Thanks (grand merci) Imam,Abdul, Neirat.
My wife and I went for one week in Kashgar early October 2010 during the Chinese holiday week. We stayed in a simple Chinese hotel we had booked near the new lake, having the breakfast among Chinese and the day among locals. It was not in town center but simple and convenient with 20-mn walk to access to any very nice uyghur restaurant (Orda, Miran, Nuran, small local ones) and places to visit. People are nice and helpful. Saturday and Sunday we visited by ourselves wandering a lot along old and new streets. Monday to Tuesday we went to Tashkorgan then Oytag with Abdul and Neirat from Imam’s team. All was running smoothly, Neirat driving carefully and Abdul explaining and answering our questions. We had all our meals together each time in small local restaurants enjoying sheep based soups of skewers as well as fruits. Wednesday we went to Yarkand and Taklamakan. Regarding Imam’s team, organization, kindness, fairness all has already been said and is true ; they are fair and best in class. The guies take care of you, share their living style and are friendly. We will come again in Xinjiang with Imam.
Be informed too that since August 2010 Kashgar is declared free economic zone like Shenzhen and Shanghaï Pudong. We are happy to find good local entrepreneurs.
Marie-Ange et Michel (France).

These guys are really great. I travelled to Xianjiang with my girlfriend and while we only had 3 days in Kashgar, Imam and his team really helped make the most of it. One of the best parts of travelling to a place like Xianjiang is understanding a bit more about the local perspective and they were a great resource for that. They were also incredibly flexible and accommodative and were able to tailor the trip around our specific interests. They are also very earnest, eager and honest and unlike some other guides I have worked with, I never felt like they saw me as an open wallet which is always nice. Additionally, they seemed to be very conscious of our safety which was important for us. I highly recommend them and if I am lucky enough to visit Xianjiang again, there is no doubt I will use them again.

We are 5 italians who came here for a tour. We were very satisfied of the service Mr. Imam provided. The tour was great, the driver drove carefully and all the services were excellent!
You can trust this agency.
Thank you for all!
Alex

Kashgar ‘off the beaten path’

Shipton’s Arch was by far the highlight of my trip to Kasghar.

I had found a local guide that was helpful from start to finish to arrange any trip in and around Kashgar. It was a local person from the local Uyghur ethnicity which is always the good decision to make.

We did it as a jeep tour arranged by Imam which was a good half day, but as a foot trekking it could be a 2 day tour. Personally, I’d recommend the foot trekking as the way is not too difficult and the vista’s are absolutely stunning. I simply did not know where to look all the time. A few wandering sheppard’s and some flock of goats making impossible jumps on the mountain were all encountered. No tourism to speak off, and definitely off the beaten path. The arch itself is reached after a good half hour climb that brings you to 2800 meter after the riverbed ends, and it is an overpowering view. We had a clear day and you can see the 4 layers of mountains growing up before you. STUNNING.

Other than the arch, the road itself to get there was a constant shift of nearby and extremely far viewpoints each worthy of many pictures in anybodies photo album.

Anyway, the short of it, extremely highly recommended for people that want a little more than the tourist stops with camels and guards.

We spent two days in Kashgar this april, arriving with the train from Turpan. During this time Imam was our guide.
We visited the Old City of Kashgar, the Idgah Mosque and the Apak Hoja Mosque. On the other day we went to the life stock market and the Bazar, which was so colourful and a highlight on our Chinatour. The stay in Xinjiang was an wonderful experience for us and an interesting contrast to the rest of China.
We want to thank Imam and his team for the professional tour. We can highly recommend Kashgar Guide to explore this region.

Katja and Oren, Switzerland

“Sooo pretty!” the KK highway with its breath taking tip pins views and the ruins at Tashkorgan were my favorite (New York) Our driver and guide were really nice, helpful and making the trip more meaningful. Many Thanks to www.kashgarguide.com Team. (Jennifer)

We were in kashgar area for 5 days and we had wonderful experience with the Uyghur people and their culture. Uyghurs are extremely friendly and hospitable for tourists. The areas around kashgar are very beautiful; our guides are very professional and did a good job showing us around. They brought us to Tajik family in Tashkorgan.it is very beautiful and interesting place in contrast to rest of china. if you want to have some flexibility and to make good use of your time in Kashgar to travel around, contact Imam ,he will help you.(Katherine Hong Kong)

Una experiencia inolvidable y ampliamente recomendable, xinjiang es hermoso y tiene mucho que ofrecer. Imam y su equipo brindaron un excelente servecio,amigables atentas y professionales y sus precios accesibles y transparentes. Ademas fue posible ver mas de cerca,la cultura uyghur que es realmente interesante y bella.(Karla Batsta Mexico)

Nous avons eu le plaisir de faire 2 excursions avec Imam et son equipe.
 2 jours dans le desert du Taklamakan: une experience inoubliable avec soiree autour du feu et des musiciens Uygours.
 2 jours autour du lac Karakul et sur la route du Karakorum

Nous avons apprecie le service, l’ecoute et la gentillesse de l’equipe. Nous avons passé un tres bon sejour dans des paysages fantastiques et rencontre des gens tres accueillants.

