Road of the Karakoram Highway leading towards cloud-swathed mountains.
(Lindsay Brown/Getty Images)
Love the great outdoors? Want to see sights that will make you swoon? Or maybe you just really like being behind the wheel.
Whatever your reason, here are ten of the world's most spectacular drives, so good they're worth getting on a plane to get to.
Nestled at the foot of the Himalayan Mountains, winding its way from desert landscapes to snow-capped peaks, the Karakoram Highway is an otherworldly ascent into a rugged paradise.
Not for the faint-hearted, the alpine highway reaches up to 15,000 feet above sea level. It starts in the Western province of Xinjiang, China, and ends in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Some of the show-stopping sights include Karakul Lake, a 12,000-foot-high lake at the foot of the Tian Shan mountain range, whose crystal clear waters perfectly reflect the alien purple, pinks, and whites of the never-ending peaks of Mt. Kongur. If the thin alpine air doesn't take your breath away, the sight of blue skies and clouds on both ends of the horizon will do the trick.
Egypt's Western Desert could be the epitome of stark desert beauty. Running between the Nile River in the heart of Cairo, Egypt, to the Libyan border, it is home to a string of five oases, Kharga, Dakhla, Farafra, Bahariyya and Siwa, but in between, lie undulating sand dunes, dry lake beds, and ancient lava flows. Scattered, also, are millions of years of history. The region is also known for its mummies, forgotten cities and tombs, and rock paintings.
However, the highlight is the alien landscape stretching out on either end of the drive, including the White Desert -- a spectacular white rock quarry, carved into impossible shapes by the wind. Spend a couple days on the drive here, and treasure the nights staring up at the star-studded night sky.
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