Karakoram Highway

In Sep’2011, I have eventually made my way to a ‘place’ on earth which I strongly believe has been staying in every traveler’s Pandora Box for ages. Karakoram Highway – the highest ‘paved’ international road in the world! Despite all the comment and compliment lavished on it in the book of traveling as well as on travelers’ account, I am very impressed with everything about the highway and it is certainly worth the crown of being called ‘legendary’ especially when you venture from the well-maintained section of the highway in China side to the mostly deteriorated section of which in Pakistan side.

Having been the branch of erstwhile Silk Road for centuries, the Karakoram Highway was also the thin but burly artery where Buddhism once spread and flourished, the advent of Islam and its subsequent dominant in the region as well as the ‘Great Game’ once played between British and Russia at the 19^th-century along its narrow strip of route way where most of the time is generally but inappropriately being called a highway. It’s literally a highway though – a passage way high enough to content all those historical events into the intractable mountain landscape to create a 1300km marvel of engineering feat.

Perhaps it’s the death toll that creates the fame and legend which would draw tens of thousands of people from all around the world here. Approximately 800 Pakistani and 200 Chinese workers lost their lives from the construction of the highway in 1959 to its completion in 1979. 1 people died for every 1.3 km of the construction.

China side of the Karakoram Highway:

The well-paved section of the Karakoram Highway(喀喇昆仑公路)

Bulunkul Dobey

Unpaved section is rare in China side of the Karakoram Highway

Kumtagh or the Sand Mountain

Yurts with Sand Mountain and snow-capped mountain as backdrop

A newly constructed bridge spanning across one of the many streams crisscrossing along the Karakoram Highway

Krygyz settlement can be easily identified with their sturdy white yurts dotted along the Karakoram Highway

The highly picturesque Kara-Kul Lake(喀拉库勒湖)

The Kara-Kul Lak, the Kyrgyz’s yurt and a Kyrgyz on horseback

The 7546m Muztagh Ata(Turkic: Father of Ice Mountains) Base Camp

Chinese trucks venturing along the Karakoram Highway

Karakoram Mountain Range

The handsome mountain landscape right before the Chinese Security Post

KHUNJERAB PASS:

The 4700m Khunjerab Pass(红其拉甫口岸) marks the highest point of the Karakoram Highway and hence the name of the highest highway in the world derived. After passing through the plaque, the time zone changes and the side of the road on which you drive also changes – China is right-handed drive and Pakistan is left-handed drive)

A stele marking China on one side and Pakistan on the other side

The broad plain of Khunjerab Pass also marks the beginning of the Pakistani side of the Karakoram Highway

Pakistan side of the Karakoram Highway

Snow and ice continue to rag the high mountain which tries to surpass them

Brownish and yellowish ice-melt water has been running here right before the advent of the Karakoram Highway

Winding road and sharp hairpin are not uncommon

Temporary rough settlements belong to those who dedicated their efforts to the Karakoram Highway

Everything becomes black and dark as soon as entering the Pakistani side of the Karakoram Highway and hence the Karakoram(Turkic: Black gravels) name derived

A cross over the typical bridge spanning across Hunza river brings you to the fabled valley of Hunza

The King of the Karakoram Highway – the rhinoceros

The rhinoceros

Note: At the time of my visit, the Chinese are repairing and resurfacing the mostly unpaved section of the Karakoram Highway in Pakistan side. Rumor has it that the Chinese government is funding all the costs of restructuring and upgrading the legendary highway in Pakistan side. It’s not a free gift given to the Pakistani government though. Apparently there are also Chinese mining industries in Northern Area of Pakistan which would eventually benefit from the finished Karakoram Highway. It also serves as a strategic military frontier at its southwest corner and this makes all the rumors and diplomatic agenda rationalized.