Karakoram Pass

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The Karakoram Pass (Uyghur: قاراقۇرۇم ئېغىزى) is a 5,540 m or 18,176 ft mountain pass between India and China in the Karakoram Range. It is the highest pass on the ancient caravan route between Leh in Ladakh and Yarkand in the Tarim Basin. The name 'Karakoram' comes from a Turkic language meaning 'Black Gravel'. Historically, the high altitude of the pass and the lack of fodder were responsible for the deaths of countless pack animals while the route was notorious for the trail of bones strewn along the way. There is an almost total absence of vegetation on the approaches to the pass. Travelling south from the pass involved three days' march across the barren Depsang Plains at about 5,300 m (17,400 ft). To the north, the country was somewhat less desolate and involved travellers crossing the relatively easy and lower Suget Dawan (or Suget Pass) before reaching the lush grazing grounds around Shahidullah or Xaidulla in the upper valley of the Karakash River. The pass is in a saddle between...

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