Chang Mai straddles one of Asia's great crossroads - a southern spur of the Silk Road - fusing commerce and culture between points farther north and west in modern-day China, Laos and Myanmar.
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.