There are still large parts of the world that are simply inaccessible by car, especially in the rockier parts of central Asia where Pakistan, Afghanistan and China meet. The Karakoram Highway is one of the few paths through, making it a must-see for anyone curious about the mountainous parts of the world.

The original trail was cleared by merchants in the days of the Silk Road, but it didn’t get pavement and leveling until 1986, after 20 years of construction and nearly 900 deaths on the job. It runs from Pakistan’s Islamabad in the south to China’s Western Capital Kashgar in the north—you can find a good map here—but the real prize is the terrain along the way. It’s hundreds of miles from anything resembling a city, so just about anything goes—which is one reason you’ll want to make arrangements to keep yourself safe. Your reward is one of the highest paved roads in the world, which will take you past the Indus River, the meeting of the Hindukush, Himalaya and Karakoram mountain ranges, and a peak known as Nanga Parbat, which happens to be the ninth highest in the world.