The eighth wonder of the world Karakorum Highway

Karakorum in Turkish language means black rubble. The Karakorum highway considered to be the highest paved international road, has steep roads that go up and downhill and unexpected bends. This spectacular mountain road is second to none of the other Himalayan highways in Kashmir, Ladakh, Uttarakhand, Himachal, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. This highway was built by the governments of Pakistan and China. The total length of the highway is 1300km and is mostly used for trade transport.  The path is well paved and beautiful on this part of the road while the part on the Indian Himalayas is in rubbles.

There have been measures to improve the condition of the road.
The Karakorum highway is known as the 8th wonder of the world. This road is an important link in the diplomatic relationship between Pakistan and China. Lying at a height of 15,500 feet, the journey through this road is tough since oxygen content is less in the atmosphere here. Spread across the border of three countries -India, China and Pakistan, Karakorum lies in the mountain ranges of Gilgit, Ladakh and Baltistan. Although it is among the largest mountain ranges in Asia and lies in the border of the North-west Himalaya ranges, technically, it is not a part of Himalayas. There are more than 60 peaks including the world’s second largest peak K2 in Karakorum. Mountain stands at a height of 8611m (28,251 feet), only 237m less than Mount Everest. This mountain range is about 500km long (300 miles). This region is always snow-cladded like the artic region. The region includes some of the world's largest glaciers like Siachen glacier (70km) and Biafo glacier (63km) which are the world’s second and third largest glaciers.