Hot Rock Asia 08-09: The Silk Route

Istanbul to Singapore

2,000 years ago...

The two great centres of civilisation, the Romans and the Han empire of China, knew about each others existence. As a result, a trade route was sought to gain access to precious merchandise. The route was perilous, as between them lay thousands of miles of desert, grasslands and mountains; home to many dangerous tribes.

No army, not even that of Alexander the Great, had been able to conquer this void and no empire able to rule it. Nevertheless, there were men, motivated by profit and adventure who gradually created a link between the two worlds.

Tales of unknown and forgotten lands began to circulate in the west from the lips of Persian merchants, Syrian traders and the sailors of Alexandria. As fantastic Chinese silks flowed West, explorers like Marco Polo set off towards the rising sun to find Xanadu, and the far East along the Silk Road.

Central Asia is steeped in antiquity yet remains virtually unexplored by the climbing world, and is one of the last great frontiers for discovery.

Hot Rock's Silk Road Expedition

In the footsteps of Alexander the Great and Marco Polo, the Hot Rock 2008-9 Silk Route expedition will travel from Istanbul to Singapore repeating the best existing climbing and establishing new routes and areas in the twelve countries we will be passing through.

The expedition is one of the first of its kind in Asia, and will take an international team of climbers from the limestone and tufa crags of Turkey, through the big walls of Iran to the sports climbing and bouldering nirvana of India. After crossing the Himalayas through Nepal and Tibet, the expedition culminates in a rare and unique visit to China with its other worldly limestone karst formations and holy mountains surrounded by imposing cliffs.

We aim to climb at least one day in 3, with at least one in 3 devoted to sightseeing and chilling out with the locals, and the remainder travelling from crag to crag and city to city.

Click here to start the route, or Click here for the map

Or use the dropdown menu on the left to pick any individual country & date

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