Silk Road Beckons Via ElderTreks
Spaces Still Open on Renowned Pakistan to China Route
ElderTreks, famous for adventure travel for the over-50 set, has 5 spots left on May and August trips for those who long to travel in the foootsteps of Marco Polo
Last-minute senior tourists who have always wanted to travel the legendary Silk Road should check out ElderTreks, a leading adventure travel company specializing in tours for those 50 and older.
There is still space available on three of the group's senior adventures this spring and summer. The itinerary follows the old trading routes of northern Pakistan, northwestern China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
Among the stops: Kashgar, Samarkand and Khiva - ancient Silk Road cities that evoke images of exotic caravans traveling across deserts and over mountains, linking east and west. For over a thousand years, the Silk Road provided adventurers and traders with a route from the wealth of China to the developing countries of Europe.
ElderTreks' tours spend the first week in the mountains and cities of northern Pakistan, including Peshawar, the Khyber Pass and the Hunza Valley. The journey sounds like a dream for those who love mountains. It wanders through the Himalayas, the Hindu Kush, the Pamirs and the Karakorams, and takes the Karakoram Highway over the world’s highest paved border crossing - the Khunjerab Pass - into China.
The market in Kashgar is undoubtedly one of the most exciting parts of the journey.
The Kashgar bazaar is where variety of Central Asian nationalities gather to barter everything from rugs to radios to horses. Kashgar is said to be a triumph of commerce over both nature and ideology; it was the meeting point of at least four branches of the Silk Road despite being surrounded by awesome physical barriers of mountains and deserts.
Today's tourists get to watch as thousands of people from the countryside, traveling by donkey and cart, arrive to sell their produce, woven goods, and livestock.
Senior hiking doesn't get more adventurous than this.
Before the 24 land days are over, trekkers -- who start in Islamabad, Pakistan -- get to see Kyrgyzstan, Tashkent and Uzbekistan, as well as he historic city of Khiva - an open-air museum of Central Asian architecture. After Bukhara and Samarkand, tour members finish in Tashkent.
According to ElderTreks the $5,995 price per person includes all meals and two internal flights. Each group is limited to 16 travelers. Accommodations run from comfortable (private washrooms) to "basic."
Parts of the trip are a bit strenuous -- it encompasses 6 days traveling at altitudes over 8,000 feet, including a drive over a 16,000-foot border crossing. Some of the roads are rough and some of the days involve long drives.
Nevertheless, the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of Alexander the Great and Marco Polo would seem to outweigh the minor hardships in 21st century Central Asia.
