World's Most Extreme Road Trips

 

Whether you are desperately revving your car's engine to clear a narrow pass or grinding through an endless expanse of sand in a 4X4, these five roads have gained a reputation for being among the most brutal in the world.     Karakoram Highway, Pakistan and China   A centuries-old trading trail that once formed part of the famed Silk Road, the Karakoram Highway is the world's highest altitude paved international road. Its 1,200km slice through the mighty Karakoram Range, from Abbottabad in Pakistan to Kashgar in China, passing through some of the world's most remarkable mountain scenery and providing access to top-notch trekking and mountaineering. (Lindsay Brown/LPI/Getty)     Canning Stock Route, Australia   Crossing the historic Canning Stock Route through Western Australia's rugged red sand wilderness is a modern-day explorer's dream. One of the world's most remote tracks, running 1,820km between the towns of Wiluna and Hall's Creek, the dust-tinged, take-no-prisoners toughness of this old drover's trail is tempered by the opportunity to meet the traditional owners of this isolated land and visit rock art sites that date back tens of thousands of years. (John Hay/LPI/Getty)