#karakoram

Known as the "Eighth wonder of the world," the Karakoram Highway connects China to Pakistan & spans over 800 miles in extreme terrain.

Music in the Karakorams of Central Asia

Recorded in Hunza & Gilgit by David Lewiston

record, 1974

North of Kashmir, and south of the Afghan-Chinese border, lie the high Karakorams - mountain ranges so bleak and arid that they have been described as "vertical deserts." In this part of central Asia - long a region of petty principalities - most of the small states have now been absorbed into Pakistan; only Hunza, ruled by Mir Mohammed Jamal Khan, retains some of its old independence. In notable contrast to the dark-skinned, brown-eyed people of the plains to the south, many of Hunza's 30,000 inhabitants have fair skin and blue eyes, a legacy perhaps of the army of Alexander the Great or Attila's White Huns. Hunza, with its several thousand square miles of spectacular mountain scenery dominated by 24,000-foot snow-capped peaks, has been likened to Shangri-la, for its inhabitants are unusually long lived. The Hunzakuts cultivate corn, wheat, and other grains in small terraced fields carved laboriously from the steep mountainside. They tend rich orchards of apricots, peaches, apples, and pears; grapes from the vines found throughout the orchards yield a light wine, and the fruit of the mulberry is fermented and then distilled to produce a potent arak. Horses and cattle are pastured in remote, lush meadows; hunting the antlered ibex, far above the snow line, is a favorite pastime and a topic for songs.