Tensions soared along the intermittent and mountainous border between India and China, and when word came that Chinese nationals using the road south from Saitula through Bharat had been attacked, Rashuri had heard enough.]
The next day we came to Xaidulla, a cluster of walled compounds, old buildings made of mud brick, new ones of concrete, a few bushes, but mostly a road stop filled with blue trucks driven by Uighurs from Kashgar and Urumqi.
Mazar to Dahongliutan [256km] - From Mazar (3,790m) it takes around 9 hours by truck. At Xaidulla there is only a Daoban (Road Maintenance Depot). On the northern side of the river, the old-looking fortress is actually a relatively new structure built during the Kuomintang (Nationalists) Government period.
The road turns east and climbs over the Kirgizjangal Pass (kilometre marker 09; 4930m) to the large village of Xaidulla (Sài Túlā; kilometre marker 363; 3700m), the largest town en route.
