The highest paved international road in the world — crossing the Khunjerab Pass at 4,693 meters between Pakistan and China. The KKH follows ancient Silk Road routes through the Karakoram, Himalaya, and Hindu Kush mountain ranges. Altitude acclimatization essential.

Arrêts de ce circuit (11)

1. 1
   Islamabad — Faisal Mosque The starting point. The Shah Faisal Mosque — the largest in South Asia — sits against the Margalla Hills. The journey north will take you from the plains to the roof of the world.
2. 2
   Taxila — Ancient Gandhara A UNESCO World Heritage Site — the ruins of the ancient Gandhara civilization where Buddhism flourished along the Silk Road 2,500 years ago. Alexander the Great passed through in 326 BC.
3. 3
   Abbottabad Named for a British colonial officer, this hill station gained infamy as the location where Osama bin Laden was found in 2011. The road begins climbing toward the KKH junction.
4. 4
   Besham — Indus River Valley The KKH joins the Indus River — one of the world's great rivers — and follows it upstream for hundreds of kilometers. The gorge deepens and the mountains rise on both sides.
5. 5
   Fairy Meadows Viewpoint The turnoff for Fairy Meadows — a high alpine pasture offering the most dramatic views of Nanga Parbat's massive Rupal Face, the largest rock face on Earth at 4,600 meters of vertical relief.
6. 6
   Gilgit The capital of Gilgit-Baltistan — a strategic crossroads since Silk Road times. The Kargah Buddha — a rock carving from the 7th century — watches over the valley. A crucial resupply point.
7. 7
   Rakaposhi Viewpoint — 7,788m The stunning pyramid of Rakaposhi is visible from the highway. At 7,788 meters, it rises nearly 6,000 meters above the Hunza Valley in one of the greatest mountain escarpments on Earth.
8. 8
   Karimabad — Hunza Valley The jewel of the Karakoram Highway. Hunza's terraced fields, apricot orchards, and medieval Baltit Fort sit beneath a ring of 7,000-meter peaks. The light here is extraordinary.
9. 9
   Baltit Fort — Hunza A 700-year-old fort restored by the Aga Khan Trust. From the ramparts, the view spans the entire Hunza Valley — Ultar Peak, Lady Finger Peak, and the Passu Cathedral Spires.
10. 10
    Passu Cones & Suspension Bridge The Passu Cathedral Spires — dramatic rock needles — rise above the glacier. The Hussaini Suspension Bridge, made of fraying ropes and wooden planks, crosses Borit Lake. Not for the faint-hearted.
11. 11
    Attabad Lake Created in 2010 when a massive landslide dammed the Hunza River. The turquoise lake drowned several villages and blocked the KKH for five years. Boats now ferry vehicles across.

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