Karakoram Highway

The Karakoram Highway is the world's highest paved international road. It was completed in 1986 and provided the quickest overland route between northern Pakistan and western China. During the initial construction 810 Pakistani and 82 Chinese workers lost their lives. The road runs a total of 1296km from Kashgar, China to Rawalpindi, Pakistan and crosses over Khunjerab Pass at an elevation of 4693m.

In 2006, after 20 years of being open and used, the road was in a state of...
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The Karakoram Highway is the world's highest paved international road. It was completed in 1986 and provided the quickest overland route between northern Pakistan and western China. During the initial construction 810 Pakistani and 82 Chinese workers lost their lives. The road runs a total of 1296km from Kashgar, China to Rawalpindi, Pakistan and crosses over Khunjerab Pass at an elevation of 4693m.

In 2006, after 20 years of being open and used, the road was in a state of complete disrepair and unsafe to travel on. A journey which should have taken 14 hours was taking up to three days. Rockfall kills dozens of people every year in addition to taking out entire sections of the road. Chinese companies and Chinese workers are rebuilding the road on both the Pakistani and Chinese sides as of summer 2009.
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