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Heart of the Celestial Mountains

by Stephen Trumper

Will I or won’t I? I had not ridden a horse before but others in our party had managed to cross the river without mishap so I clambered on and got safely to the other bank. This was to be just one of a dozen river crossings, mostly on foot, during our trek through the central Tien Shan Mountains in central Asia.

The Tien Shan range extends east- west for nearly 2500km, separating the Caspian Sea basin in Uzbekistan from the enclosed Tarim basin in the Xinjiang province of North West China. The high Tien Shan in Kyrgyzstan radiates from the Inylchek glacier, which, at around 62km, is the fourth longest in the world outside the Polar Regions. The range culminates in the contrasting peaks of Khan Tengri 7010m and Pik Pobeda 7439m. The first ascent of Khan Tengri was made in 1931 by an Ukrainian team and Pobeda’s first verified ascent was in 1956 by a Russian party.

The Bavarian mountaineer Gottfried Merzbacher undertook the early exploration of the Tien Shan. He eventually reached the remote Inylchek glacier in 1903, but thought the peaks were largely unassailable. Sandwiched between the Northern and Southern branches of the glacier lies the mysterious, 6km long Merzbacher Lake, which forms every summer and then, sometime in August, bursts through the ice dam and drains quickly away.

Our base camp at Kakara could well have been in an Austrian valley except that there were no chalets or ski lifts, only the occasional yurt with families offering tea from their samovars. For the first three days we trekked through the Kokjar valley and alpine meadows along the Kazakh/Kyrgyz border and over sever- al passes of up to 3500m. These wild- flower meadows were a carpet of geraniums and delphiniums and at higher altitude there were gentians and edelweiss in profusion. As we arrived at our camp on the 1st August, the clouds parted sufficiently to allow us a view of the total eclipse of the sun. In the second half of the trek the terrain became rougher and steeper. Two of the campsites were by the picturesque Karakol and Akkol lakes (the black and green lakes). As there was little hot water for washing we used the adjacent streams and there were frequent screams as the more adventurous among us braved total immersion. Not all the streams were benign, some fed directly by glacier melt were turbid torrents and you could hear rocks being trundled along by the fierce currents - not ones for crossing by horse or on foot!

On the last day of the trek we climbed steadily over a glacier tongue and moraine to the 3900m Ashutor pass. At the pass there was a strange geological feature of a sharp divide between two different brown and white rock strata. From here we could see several glaciated peaks glistening in the sunlight. We asked our local Kyrgyz guide if this was the Khan Tengri massive but no; this was only a lesser 5000m ridge which next day we were due to fly over to reach our high glacier camp.

Next morning the helicopter arrived, we hastily scrambled aboard and were whisked between these 5000m peaks to land at 4000m by the South Inylchek glacier camp among an awe- inspiring array of ice-fluted peaks. During the afternoon we acclimatised by exploring the chaotic moraines around the camp and the next day we attempted to walk up to the Khan Tengri base camp about 4 hours away. However the weather looked threatening and we turned back after 3 hours but typically, the cloud retreated sufficiently to give dramatic views up side valleys to glaciated wilderness.

The camp was busy not only with trekking groups but also several climbing parties waiting to ascend the marble pyramid of Khan Tengri. Overnight there were squally snow showers and we emerged from the tents to see the peaks freshly covered in a glittering mantel. We walked up the glacier towards Pobeda, a massive lumpy mountain; but our heads were turned by many of the other shapely peaks. The next morning the helicopter took us on an exhilarating ride over snow clad peaks back to the verdant base camp at Karkara to end this part of the holiday.

We were due to travel overland via the infamous Torugart pass 3750m to Kashgar in the Uihgur Autonomous Region of China but because of civil disturbances the border was closed. Consequently our tour company bussed us back to Almaty in Kazakhstan and arranged for us to fly to Kashgar instead. This city lies on the ancient Silk Route and we arrived in time to visit the famous Sunday market - one of the largest and most colourful bazaars in all Asia. We also had time to visit the green and amber tiled Abakh Hoja mausoleum and the 15th century Id Kakh Mosque, one of the largest in central Asia.

Although it is possible to travel by car along the Silk Route Highway to Urumqi, it is much quicker and more comfortable to go by train, but even this takes 24 hours. We broke the journey at Kuqa, a small town on the edge of the Taklamakan desert. From here we drove off-road through the desert and a sculptured gorge between mudstone hills to the Kizilgaha 1000 Buddha caves.

We journeyed onwards overnight by train to Urumqi, the Silk Route city that lies at the furthermost distance from the sea. Here the highlight was a visit to the cultural museum to see the desert mummies; the best known, dating back some 4000 years, is the beauty of Loulan. The mummies are intriguing in that they have chestnut hair and Caucasian features. Recent genetic tests suggest they have a mixed Eurasian (Tocharian) ancestry.

An early morning flight took us back to Almaty where there was time to visit the colourful Zenkoy orthodox cathedral in Panfilov Park and the Zelyonni market before catching the flight home after a varied holiday and a wonderful trek through the remote Tien Shan.

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Last updated 06 March 2009