Back Side of K2

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"The mountains loom to our left and right and in the distance, making room for air and light and spreading out their mass to either side as though at some time in the past they decided to create a pleasant passageway for these travelers of the future." Ans Hoefnagel Amsterdam, Netherlands

The back side of K2, its massive granite pyramid rarely seen even by climbers, is our destination on this incredible trek through southwest China. The 28,250-foot peak, second to Everest in height, but second to none in its beauty and mystique, is a mere three miles from Sughet Jangal Base Camp, where we spend four days. We reach the 12,000-foot camp by camel caravan through the breathtaking arid landscapes of the Karakorum Mountains.

Arriving in Beijing, we stretch our legs on the Great Wall before flying to Urumqi, and Kashgar, Silk Road oases in western China.  This region, Xinjiang, is home to many of China’s ethnic Kazakh, Tajik and Uighur people.

We set off in 4WD vehicles along the edge of the Taklamakan Desert toward Pakistan and the “Mountain of Mountains,” K2.  At the hamlet of Ilik we join our guides, our sturdy Bactrian (two-humped) camels and their Kazakh drivers.

For the next two weeks we trek from seven to twelve miles a day through the remote sun-baked valleys and jagged snowy peaks of the Karakorum, 60 of which soar over 23,000 feet. As we hike, we travel back in time, passing nomadic encampments far from any road, and fording glacial streams on camelback. At our first glimpse of majestic K2, we comprehend the allure of this mountain’s beautiful and forbidding north face.

We arrive back in Kashgar in time to browse its fabulous Sunday market before heading for Turpan, with its 2000-year-old irrigation system. Only the Dead Sea is lower than the Turpan Basin: Our trek encompasses both the second-highest and the second-lowest place on earth.

Trip Details

Length of Trip: 25 Days Departures in 2009: Available as a private journey Land Tour Cost Call for pricing

MIR Signature Features

• Trek through the stunning Karakorum Mountains on the border of China and Pakistan, a remote and unspoiled section of the great Himalayan chain
• Investigate the Turpan Basin’s underground karez irrigation system, the reason that China’s hottest area is called not only “Fiery Land,” but “Valley of Fruits.”
• Appreciate the symmetrical beauty of K2’s north face, a dazzling sight that few will ever see

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