KARAKORUM HIGHWAYS - THE SILK ROUTE
For many centuries, carvans have braved these tortuous mountains treading precariously along paths providing shortcuts between the great towns of Central Asia and the rich markets of South Asia. However, the trails were hazardous, angry rivers horrifying to ontemplates, and the Nature's storms caused even the most intrepid to quail on the high passes and in the desolate gorges.
In 1947, travel in and out of the Northern Pakistan could have been described almost as it had been 15 centuries earlier by the Chinese pilgrim Fa Hein in 400 AD; "The way is difficult and rugged, running along a bank exceedingly precipitous. When one approaches the edge of it, his eyes become unsteady, and if wishes to go forward in the same direction, there is no place on which he can place his foot, and beneath are the waters of the river called the Indus." Thus, the traders of yore had traveled over this route for centuries and carried silk, tea and porcelain from China to be bartered for gold, ivory, jewels and spices from South Asia.
It is against this backdrop that Pakistan and China joined hands in 1967 to construct a 900 Kms, Karakoram Highway on the alignment of he ancient Silk Route. 
For its sheer mountain grandeur and breath-taking panorama of beauty, few places on earth can match the superb landscape through which the Karakoram Highway snakes. A fantastic and unforgettable spectacle is the passage of the Highway along the Baltura glacier, rated as the world's seventh largest glacier. The Khunjerab Pass which the Highway crosses, and the nearby Mintaka Pass, lie astride the fabulous ancient Silk Route that led from Europe to Asia and over which history's most famous tourists once travelled. These include the Venetian trader Marcopolo, after whom has been named the wild Marcopolo sheep, in the 13th century, the Chinese Monk Fa Hien in the 4th century and the Central Asian historian, Abu Rehan Al Beruni in the 11th century.
Today, the Karakoram Highway connects Islamabad with Kashgar (China), via Abbottabad, Mansehra, Thakot, Pattan, Chilas, Gilgit and Hunza across the 4,733 meters high Khunjerab Pass. The Highway, built by the Pakistani and the Chinese engineers, has been described as a marvel of civil engineering and even as "The Eight Wonder of the World. PTDC and NATCO are plying regular bus service between Sost (Pakistan) and Taxkargan (China) for overland traffic between Pakistan and China from 1st May till 31 October every year.
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