Khunjerab Pass

The pass where Pakistan meets China, at the top of the Karakoram Highway, north of the Hunza Valley. About two and a half hours’ drive from upper Hunza, through a national park and up into permanent snow.

It is the third land border Harry has been to between these three countries — after the India–Pakistan ceremony at Wagah and the India–China frontier — and it is nothing like Wagah. There is no crowd, no ceremony and, in January 2022, no traffic at all: the border is closed, so none of the goods that normally move through it are moving.

What is actually there

• A line, an armed guard, and China on the other side of it. The guard is friendly and the rule is not: you do not step past the marker. Harry checks, and is told plainly what happens if he does.
• The world’s highest ATM, which Harry notes he may actually need, having spent everything.
• The Pakistan flag, and a bank of solar panels.

The drive up

• Register with the police first. There is a stop at a police station on the way, because of how close the road runs to the border — the guides handle it.
• The hazard is the road surface, not the border. Ice, frozen meltwater above the road, and loose rock; Harry passes a fresh landslide and stretches where the road is covered in fallen stone. He names this as a further argument for a guide: they know which sections are the dangerous ones.
• The road is the Chinese-built highway, which he is told took six years to build (from video – unverified — the dates he gives here don’t quite line up with the account on Attabad Lake, where the road is described as built after the 2010 landslide).

Practical facts

• Entry is $20 for foreign visitors and 300 rupees for Pakistanis, going towards the upkeep of the national park.
• Temperatures: −11°C the day before Harry’s visit, −20°C in the mornings, and in January the guides say it can reach −25 to −30. With the wind at the border itself, he calls it the coldest he has ever been in his life.
• Winter sun is not guaranteed — Harry is told he was lucky. When it is out, the cold is manageable; the mornings and evenings are not.
• The sun goes behind the mountains around 2pm, so the round trip has to start early.
• The pass runs on Chinese time. Mac checks his phone at the border and it reads 6pm — three hours ahead — because the handset has picked up the Chinese network.

Wildlife

The park signs list snow leopard, ibex, brown bear, wild ass, blue sheep, lynx and wolf. What Harry actually meets is yaks, on and beside the road, one of which squares up to the car before running off up an almost vertical slope.

Harry’s tips

• Go with a guide who knows the rockfall sections.
• Start early — you are chasing a 2pm sunset in a five-hour round trip.
• Plan to spend very little time out of the car. They cut the visit short because of the wind, and he does not pretend otherwise.

Source

• -20 Degrees at the China - Pakistan Border 🇵🇰 — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yElvKLDSMHI