The prime attraction of the region is the Khyber Pass, in the Sulaiman Hills that form Pakistan’s western barrier. The hills dip here, leaving a passage sometimes as broad as 1½ km and sometimes as narrow as 16 meters. The pass begins near Jamrud Fort, 18 km from Peshawar, and runs to the border at Torkham, 58 km away.
For thousands of years the Khyber has been the great road between Central Asia and the subcontinent. Persians, Greeks, Kushans, Huns, Mahmud of Ghazni and the Mughal emperor Babur all came this way, and in the 19th century it was fought over in the Anglo-Afghan wars.
Places to see
Bab-e-Khyber
The stone gateway at Jamrud, built in 1963, that marks the entrance to the pass.
Jamrud Fort
Built by the Sikh general Hari Singh Nalwa in 1836, set amongst low stony hills capped with pickets manned by the Khyber Rifles.
Ali Masjid
A fort and small mosque near the narrowest point of the pass. The insignia of the regiments that have served in the Khyber are carved into the rocks along the road.
Sphola Stupa
A Buddhist stupa from the early centuries AD, standing on a ridge above the road.
Landi Kotal
The bazaar town at the top of the pass, on the way to the border post at Torkham.
Good to know
- How to get there
- Travel by road from Peshawar via Jamrud Fort — or take the legendary Khyber Railway on its 42 km, 3½ hour journey to Landi Kotal.
- The Khyber Railway
- Completed by the British in 1925, the line climbs to Landi Kotal through 34 tunnels and over 92 bridges and culverts, using reversing stations to gain height — a celebrated feat of railway engineering.
Header photo: Bab-e-Khyber, gateway to the Khyber Pass — Muhammad Imran Saeed, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons