Friendship Highway
🇳🇵 Nepal
The Friendship Highway, officially China National Highway 318, stretches approximately 800 kilometers from Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, to Zhangmu (Kodari) on the Nepal border. This is one of the highest and most spectacular road journeys on Earth, crossing multiple passes above 5,000 meters including the Gyatso La at 5,220 meters and the Lalung La at 5,050 meters, while offering views of four of the world's fourteen 8,000-meter peaks.
The highway passes through the vast Tibetan Plateau with its sweeping grasslands, yak-dotted valleys, and turquoise lakes before descending dramatically into the subtropical gorges near the Nepalese border. Key stops include Gyantse with its ancient Kumbum stupa, Shigatse with the Tashilhunpo Monastery, and the Rongbuk Monastery—the highest monastery in the world—with its iconic view of Mount Everest's north face. The road was originally built in the 1960s and represents one of the greatest feats of high-altitude road construction ever undertaken.