SILK ROAD EXPEDITION MEMBERS DEPART FOR SHANGHAI ON APRIL 21, 2017
Team members will gather in Shanghai for the start of the 30 day 10,600 km journey of rediscovering the historic Silk Road
A 9-member group of experienced adventurers, writers, photographers, a movie maker and historians have gathered in Shanghai to finalize preparations for their 30 Day expedition starting on April 22, 2017.
The leader of the team, Khwaja (KM) Ali, says they will explore the transformation of the historic Silk Road from what it is today to what is planned for tomorrow. This expedition will follow the silk worms rearing and production in the areas around Suzhou near Shanghai, join the origin of the main Silk Road at Xian to Dunhuang and Kashgar. The team will explore and travel along the Taklamakan Desert, Tian Shan mountains, Hindu Kush, Karakorum and Himalaya ranges into the less written Southern arm of the trade route to South Asia where it terminates at Multan in Pakistan before branching out. They will explore the evolution of the ‘New Silk Road’ on the Karakorum Highway (KKH) down to Gwadar at the Arabian Sea as it is being built today. The growth of the Silk Road from the period of camel caravans to the motorized highways of the future will be travelled and documented. The China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the One Belt One Road (OBOR) is planned to improve travel, trade and the economics of the area. The current activity of construction of the roads and condition of facilities will be recorded.
The team members are: Khwaja (KM) Ali, Sabiha Omar, Dr. Imran Chaudhry, Dr. Nasim Chaudhry, Babar Ali, Mahera Omar, Yasmin Ali, Dr. Sayed Amjad Hussain and Lubna Khan. They will be joined in Pakistan by Syed Azam Jaffer and Mohammed Farrukh Khan.
Many of the members have participated in earlier expeditions like the Indus River Expedition (1978), Swat White Water (1981), Ravi-Indus-Chenab Expedition (RICE) 1984, Team Indus 1985 from the source of the Indus in Tibet, China and Fraser River Kayaking (2016). Some are active members of ‘OffRoad-Pakistan’ wilderness explorers.
The team plans to write about their adventures to encourage trade, travel and use of this historic trade route which has seen massive exchange of goods, ideas, cultures and religions across continents over the centuries.
