Having traveled to over 50 countries over the past ten years, I’ve never had an experience so cold and warm at the same time as at the Pakistan-China border at Khunjerab Pass. After driving on the most dangerous roads to hiking to one of the world’s tallest mountains, my best encounter in Pakistan took place at the country’s outermost frontier. The Khunjerab Pass is an otherworldly place and so are the hearts of the people I encountered there.
This post is a combination of storytelling and a travel guide on how to visit Khunjerab Pass from Hunza Valley so that you can explore this magical place for yourself!
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Where Is Khunjerab Pass?
At a maximum altitude of 4,693 m (15,397 ft), Khunjerab Pass is a high mountain pass in the Karakoram mountain range shared by Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan region in the west and China’s Xinjiang Province in the east. The highest spot of the mountain pass (known as Khunjerab Top) marks the border between Pakistan and China. The closest permanent settlements to the Khunjerab Pass are the Hunza Valley on the Pakistani side and Tashkurgan in China. The borders of Afghanistan and Tajikistan are also nearby.
About Khunjerab National Park
Khunjerab Pass is protected under national park status, meaning that hunting in the region is strictly prohibited. As the third-largest national park in Pakistan, Khunjerab National Park is home to a multitude of threatened species, such as the snow leopard, Tibetan wolf, Himalayan brown bear, and the Marco polo sheep, for whose protection this national park was originally established.
To avoid a large-scale influx of visitors, the Khunjerab National Park charges an entry fee of around $10 USD per person.
The Pakistan-China Border At Khunjerab Pass
At an altitude of nearly 4,700 meters, the Pakistan-China border at Khunjerab Pass is not only the highest land border in the world but also home to the world’s highest ATM! The highest point of the Karakoram Highway is the pinnacle of the Chinese-Pakistani friendship and important for the trade between two countries. While it’s open, one can observe plenty of trucks transporting goods between the two countries.
Khunjerab Pass Weather
Due to its high altitude and isolated environment, the weather at Khunjerab Pass can be extremely hostile. Expect temperatures in the minus degrees during any season. Due to heavy snowfall in the winter months, the Khunjerab Pass is closed from the end of November to May for heavy vehicles and from the end of December to April for all vehicles.
Another concern is the strong winds and lack of oxygen at Kunjerab Pass.
How To Get To Khunjerab Pass From Hunza Valley
The distance from Hunza to Khunjerab Pass is about 100 kilometers but the drive takes almost four hours due to the steep elevation and road conditions. You can drive up there with your private driver or vehicle or join one of the many tour companies that organize sightseeing trips to the Pakistan-China border. I strongly recommend Travel Studio 92 for helping you organize your travels in Pakistan.
Keep in mind that the latest time you should leave for the Pakistan-China border from Hunza is around noon if you want to experience your border during daytime and at somewhat bearable temperatures.
Public buses to Khunjerab Pass are out of questions unless you actually want to cross into China.
Read more: Is Pakistan Safe For Women Travelers? Hereās What Itās REALLY Like
Can I Enter China Via Khunjerab Pass?
Unlike Pakistan’s land border with Afghanistan, the Pakistan-China border at Khunjerab Pass is generally open for foreigners. Keep in mind that most nationalities will need a sticker visa from their closest embassy or consulate to enter China.
There are also bus services from Lahore to Kashgar in China with multiple stops on the way during normal times.
However, due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, the border has been closed for individual crossing for the last couple of months.
Read more: Traveling To Pakistan During The Pandemic: Everything You Need To Know
How To Prepare For A Visit To Khunjerab Pass
Khunjerab Pass may seem just like a regular drive from Hunza Valley but it isn’t! Make sure to bring plenty of warm clothes, the type that you’d wear on the coldest winter days, because Khunjerab Pass is FREEZING COLD.
You also shouldn’t forget to bring sugary snacks such as chocolate, dried apricots, or apples with you. This isn’t just for your occasional hunger pang but even more importantly, it helps against altitude sickness. Or, even better, invest in some altitude sickness drops prior to your trip.
Find the full Pakistan packing list with product recommendations in this post!
Warm Encounters At The Icy Pakistan-China Border
Now that you’re well prepare for a trip to Khunjerab Pass, it’s time for me to share my incredible experience at the Pakistan-China border with you that will hopefully give you the final push to come and see Khunjerab Pass for yourself!
Getting Ready
Our group left our hotel in Hunza Valley at around noon. I was told to wear warm clothes for Khunjerab Pas but considering that we’d only be outside the bus for a few minutes, I judged that my blue winter stole in combination with my usual shalwar kameez and flip flops would be sufficient. Without further thinking, I put the stole behind my head and tried to catch up on all the sleep I had missed out on at night.
I woke up when our bus made a short stop in Sost, one of the last settlements before the Khunjerab Pass. We enjoyed a simple Pakistani lunch consisting of daal and roti, although I would have much preferred some of the dumplings or the delicious Xinjiang food that was advertised by other restaurants. After that, we continued our journey towards Khunjerab Pass.
A Breathless Ascent
During our drive, I noticed how the landscape around us became more impressive the further we drove. The golden-brown mountains surrounding us grew taller and the turquoise streams began to wield themselves more elegantly through the deep canyons outside of our window. I started to see more and more road signs in Chinese and it wasn’t long until we passed the check post office marking the entrance to the Khunjerab National Park. From here, I knew I wouldn’t see much human activity anymore, just raw nature.
