Blogs from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, Asia

Celebrate a festival with a little-known pagan tribe in distant mountains? What an opportunity! The chance to spend Chaumos with the Kalash people in northwest Pakistan had been the real draw of this trip. Our tour company, Wild Frontiers, has a particular connection with the Kalash. Its founder, Jonny Bealby, had stayed with them for several months at the end of his mid-1990s journey from Peshawar through Nuristan in search of Kipling’s “Kafiristan”. Wild Frontiers had been the result of discussions with his host as to how others could experience the incredible hospitality of the Kalash, and Jonny himself continues to visit regularly. We were welcomed like family, and Lucy, who works for WF (though she was on this trip in a personal capacity), was peppered with questions about her boss from both sides, co-travellers and ... read more

Geo: 34.93, 72.8791Next morning we were up with the call to prayer (5 am for those who are not up with the Muslim traditions) and packed up pretty quickly before too many locals worked out we were camped on the edge of their village. Chilas has the reputation for being the last fairly safe area before the troublesome area inhabited by Taliban further south. Chilas was about 109 kms from where we were camped and the road was fairly slow. Although a main road it was not well maintained due to the unrest in the area. Anyway about 70 kms into the journey we catch up to two ute loads of military guys heavily armed. At one stage there was a traffic jam on the road ahead and all of the guys bail out and surround ... read more

Korean Skills Come in Handy Riding in a shared car along the Himalaya Mountains of northern Pakistan I would never in my wildest dreams have imagined I would have the opportunity to put my Korean language skills to the test. Think again! After traveling for about eight hours that day our vehicle was haulted by security officers due to tunnel construction along the new roadway. We were then told that the tunnel was closed for the day as it was now past 4:30PM and they had to follow orders from the engineers working for Daewoo- a Korean construction company. As a result, we would have to go back to where we started from as we were in the middle of nowhere with no place to go. However, after much debate in Pashto one of the men ... read more

19 August Amritsar, Punjab, India Except for arriving from and departing back to the United States, I usually do not take too many flights when traveling. Yes, I know they cut distances and save time. But I need to be lodged against a window and see what I would be missing, impossible at 35,000 feet. If a train goes, I’ll be on it. Otherwise I’ll settle for a bus, minivan, outside panel of a jeep, or bed of a pickup truck. Ameen asked me back in Gilgit where I would go after we parted company in Chitral. “Peshawar”, I said. “Are you sure you want to go there?” I was. “Yes.” I would be fielding that question very often. “How will you go?” “Well, from what I gather, it is a ten-hour ride with a change ... read more

This place cannot be for real. It is not just another world, rather another galaxy. My initial fifteen minutes in Balanguru are of paralysis and disbelief. Balanguru is what it must be like to be knocked unconscious by an alien tractor beam and then relocated to their home solar system. Distance, introversion, and geographical inaccessibility have shielded the Kalash people from mainstream Pakistan for centuries. An agrarian and independent civilization, they have rejected Islam and maintain their long-standing practice of ancient paganism. Their customs are on display without the slightest hint of showmanship. Ameen and Simon unload the jeep at the guesthouse while I aimlessly roam downhill in the direction of the small bazaar. Simon is unaffected by the transition into this alternative world. I do not know if it is indifference or an inner trait ... read more