Nous recommandons “Kashghar Guide Team” pour decouvrir cette magnifique region.

Elisabeth et Emmanuel

The 7 day Xinjiang tour was excellent. We hit all the places on the itinerary — all of which are well worth seeing — and everywhere Imam, the guide, provided the interesting and well-informed commentary of a man born there. His English is virtually flawless. And he has a most engaging personality.

I was booked into 3-star hotels for the most part — all more than adequate. Since I was an old lady travelling alone, Imam, the driver, and I ate lunch together in “local” restaurants (noodle shops on the sidewalk) — which suited me just fine. It was pomegranate and persimmon season, so we ate kilos of these.

We spent a lot of time driving, which gave me a chance to see “real life” — like the miles and miles of hot red peppers drying in the Gobi desert, and people going about their daily business in villages along the way. The scenery was spectacular. The towns/cities/markets were lively. Everyone we met was friendly.

All in all, this was one of the best weeks I’ve spent on a guided itinerary. I highly recommend this tour for singles or groups. And if the other tours this company lists are organized by the same people, I wouldn’t hesitate to sign up for any one of them too. Good show all around!

Dr. Sally Mussetter

For the past three years (2007-9) he has acted as the guide for the Oxbridge alumni tours in Kashgar, and has been much valued and liked by everyone on the tours. His comprehension of the city and countryside, of the historical sites of and the future plans for Kashgar are extensive, and even late in the day he does not tire of enthusiasm in communicating his knowledge. His selection of the finest and most interesting restaurants, as well as his attention to the details of service at our hotel has been outstanding and very much appreciated. As much as is possible on a group tour he has always sought to find a particular place or object that someone on the tour has been looking for. Imam also has a good understanding of the procedures at all the border points around Kashgar, and has always ensured that our groups have been afforded the most expeditious passage. Finally, as a tour leader, I would like to thank him publically for his cooperation and assistance in making those tours a success.

Dr. Jamie Greenbaum

Dear Imam:
We would like to thank you for your all help, had a wonderful time in Xinjiang. Our guides were helpful, very knowledgeable, and excellent guides. Drivers are so helpful and worked very hard.

Thanks so much for helping to make our Xinjiang experience enjoyable. We will definately recommend your company to anyone who like to visit Xinjiang in the future.

Regards
Alex

Thanks so much for a wonderful trip to Xinjiang. It was great that we were able to plan and coordinate our trip with you through the internet. Your help in customizing our tour was great, and we certainly could not have done it without your assistance.

We will certainly recommend your company to our friends & relatives who are planning to go to Xinjiang.

Kind regards

Jeanne.

In summer 2007 I brought a group of a dozen professors from the U.S. on an educational tour along the Silk Road for faculty development. Along the way from Xi’an to Kashgar, we visited both tourist sites as well as arranged presentations by local scholars and officials about the diverse history, geography, religion and culture along the Silk Road.

In Kashgar, our local guide was Abdulkaiyum of Silk Road Tour, who was by far the best guide we had on the entire journey. From the moment he picked us up at the airport I was immediately impressed by his excellent command of the English language, his polite and courteaous manner, professionalism and sincerity. Some of the professors on my group were so impressed with him they offered to write him letters of recommendation to their schools should he decide to pursue a graduate degree abroad in the future. In fact, I have stayed in touch with him over the last couple of years by email, while most guides are forgetten as soon as the tour is over.

If you travel to Xinjiang through a Chinese travel agent chances our your guides will not be locals, and if they are chances are they will not be ethnicly Uyghur. I can not emphasize enough how important it is to have a Uyghur tour guide if you are interested in a deeper understanding of the local people and culture. Abdulkaiyum was able to quite literally open doors for us into the local community and that would otherwise have been impossible.

We travelled to the Khunjerab pass (4720m) from Kashgar for a two days trip. We had a excellent local driver and an experienced local guide. Our guide spoke a very good english and provided a lot of interesting information about the country, the culture, local habits, local food and agriculture.
We very much enjoyed the splendid views all over the journey.
The “Bin lei xin” Hotel in Tashkorgan was clean and relaxing.
Thank you for your efforts to make this trip possible. We felt very much cared by Imam Travel Agency from Kashgar!

On my travels, I rarely come across a guide I would write home about, so believe me on this one. Anyone who needs a guide or friend in and around Kashgar, contact Imam. Suave, very good English, goes out of his way to make his customers happy, honest and most important of all, does not appear to be obsessed with making the fast buck

Thank you, Imam, for a wonderful tour in Kashgar. My friends Anne and Roger and I went on to Turpan, Urumqi, Dunhuan and Xi’an. Kashgar, thanks to you, was our favorite place. We enjoyed everything so much, especially the first-hand knowledge you were able to share with us. Perhaps the terra cotta army at Xi’an is a more spectacular sight, but it didn’t match Kashgar for character and charm. Everyone was so friendly and the warmth of the people and culture is still with us. We think everyone should sit on the balcony of the tea house, enjoy the great Kashgar food, bargain in the markets, see the sights, and walk through the streets with the wonderful Uyghur people.

Pat