Chapter 35
Early the next morning, the four met with the two guides. They had brought food and supplies, including thick parkas and extra blankets in case they got stuck somewhere out in the snow, and soon everything was loaded into the van Michael had rented.
Once past Tashkent, law and order broke down even though the Uzbek government, plus Russian, Chinese, and most likely American operatives, closely watched the region and any travelers. Both Russians and Chinese governments worried about the country being used to stage terrorist attacks on them, and all three foreign governments used the area to spy on each other.
As they headed eastward, against the sky, they could see a faint silhouette in the distance. As they neared, it became a snow-white wall with blue shadows—the T’ian Shan,
