The recent tensions in Xinjiang province has sparked my interest in the Karakoram Highway, “the friendship highway” linking northern Pakistan to western China by way of Kashmir.
From Asian Current:
It is the highest paved international road in the world across the Karakoram range of mountains. It goes through the Khunjerab Pass at an altitude of 4,693 meters or 15,397 feets, and is also the highest paved International Border Crossing. Yet another amazing feature of this fantastic highway is that, it cuts through the collision zone between Asian and the Indian Sub continent where China, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India come within 250 kms of each other. In terms of strategic and military importance, the Karakoram Highway (KKH) is indeed of high importance.
The Karakoram Highway (KKH) also known as the Friendship Highway in China. It was built by the governments of Pakistan and China, and was completed after 20 years of toil and strives in the year 1986. 810 Pakistani and more than 50 Chinese road-building workmen had reportedly lost their lives while constructing this amazing Highway, mostly due to landslides and high altitude sickness.
The physical hardship of the KKH has done nothing to deter teams of bicyclists from cycling the road. Biking the KKH blog includes personal experiences and links to other KKH cyclists blogs. For those of us though, who prefer a slightly more comfortable mode of transportation, there is always the night train to Kashgar, the city at the junction of the KKH and one of the ancient silk roads.
4 comments
Comments feed for this article
July 17, 2009 at 4:50 am
Daniel (Srebrenica Genocide Blog)
The recent tensions in China have to do with Uyghur people – Muslim people of Eastern Turkmenistan. Chinese communists have been oppressing them for decades. We should be happy to live in a free world. We take many things for granted. A big chunk of our planet is controlled and ruled by ruthless governments.
July 17, 2009 at 6:26 am
Owen
The Chinese refuse to acknowledge that whatever its professed communist ideology and anti-colonialist ethos China is in fact a colonialist state.
July 18, 2009 at 3:34 am
Daniel (Srebrenica Genocide Blog)
China, North Korea, Iran, and Saudy Arabia are probably the most ruthless countries in the World.
July 21, 2009 at 4:03 am
Daniel
SHAINA, Two Serb war criminals received Life Sentence and 30 years imprisonment for burning Bosniak women and children alive. Unfortunately, the Prosecution made mistake and failed to include rape charges against them.
Milan Lukic and Sredoje Lukic are from Rujiste village, located near the border with Srebrenica municipality.
Please write a word or two about these monsters on your blog. Thank you!