The Karakoram Highway (KKH) cuts through some of the most astounding rock faces on the planet. Often coined the “Eighth Wonder of the World”, it’s a road trip of dreams, yet few have ever heard of it, or how it came to be. The highway stretches for 1,300 km from Pakistan to China, but Samantha Shea was particularly drawn to the 194km stretch of the highway that runs through the Hunza Valley, a region surrounded by the Karakoram Mountains that give the highway its name.

She writes in her excellent BBC Travel piece, Pakistan’s Epic Road Trip of Dreams:

“This impossibly beautiful section is where you can see pristine glaciers, alpine lakes and snow-capped peaks right from the comfort of your ride. However, as alluring as the journey is, it’s the incredible people and traditions of the Hunza Valley that make this part of the highway so special….Hunza is known for being the most liberal region, in part due to the predominance of Ismailism, a moderate sect of Islam known for promoting tolerance and women’s rights. Education and sports are encouraged for girls, and many go on to study at university and beyond.” READ MORE ON BBC TRAVEL

As an extension to Samantha Shea’s BBC piece on the Karakoram Highway and especially with regard to her comment about the Ismaili culture in Hunza, we invite our readers to read Ali Karim’s superb photo essay Ismailis of remote Northern Hunza rise high above the tallest peaks, and set a lasting example for us to follow which appeared in Simerg Photos in 2016.

Featured image at top of post: The mighty Karakoram Highway snaking along the valley in upper Hunza. The famous highway starts in Kashgar in Xinjiang, China, and runs 1,300 kms to Abbottabad in Pakistan before an extension of the highway southwest from Abbottabad meets the Grand Trunk Road Hasan Abdal, which is about 40 kms from Rawalpindi. Photograph: © Ali Karim/Simergphotos.

Date posted: September 4, 2023.

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