to generations of travellers along the old silk Road officials fret Abc i the tide of adventurers Likely to descend on the town now that the Highway is open. This will make some roubles for us no double said Abdullah Jan Dawud he uighur who Heads the local foreign affairs office. But never mind we will solve at till Kurgan an old Tadzik settlement described by Early 1/avelo/s As the Gateway to China travellers can share a bowl of noodles Wilh truckers continuing a Commerce that has Alfered Little in centuries porcelain Tea and silk outbound from China and dried fruits blankets and herbal medicines inbound irom Pakistan. Private travellers irom Kashgar. Mostly uighur moslem heading or Mecca carry antique Xin Jiang carpets to be traded in Pakistan for the hard currency that buys tickets Onward to Jed Dan. The opening of Iho Highway to i hard country iral fic appears intended to carry a message to two neighbouring nations the soviet Union and India. As it climbs of the Khu Jerab pass Means Valley of blood the Highway Skirls the Eastern and Southern flanks of the Sakhan corridor of Afghanistan occupied since 1979 by Ball Lions of soviet troops Yuan Jianmin Tash Kurgan s Loreign affairs director said the afghan conflict remained a Distant thing Lor most local people other than those who Are barred from visiting Tadzik relatives in Afghanistan along passes sealed by the russians. In Pakistan officials Are less relaxed a few Miles North of the Hun a Valley where huge glaciers run Down to valleys made Solt by stands of poplars and Apricot Groves. Pakistani troops maintain Vigil front Mountain series that Overlook the Sakhan. More Nan 3 million afghan refugees have taken Sanctuary farther West in the Northwest Frontier province of Pakistan so any increase in fighting is carefully watched. South of the Highway other troops land guard Over the control line established after Pakistan and India fought or Possession of Kashmir in 1948. Still More Paul Slang soldiers Are deployed Ivilo a Frontier works organization which labors round the clock to keep the Highway Clear of Rock slides and avalanches. Although chinese engineering Ball Lions did much of the blasting paving and Bridge building on the Pakistan Side they withdrew five years ago and left the maintenance to Pakistan. With Rock slide that can demolish Bridges in an in Sian and leave nothing Oline Road Lor hundreds of Yards Trio maintenance wok absorbs 10.000 pakistani troops and an annual budget in the tens of millions of dollars. In Marco Polo s time much of the passage Lay along Rocky River Beds Hal travellers today glimpse irom she Highway hundreds of feel above. Although the brigands who the Ofiu Njeri ils name have disappeared crumbling Road shoulders that have loss their Proi Clive Concrete posts Are a reminder of the disaster awaiting any vehicle struck by a collapsing lie Rod or a careening bus. For those Short on Irusle. It can be a Relief when a moslem jeep Driver pauses at the Roadside seeks out a Coli Veniel Rock and bows his head in prayer. A Western group that made the journey by jeep last month met up along the Way with a tone bicyclist Mark Skinner who so astonished chinese Border guards that they waived a Rule forbidding private transport on the chinese Side. The sight of the 29-year-old English lawyer making no better than a walking Pace through the Sand and stones outside Tash Kurgan. Where Limpid Green pastureland Strelch Miles to the Moon Lains. Was enough 10 halt Normal activity in a chinese work Camp nearby. An englishman peddling his Way to peking was one of Many diverting experiences. America ree Gan exclaimed a weather beaten kirghiz Herder pausing by the Roadside Wilh his clan As they truck and irom ice mountains no Kashgar amid laughter he cast around for other nationalities England to Cherl he added his dark eyes sparkling. Next he proffered a Mug of steaming Black Tea wiping the Forim Wilh the hem of his Dusty calf length coat. He was still chuckling As the japs put led away. The human pm a or Are complemented by 1he Green Beauty of the Pamir Karakoram and Himalaya Mountain ranges Hal flank the Highway whose peaks Many higher Man 25.0x30 feel provide a soaring counterpoint to the chasms lining the Road. Accidents Are common but it would be an Imi jeep Oraveter who would compare his anxieties to the hazards faced by Early pioneers. Only so years ago ii was common for entire Camel trains to freeze 10 deals in the mountains to be discovered by travellers the Spring. About 800 years before Marco Polo a chinese mor named a Hsion passed this Way on a pilgrimage to India. The Way was difficult and rugged running along a Bank exceedingly precipitous he a ote. When one approached the Edge of it his in Sinai and in he wished to go Forward in the same direction there was no place on which he could Lay his loot _. Beneath were the Waters of the River called the Indus Page 14 the stars and stripes. I
