STEVE RAZZETTI MOUNTAIN PHOTOGRAPHY AND JOURNALISM

CENTRAL ASIA

"Solitude is a silent storm that breaks down all our dead branches. Yet it sends our living roots deeper into the living heart of the living earth. Man struggles to find life outside himself, unaware that the life he is seeking is within him. Nature reaches out to us with welcoming arms, and bids us enjoy her beauty; but we dread her silence and rush into the crowded cities, there to huddle like sheep fleeing from a ferocious wolf"

Kahlil Gibran

Brothers on horsebackNikon FM2, 24mm, Fuji Velvia
   
Shaksgam valley, Chinese TurkestanNikon FM2, 105mm macro, Fuji Velvia
   
Shaksgam valley, Chinese Turkestan (Xinjiang)Nikon FM2, 50mm, Fuji Velvia
     
  
On the road to the Torugart Pass between Kyrghyzstan and XinjiangNikon FM2, 24mm, Fuji Velvia
   
The Chairman stands over the plaza that was created in his honour. Sadly much of the city's historic Uigar architecture has been bulldozed to make way for the mundanities of modern Chinese power.Nikon FM2, 24mm, Fuji Velvia
   
Nikon FM2, 24mm, Fuji Velvia
     
  
The Central MarketNikon FM2, 24mm, Fuji Velvia
   
The Central MarketNikon FM2, 24mm, Fuji Velvia
   
A Kyrghyz family visiting Tash Rabat, an ancient caravanserai in the Tien Shan at which Marco Polo almost certainly stayed.Nikon FM2, 24mm, Fuji Velvia
     
  
It was into this almost impossibly remote valley in the mountains of Chinese Turkestan that Eric Shipton and his companions came in 1937. To the north lie the Aghil mountains and the scorched deserts of Takla Makhan. To the south, the Karakoram range and Pakistan. Today, expeditions to the Karakoram from this side still have to walk this historic route.Nikon FM2, 24mm, Fuji Velvia
   
A vintage Russian army Zhil truck serves out its retirement in a Kazakh villageNikon FM2, 24mm, Fuji Velvia
   
Mountain idyll in the foothills of the Tien Shan, KyrghyzstanNikon FM2, 24mm, Fuji Velvia
     
  
Unloading mountain bikes from an ex-military Mi8 helicopter atop a mountain in Kyrghyzstan. This is followed by several hours of downhill mayhem...Nikon FM2, 24mm, Fuji Velvia
   
Heli-biking - heading back to base in the Karkara valley, KyrghyzstanNikon FM2, 24mm, Fuji Velvia
   
Nikon FM2, 105mm, Fuji Velvia
     
  
The foothills below Khan TengriNikon FM2, 24mm, Fuji Velvia
   
Batan valley, KazakhstanNikon FM2, 24mm, Fuji Velvia
   
Nikon FM2, 24mm, Fuji Velvia
     
  
Early morning light in the Tien Shan, from the road between At Bashy and the Torugart PassNikon FM2, 24mm, Fuji Velvia
   
Young boy on horsebackNikon FM2, 50mm, Fuji Velvia
   
From the road to the Torugart PassNikon FM2, 24mm, Fuji Velvia
     
  
From the summit of Pt 4950, this view is of the Skamri glacier and the Sarpo Laggo valley. It was at the place known as Suget Jangal in this valley that Eric Shipton's 1937 expedition established their base. Shipton's book "Blank on the Map" remains the definitive narrative of this area. Immediately south of the mountains on the skyline lies the famous Baltoro glacier in Pakistan.Nikon FM2, 24mm, Fuji Velvia
   
The incredibly spectacular northern aspect of the world's second highest (8611m) peak, from the K2 North glacierNikon FM2, 105mm, Fuji Velvia
   
A view south up the Sarpo Laggo glacier from the snout near Suget Jangal. Chinese Turkestan (Xinjiang).Nikon FM2, 105mm, Fuji Velvia
     
  
Mention the name "Shaksgam" to anyone familiar with the Karakoram, and their eyes will glaze over as a misty, distant reverie takes hold. The mighty river that flows in this valley rises in Ladakh, skirts hard under the northern flanks of the highest Karakoram peaks and finally debouches onto the searing salt flats of the Tarim Basin where it evaporates completely. This shot is of the valley at Karchin Bulak, where the trail from the Afghil Pass enters the valley from the north.Nikon FM2, 24mm, Fuji Velvia
   
