Karakoram Highway
The “Eighth Wonder of the World” — 1,300 km along the ancient Silk Road, from Islamabad over the Khunjerab Pass to Kashgar in western China.
The road over the roof of the world
The Karakoram Highway follows a network of ancient trade routes linking the Silk Road oasis of Kashgar in western China with Islamabad, crossing the Khunjerab Pass on the way. It took 20 years to level and blast the road through the mountains, and more than 400 of its builders lost their lives.
There has always been a way into and out of China over what is sometimes called the “roof of the world”, but in ancient times it was a perilous one. Today the sealed road climbs gently almost the whole way, past glaciers and some of the highest peaks on earth.
Along the Indus to Gilgit
From near Rawalpindi the highway winds through rolling, sandy foothills for about 120 km before meeting the Indus. It then follows the river’s arc north-east for some 400 km, dipping in and out of the wide river bed, before joining the Gilgit river.
Gilgit lies 12 km off the highway at about 1,500 m, surrounded by barren, tan-coloured hills. Only a few kilometres north the scenery changes completely: the line between the dune-like foothills and the glaciated, snow-capped peaks of six to eight thousand metres is almost overpowering.
Hunza and the Khunjerab Pass
Beyond Gilgit the road follows the Hunza river through the mountains, climbing gently to the Khunjerab Pass. Only on the last twenty-odd kilometres below the top are there short, steep stretches.
At the pass two tall memorial stones mark the border between Pakistan and China, and the divide between the Karakoram and the Pamir. The Pakistani customs post is at Sust, 90 km before the top; the Chinese post at Tashkurgan is 130 km beyond it.
On the Chinese side the road continues as route 314 for about 450 km through wide valleys to Kashgar, the camel-market town on the edge of the Taklamakan desert in Xinjiang.
Life along the road
Beyond Mansehra traffic is light almost all the way to Kashgar — mostly tourist buses and jeeps, and convoys of Chinese trucks carrying goods to Pakistan. On the Chinese side you are as likely to share the road with donkeys, horses and camels.
There are many small villages on or just off the highway, and almost all roadside villages have simple restaurants. We plan stops and overnight stays so you see the best of the route in comfort.
Photos via Wikimedia Commons: The Karakoram Highway — Saadzafar91, CC BY-SA 3.0
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