After passing the check post, I noticed how our ascent became steeper with every meter. I realized that we were now climbing up the tall mountains I had seen from the canyons earlier. The mountains changed their colors from golden to brown to black and the valley seemed to distance itself from us further and further.
Soon, I began to develop difficulties breathing. ‘This must be just inside my head’, I thought. But when everyone around me suddenly tore open their windows, I knew that I wasn’t making things up and the air was indeed getting thinner. Our tour operator told us to drink water and eat apples. I quickly followed these instructions because I really felt like I was going to suffocate when the road gradually flattened out and I found myself surrounded by golden meadows and grazing yaks. I knew we had almost reached the top.
Setting Foot On Frozen Lands
With barely any oxygen left to breathe, I stepped out of the bus into the icy cold steppe known as Khunjerab Top. I quickly came to realize that my blue winter stole over my shalwar kameez and flip flops wasn’t enough to keep me warm at the highest land border crossing in the world. Within less than a minute, I could feel the cold inflict pain in my feet, ears, every part of my body.
However, my euphoria overshadowed the pain: I was as close to China, the country I was actually supposed to be in all this time, as I hadn’t been since my last trip to Qingdao in January after which I got stuck outside of China for nearly a year. Although I knew I wasn’t allowed to enter the country, my phone receiving Chinese signals and switching to Beijing time gave me a warm feeling of belonging.
At one point, I simply couldn’t hold my emotions back anymore and began shouting things in Chinese.
Familiar Sounds
Suddenly, something amazing happened. The Pakistani border officer who was posted along the fence where our bus was parked recognized the language I was shouting in. While he didn’t speak any Chinese himself, he led me towards his colleague who spoke excellent Mandarin. He was sitting in a small hub right next to the border – an area that visitors aren’t usually able to enter.
The border officer was extremely friendly. Despite the freezing temperatures outside, I found deep comfort in his warm voice. I told him I had just started my undergraduate studies in China when the pandemic hit and he told me how he had spent time along the border his entire life. The few minutes that we spent conversing in Chinese felt timeless. We joked around and snapped plenty of photos together. At the end, the officer asked me:
‘Where are you actually from?’
‘Germany,’ I replied.
‘Really? I thought you were Tajik!’ he mumbled with a surprised expression on his face.
Pakistani Hospitality At Its Outermost Frontier
Touched by the man’s incredible warmth and kindness, I made my way back towards the bus. The sharp pain in my ear and numbness in my feet reminded me that despite the human kindness, Khunjerab Top is a very cold and hostile place. Having seen my suffering, our tour operator took off his own coat and scarf and wrapped me in. But the cold was so bad that no clothes seemed to save me anymore. Half-jokingly, I asked some of the border officers if they could give me tea.
Without any hesitation, the border officers waived me and the rest of their group into their office, a small cottage where five to seven officers eat, sleep, and spend the majority of the year. The men immediately turned on the fire and started preparing tea for us. We all struck up friendly conversations with each other immediately. Our group told the officers about our travels in Pakistan and they told us what it was like being stationed at the highest land border crossing in the world. From them, we found out that the current temperature outside was -15Ā°C!!! No wonder I felt like my feet were falling off! However, this cold didn’t seem to bother the officers too much since they were used to temperatures as low as -50Ā°C in winter!
We spent a good half an hour chatting and joking with each other. The officers let us pose in their uniforms and take closeup photos of their Kalashnikovs and shared plenty of dried apricots with us, their number one remedy against altitude sickness. In the end, we tried to thank these men for everything but their response was the typical Pakistani: ‘There’s nothing to thank us for, you are our guests’.
With a warm stomach and heart, I now stepped back into the freezing cold to head towards our bus. No matter the readings on the thermometer, the cold could no longer harm me.
Explore More Of Pakistan
Are you touched by this heartwarming stories? Read more stories here:
- Celebrating Eid Al-Adha In Pakistan: My Eye-Opening Experience
- Stuck On The World’s Most Dangerous Road: Pakistan Travel Stories
- Is Pakistan Safe For Women Travelers? – Here’s What It’s REALLY Like
Also make sure to visit these stunning places on your trip to Pakistan:
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed reading about my incredible experience at the Pakistan-China border. If this story inspired you to visit Khunjerab Pass for yourself, you can find all the information to help you plan your trip in this post and my post about Hunza Valley. But, most importantly, remember to bring warm clothes and don’t attempt your trip to Khunjerab Pass in flip-flops like me!
Have you been to Khunjerab Pass and the Pakistan-China border yet? How was your experience? Let me know in the comments below!
What an amazing story and experience! Loved reading this and your other posts on Pakistan, so interesting. I hope everything turns out good for you and the borders open soon xx
Thank you so much! š
Incredible experience. It’s great to read about your experiences in Pakistan, a country I’ve never been to. Hope you get to go to China again (soon).
Thank you! I also hope you’ll get to visit Pakistan soon.
Wooow, what a cool adventure. Love this, it made me daydreaming of travelling again <3 thanks for that and good luck, s
Thank you so much!
That sounds like a pretty cool experience! But very cold hahah. I haven’t really explored that region of the world yet so this makes me excited for whenever I am able to get there!
I’m sure you’ll love it here but don’t forget to pack plenty of warm clothes!
Wow! What an adventure. How kind of them to offer tea for everyone. And what were you doing in flip flops??? š Thanks for sharing your experience.
Haha I always wear open shoes throughout the year here and many people even do so in winter. But the Khunjerab Pass cold was definitely something I wasn’t prepared for at all!