At Sughet Jangal, Chinese TurkestanNikon FM2, 24mm, Fuji Velvia
   
At Kuruk Jangal, an overnight camp en route to the north side of K2Nikon FM2, 24mm, Fuji Velvia
     
  
At At Bashy, Tien Shan mountainsNikon FM2, 50mm, Fuji Velvia
   
For centuries the name Yarkand conjured up images of the almost unspeakably exotic in the minds of travellers. Today the town which gives its name to the famous river is little more than a dusty halt on a busy Chinese highway. Step off the main street, however, and Uigur life carries on as it has since time immemorial.Nikon FM2, 24mm, Fuji Velvia
   
Young apprentices making dowry chests in the market by the central mosque. The Chinese call the town Yechen.Nikon FM2, 24mm, Fuji Velvia
     
  
A lunar landscape of eroded hillsides rises above the tenuous irrigated verdure of the valley floor.Nikon FM2, 50mm, Fuji Velvia
   
Distinctive Kyrghyz decorations on the felt door of a traditional yurt.Nikon FM2, 50mm, Fuji Velvia
   
A telephoto from above Sughet Jangal of the Skamri glacier in Chinese Turkestan. These are the northern glaciers of the great Karakoram range.Nikon FM2, 105mm, Fuji Velvia
     
  
A view south from the point at which the trail from the Aghil Pass enters the valley. On the horizon are the Gasherbrum and Urdok groups of the Karakoram range.Nikon FM2, 24mm, Fuji Velvia
   
Lakes near the Torugart Pass in the Tien Shan mountainsNikon FM2, 24mm, Fuji Velvia
   
Mountain biking in the Tien Shan rangeNikon FM2, 24mm, Fuji Velvia
     
  
A statue commemorating the devastating 'quake of April 26th 1966, which measured 7.5 on the Richter scale and destroyed thousands of homes in the Uzbek capital.Canon A1, 28mm, Kodachrome
   
At the time of this visit the Soviet Union had recently collapsed and the Central Asian republics found themselves suddenly out on a very long limb. These undercover markets are a feature of many Soviet towns and cities, and under the new freedoms they are booming.Canon A1, 28mm, Kodachrome
   
The Murgab is the major tributary of the Ab-i-Panj, more famously known in the west as the Oxus, which drains a large part of the Pamirs. This picture is of the village of Barchedev, just a day's walk from the huge rubble dam that holds back Sarezkoe Lake. See picture 43 in this gallery.Olympus AF Twin, 35mm, Kodachrome
     
  
The fabled Yarkand river near Yilik It in Chinese TurkestanNikon FM2, 24mm, Fuji Velvia
   
Our host during our stay in Barchedev village in the Pamir mountains of Tajikistan in August 1992Bronica ETRS, 75mm, Fuji RDP
   
In the Pamir mountains of TajikistanOlympus AF Twin, 35mm, Kodachrome
     
  
This 90km long body of water was formed after a huge earthquake in 1911 brought down an entire mountain in the Murghab valley. Given that the area is still seismically very active and that the pile of rubble blocking the valley and damming the river is extremely unstable, there are obvious concerns for the major population centres down-valley.Olympus AF Twin, 35mm, Kodachrome
   
A camel-train bound for the north side of K2 in the Chinese KarakoramNikon FM2, 105mm, Fuji Velvia
   
An expedition making its way along the Shaksgam valley towards K2. Due to the braided, ever shifting course of the river, crossings are frequent - and frequently hazardous.Nikon FM2, 24mm, Fuji Velvia
     
  
In the Tien Shan range of mountains Nikon FM2, 24mm, Fuji Velvia
   
Approaching the confluence of the Sarpo Laggo and Shaksgam rivers en route to the north side of K2Nikon FM2, 24mm, Fuji Velvia
   
Members of this rural co-operative that offers traditional yurt accommodation and basic victuals to travellers in the remote Tien Shan mountains.You can find them at www.tourism.elcat.kgNikon FM2, 24mm, Fuji Velvia
     
  
Nikon Fm2, 50mm, Fuji Velvia
   
Xinjiang, Western ChinaNikon Fm2, 28mm, Fuji Velvia
   
Nikon Fm2, 28mm, Fuji Velvia