Blogs from Swat Valley, Pakistan, Asia

Mingora/ Saidu Sharif The Sound of One Hand Shaking The third century Buddhist sites and museum's trove of Ghandaran stone capitals, busts and architectural pieces occupy a few hours in the late afternoon. A hike into the hills of Saidu Sharif next morning is complicated by a lack of posted signs and easily rectified by a young boy who sees me poking around a rocky outcrop, also the roof of his neighbour's house. "Bukhtara?" he calls to me. He leads me back down the path skirting a gully and we turn up a road to a bluff concealing the remains of a mid-sized monastery. Stone bases and simple masonry walls slowly take on their surroundings, the walls slowly decomposing, the red earth crumbling anbd shifting with each heavy rainfall. I decline an invitation in Mingora to ... read more