Karakorum highway is famous in many ways, not only is it an old silk road route, it is also and important connection to central Asia.. The road gets all the way up to the Kunjerap pass on some 4800 meters before it continues into Pakistan, a part also where the Chinese has been involved.

Today we headed out in the early morning. It didn’t took long after getting into the mountains before a long line of cars emerged. With melting glaciers and landslides the road is often destroyed and the repaired parts can be rough. Along the route there were two stops where we had to wait for them to either repair the road enough so cars could pass, or clear away rocks that had fallen down. I am massively impressed over the effectiveness when it came to repair the road. Several other parts were also newly repaired or alternative roads made where the original had been washed away.

Today the car climbed to a max of 4000 meters before coming down to a valley at 3000 meters altitude, Tashkorgan. Here we walked around looking at an old stone fortress and then rested by a yort in the nearby wetland, chatting with both Tajikistan people and Chinese ex soldiers working together to move a yort to dryer place.

It was a nice quiet evening made to perfect when the power went out and we had to use candles.

Tags: karakorum highway, mountain, tashkorgan, wetland