Karakoram Highway - Initial Ascent
KKH Part 1

Northern Areas of Pakistan
KKH-Ascent | KKH-Kohistan | Gilgit | Hunza-Main | Hunza-Altit | Hunza-Duikar | Gojal-Gulmit | Gojal-Pasu

The Karakoram Highway [ KKH ], runs from Islamabad in the Pakistan plains, to Kashgar [Kashi] China. This 1200 mile highway crosses extreme mountainous terrain, including the edge of the Hindu Kush and Himalaya, the Karakoram and Pamir ranges to finally descend into China. Started in the 1960's, this was completed to the Northern Areas in 1980 and to China in 1986.

Crossing the Khunjerab Pass [4730 m elevation], this road is the highest paved highway on the planet. Along the route, this road resembles an U.S. driveway, hardly big enough for two vehicles to pass. Rockfalls, waterfalls, and gorges are crossed, steep drop-offs plunging to the Indus River, and bandits are known to rob cars and travelers.

While dangerous and more exhilarating than a roller coaster, this highway provides an incredible geology lesson. As one moves into the mountains you can see the Indian tectonic plate come to an end, with the Asian plate becoming obvious as one moves to the high valleys. It is recommended to look at the rocks along the way, anything to ignore impending death off the edge of the road or in the oncoming trucks.

I traveled the KKH with Catherine, who was in Pakistan for the first time. How she let me talk her into riding this bus ride directly after the afternoon bus from Lahore, I'll never know. After four hours of afternoon bus, we bought our ticket for the 18 to 20 hour ride from Rawalpindi to Gilgit in the evening. I have to say her determination and attitude helped me greatly through this, as everything [most importantly bathroom breaks] were a much bigger hassle for her.

We got on the bus around 10 at night in Rawalpindi, grabbing comfortable seats and stowing our stuff on the roof of the bus. While bumpy, we dozed on and off in the initial hours of the ride. I think it was wise to get 6 hours on the road over before we realized how insane driving this road at night would be.

The only memory of the nighttime ride was the first tea break four hours into the ride. We pull into a tea shop on the edge of a mountain, have a pot of tea bought for us by the guy across the bus aisle. It is amazing how many friends Urdu with bad grammar will get you.

Here we are stopped for tea and a snack in Besham. There is little beyond houses and a few chai shops, but is an important hub with a road link to the Swat Valley from here. This town is the last stop until Chilas, as the next area is known for bandits who rob cars and the rare bus.

This is the lower Indus gorge, with the mountains slowly drawing in and becoming more vertical.

As the morning progressed, the mountains grew steeper. Settlements were built on ridges, with irrigated terraced fields surrounding them with lush green. Other than these scattered settlements, the landscape was generally very arid and became more and more desertic as we moved to higher elevations.

Mid-morning, the bus just died and came to a stop. The driver got out, looked into the engine, and just shrugged. A few other people got off, looked at the engine, and muttered to each other.

After everyone just sat there for ten minutes, I decided to get out and have a look. This picture of the KKH is typical, vertical slope on one side and drop off on the other. Note the size of the bus compared to the size of the road. Amazingly, trucks and buses would just zoom past each other no more than two feet apart.

After about ten more minutes, everyone got back on and the bus driver started the engine again. It was then that we realized he needed to let the engine cool, that we weren't about to be stuck on the road in Kohistan. Relieved, we relaxed on the bumpy bus and tried to find a comfortable way to sit.

View inside the bus.

The morning winded away up the Indus gorge, as we became aware that our rest at the beginning of the bus ride would be the only stress-free part of the ride. In daylight, the insanity of the bus driver and the road builder were both evident. On top of this, the bumpy, turning bus ride emphasized the poor seats and cramped space we were confined in. At least there was no livestock or chickens on the bus.

One more page is devoted to the KKH ride, Karakoram Highway - Indus Kohistan; after which we arrived in Gilgit and finally got off the 22 hour [as it turned out] bus ride.

Northern Areas of Pakistan
KKH-Ascent | KKH-Kohistan | Gilgit | Hunza-Main | Hunza-Altit | Hunza-Duikar | Gojal-Gulmit | Gojal-Pasu

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