| Khardungla Pass |
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Khardung La (''La'' means '' Pass '' in Tibetan , the local language) located in the Ladakh region, Jammu And Kashmir , India , is a high motorable Mountain Pass rising to a height of 5,359 M (17,582 feet) at . The pass on the Ladakh range lies North of Leh and is the gateway to the Shyok and Nubra Valleys.The Siachen Glacier lies partway up the latter valley. Built in 1976 , it was opened to motor vehicles in 1988 and has since seen many Automobile , Motorbike and Mountain Biking expeditions. Maintained by the Indian Army 's 14 Corps , the pass is strategically important to India as it is used to carry essential supplies to the Siachen. Khardung La is historically important as it lies on the major Caravan route from Leh to Kashgar in Chinese Central Asia . About 10,000 horses and camels used to take the route annually, and a small population of Bactrian Camel s can still be seen in the area north of the pass, mute witnesses to history. During World War Two there was a futile attempt to transfer war materiel to China through this route. Khardung La is situated 37km by road from Leh. The first 24km, as far as a check point, are paved. Beyond that, and on the Nubra side, it is narrow, unpaved and dangerous, with crossing streams, and is unsuitable for normal cars. ELEVATION The elevation given above is from a modern GPS survey by a team of Catalan researchers and is supported by a document supplied by the Cartographic Institute of Catalonia. It accurately matches SRTM data and Russia n Topographic mapping, and it is broadly consistent with several other independent travellers' GPS reports ( [http://www.bootsnall.org/datw/archives/cat_26india_journals.shtml , [http://www.iris-trui.be/india/india_stories/india_stories_05_uk.htm ) and an article by Bonington . Several of these sources contain assertions by local people who claim that the 5,602 M (18,380 feet) height given by the Indian government has been inflated for the purpose of record breaking. An even higher elevation of 5,682 M (18,640 feet) given by Guinness World Records and the National Geographic Society is not supported by any evidence. THE WORLD'S HIGHEST MOTORABLE PASS MYTHS Although Khardungla is widely believed to be the world's highest motorable pass, there are higher motorable passes at Suge La, west of Lhasa, but the elevation in feet is inflated. It is debatable whether this pass should be considered to be motorable. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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