After three hard days on more awful roads, we have finally arrived in the fabled city of Kashgar and the end of the Silk Road for us, as our way east has been blocked by the Chinese and we must head south into Pakistan.

With a broken rear suspension we were forced to stay in Osh for three days only to be unable to repair it and so headed south again to cross the Irkeshtam Pass into China.

A combination of plumeting tempretures and a damaged bike stopped us from visiting the vast Kyrg Steppe further north but our week in the country has left a wonderful memory.

We camped outside the border town of Sary Tash, before crossing over another bone rattling road into China.

After crossing the border, little changed as Xingjian Province is more central Asia than Peoples Republic, asides from smartly dressed soldiers waving flags at us from breaking traffic regulations.

Kashgar is somewhat different fom the backwater we had imagined; bright lights, large statues of Chairman Mao and excellent food have welcomed us.

From here we will explore the edge of the Taklimakan desert before following our Chinese guide to the Pakistan border where we cross the 15,000ft Khunjerab Pass into Pakistan.

We intend to spend a week in the North West Frontier Province before crossing into India at Lahore.