ABSTRACT
In the early summer of 2009, after a few months of study and research in Urumqi, I took the long train journey to Kashgar for the second time that year. This time, my planned itinerary included a brief visit to the Pamir mountains around Tashkurgan, followed by a longer journey to Qinghai through southern Xinjiang. Little did I know, at the time, that the Karakoram Highway that I was travelling along for the first time, and the China-Pakistan border to which I made a short visit together with another group of tourists, would become the focal object of my doctoral work within a few years. The first part of the trip went rather smoothly. I spent a few nights camping and trekking around Karakul Lake, before continuing on my journey to Tashkurgan. The two checkpoints along the way represented minimal hassle: by early 2009 foreigners were not required to have any special permit to visit the region, so the checkpoints were little more than a chance to take a little stroll and acclimatise to the altitude. At the Khunjerab Pass, on the other hand, I was seen taking pictures of army facilities in proximity to the border, which I was later forced to delete. Even this little incident, however, did not make any lasting impression on me. On the contrary, the scenery along the drive up to the Pass at more than 4600 metres, would remain with me for much longer. Upon my return to Kashgar, I spent a couple of days resting, in preparation for what I was expecting to be a ten-day long trip to Xining, Qinghai province, through Khotan (Hetian), Charkliq (Ruoqiang), and Golmud. Then on the evening of 5 July, as I was walking to Kashgar’s bus station to take a night bus to Khotan, a friend I was particularly close with called from Urumqi.
