Yurkhun valley in Upper Chitral
By Naeem Safi
Being one of the 9 to 5 slaves, I was thinking of planning for the few days of freedom that I am going to get in the coming summer. After consulting half a dozen backpacker friends and dropping their usual suggestions for the mainstream destinations, a veteran hiker cum tourist guide and young documentary filmmaker suggested a corner deep in the North West that -- contrary to my fantasies -- did not have any nymphs (but yet) sounded full of mysteries and even some myths.
It is Yurkhun valley in Upper Chitral, and branches out on passes of Qarumber, Chilingi, Darkut and the historic Boruhgul Pass. The altitude of these passes ranges between 4000 meters to 5000 meters, and host more than 30 nameless alpine lakes, including the famous Qarumber and mythical Sirkhun. These pastures are mostly wetlands and are usually accessible by horses or otherwise on foot. There are a few hot sulphur springs for those who love bathing au naturel under the heavens with snow-capped mountains all around. Apart from its boundless inanimate beauty, this region is home to some of the rarest wildlife like golden marmot, ibex, Marco Polo sheep, yak, and the legendary snow leopard.
The valleys do not have any significant human settlements but some scattered mudstone houses that are inhabited by three major ethnic groups i.e. Tajik, Uzbek, and Kyrgyz. The common language among these groups is Wakhi, along with Kyrgyz, Kwar, and Uzbek.
These scattered inhabitants of the highlands heavily rely on dairy products obtained from the nutritious yak milk; rice, bread and yak meat.
Apart from the constant struggle for survival, which gives them a high level of endurance, they play buzkashi, yak polo, and horse polo for pastime. And if you are a windsurfer, then do not forget to pack your gear, as this is no less than ideal a place for windsurfing.
After getting an extensive briefing on such a prepossessing region from such a reliable source, one is not left with many options but to start exercising and begin collecting the stuff.
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