The Karakoram Highway (KKH) is a branch of an ancient network of trade routes known as the Silk Route. During the 1960s and ‘70s Pakistan and China collaborated in building a road across the mountains via the 4,730m Khunjerab Pass, to connect the Silk Route oasis of Kashgar in north-west China, with Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan.

In this geological ‘collision zone’ of the Indian and Asian continents, the great ranges of the Pamir, Kunlun, Hindukush, Karakoram and Himalayas converge, as do the cultures of China, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is also home to a wide and unique range of flora and fauna, including the legendary snow leopard and Marco Polo sheep.