Rooftop of the World Highway — Kashgar to Khunjerab Pass via the Karakoram Highway

Built on the back of the ancient Silk Road, the Karakoram Highway from Kashgar to the Khunjerab Pass (4,693m / 15,397ft) is one of the great overland drives on the planet. The road climbs out of the Tarim Basin through Ghez Canyon — a jaw-dropping slot of red rock and glacial meltwater — before pushing past Karakul Lake, a high-altitude salt lake sitting cold and blue beneath the permanent glaciers of Muztagh Ata (7,546m). The final push to Khunjerab is a wide, mostly paved grind through tundra that feels like the edge of the world, because it basically is.

The KKH is not a technical 4×4 route — a capable SUV or high-clearance vehicle handles it — but altitude sickness, rockfall, flash floods, and permit bureaucracy make it demanding in a different way. Foreigners require specific permits for Xinjiang travel; crossing into Pakistan requires a valid Pakistan visa obtained in advance. Best window is May through October before winter closes the pass. Fuel in Tashkurgan, the last Chinese town, then nothing until Sost on the Pakistan side. Carry a sat communicator. Cell service vanishes after Karakul. What you get out of it is unmatched: three civilizations, two countries, and a landscape that redefines scale.