Karakoram Highway
The Karakoram Highway, known to the Chinese as the Friendship Highway, is an engineering masterpiece. It is a stretch of highway that was built in the north of Pakistan, where some of the mountains extend to altitudes of seven to eight thousand meters. The KarakoramHighway runs along the Indus River and then dips into the Gilgit and Hunza valleys, culminating in a climb of 4,800 meters to the Khunjerab Pass, which serves as a dividing line between Pakistan and China. It took twenty years to complete the highway, which began in 1966 as the brainchild of both Chinese and Pakistani engineers to facilitate trade between China and Pakistan. Several hundred people lost their lives during its construction, which involved pushing, blasting, and leveling the terrain between Islamabad and Kashgar. The highway follows the path of what was once known as the Silk Road because of the caravans that followed it with loads of silk and other valuable trade goods.
The Karakoram Highway opened in Pakistan in 1982, finally opening to travelers to and from China in 1986. Today, heavy traffic flows between Pakistan and China's Xinjiang Province. Due to the many beautiful cities and sights along the way, which include Kohistan, Gilgit, Hunza, and Skardu, the Karakoram Highway is a popular way for visitors to travel in this area.
Further Reading
Ahmed, S. Z. (1998) Travels in Shangri-La: Between Hindu Kush and Karakoram. Trumbull, CT: A. E. R. Publications.
Cleveland, William L. (1994). A History of the Modern Middle East. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Haynes, Jeff, ed. (1999). Religion, Globalization, and Political Culture in the Third World. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Macfarlane, Allison, Rasoul B. Sorkhabi, and Jay Quade, eds. (1999) Himalaya and Tibet: Mountain Roots to Mountain Tops. Boulder, CO: Geological Society of America.
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