As a short side trip from Kashgar, I went adventuring today with a German couple I met in Pakistan. We hired a Land Cruiser and set out for Shipton's Arch – a conglomerate desert feature rather reminiscent of southern Utah. Its namesake, Eric Shipton, was a British consulate to China in the 1940's, and a Himalayan mountaineer with an indomitable spirit of exploration. We rallied down fun dirt trails past Bactrian camel herds, and then scrambled up a tumbling riverbed to the arch, which soars 1,200 vertical feet. The rainy weather was ideal for trekking in the narrow, unstable slot canyon! Read more about Shipton's Arch in a National Geographic feature here .
