He had too had slept at Karakol and crossed the Karakoram, without the benefit of a Pakistani bus.

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The new road will link Tajikistan (and neighbours, such as Uzbekistan) with the Karakoram highway.

ECONOMIST: Tajikistan

The bus to Pakistan follows the Karakoram Highway south over the mountain passes.

BBC: Following the Silk Road to the end of China

Being a native of the north west of Pakistan, I visited Karakoram Mountains along with a French Professor.

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At the peak of the pass, some 4, 733m, the Karakoram Highway becomes one of the highest public roads in the world.

BBC: Following the Silk Road to the end of China

The only road that passes through the district is the key Karakoram Highway (KKH) that connects Pakistan with China.

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The government negotiated a suspension of the blockade of the Karakoram highway.

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And officials in the Himalayan town of Gilgit say the Karakoram Highway that links Pakistan with China has been blocked by landslides at several points.

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Reuters reported that up to 60 tribesmen were blocking the Karakoram Highway in the small mountain town of Besham, 200 kilometres (125 miles) north of Islamabad.

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Mortenson claims that he has educated over 60, 000 of young children and mostly girls and built over 170 schools in Karakoram -the north west of Pakistan and the Wakhan valley of Afghanistan near the Russia and China border during the last 17 years.

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