The Karakoram Highway (KKH) is the highest paved international road in the world. Karakoram Highway connects China and Pakistan across the Karakoram mountain range, through the Khunjerab Pass, at an altitude of 4,693 m/15,397 ft. as corroborated by both SRTM and multiple GPS readings. Karakoram Highway is 805 km. dual carriage metalled road starts from Havelian 100 km. From Islamabad and winds through Abbottabad-Mansehra-Thakot-Besham-Pattan-Sazin-Ghils-Gilgit-Hunza to the Chinese Frontier across the 4,733 metres high Khunjerab Pass.
The Karakoram Highway road built by the Pakistan Army engineers in association with the Chinese experts and technicians has been described as a marvel of civil engineering and even as “The Eighth Wonder of the World”. Completed in 15 years, it has been forced through some of the world’s toughest terrain. The Karakoram Highway road not only opens up the Northern Areas to trade and travel but also provides easy access to hitherto closed regions, connected by jeep or goat tracks.
The road built by the Pakistan Army engineers in association with the Chinese experts and technicians has been described as a marvel of civil engineering and even as “The Eighth Wonder of the World”. Completed in 15 years, it has been forced through some of the world’s toughest terrain. The road not only opens up the Northern Areas to trade and travel but also provides easy access to hitherto closed regions, connected by jeep or goat tracks.
In recent years the highway has become an adventure tourism destination and ranked as the third best tourist destination in Pakistan by The Guardian. It is the highest border crossing in the world, at an elevation of over 4,800 metres (roughly 16,000 feet) in the Khunjerab Pass at the border. For comparison, Mont Blanc, the tallest mountain in Western Europe, is 4810m and Mount Whitney, the apex in the 48 contiguous US states, is 4421m
