# This Remote Pakistani Village Is Nothing Like You’d Expect



## Sulman Badshah

*This Remote Pakistani Village Is Nothing Like You’d Expect*

Over the years, a mountainous region in Pakistan has become my second home. I’ve seen firsthand how global events have hurt locals’ livelihoods and how technology has challenged the meaning of tradition.







Above the village of Passu, a teenager checks his Facebook. Many residents here are Ismaili, followers of a moderate branch of Islam. A sign on the mountain slope commemorates the time in 1987, when the Ismaili imam, the Aga Khan, visited the remote region.


PHOTOGRAPH BY MATTHIEU PALEY, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
Photos and story by Matthieu Paley
PUBLISHED OCTOBER 24, 2016

PASSU, Pakistan—Sajid Alvi is excited. He just got a grant to study in Sweden.

“My Ph.D. is about friction in turbo jet engines,” Alvi says. “I will work on developing new aerospace materials—real geeky stuff!”

Alvi’s relatives have come to bid him farewell as he prepares to leave his mountain village and study in a new country, some 3,000 miles away.

“We will see you again,” one of them says as they hang out in the potato field in front of Alvi’s house. “You know you won’t get far with a long beard like that. You look like Taliban!”

Alvi, dressed in low-hanging shorts and a Yankees cap, is far from a fundamentalist: He’s Wakhi, part of an ethnic group with Persian origins. And like everyone else here, he is Ismaili—a follower of a moderate branch of Islam whose imam is the Aga Khan, currently residing in France. There are 15 million Ismailis around the world, and 20,000 live here in the Gojal region of northern Pakistan.





Girls play a game of cricket during school break. In the distance, a high-altitude trail leads into Afghanistan’s Pamir Mountains.







At a school assembly in the Zood Khun village, the boys' class discusses an upcoming excursion to the edge of Chapursan Valley.






Education is a cornerstone of Ismaili culture, especially for girls.

I’ve been visiting Gojal for 17 years, and I’ve watched as lives like Alvi’s have become more common here. Surrounded by the mighty Karakoram Range, the Ismailis here have long been relatively isolated, seeing tourists but little else of global events. But now, an improved highway and the arrival of mobile phones have let the outside world in, bringing new lifestyles and opportunities: Children grow up and head off to university, fashions change, and technology reshapes tradition. Gojal has adjusted to all of this, surprising me every time I return by showing me just how adaptable traditions can be.


With these photos, I hope to add nuance to our understanding of Pakistan, a country many Westerners associate with terrorism or violence. People have suffered from this reputation, and many feel helpless in trying to change it. The Pakistan I’ve seen is different from that popular perception. I returned there this summer with my family and focused my attention on a young and forward-thinking community in Gojal, a place I know well.

I first came here in the summer of 1999. I was 25 and my girlfriend and I bought one-way tickets to Pakistan. We were looking for inspiring treks (the Karakoram Range has the highest concentration of peaks taller than 8,000 meters). Back then, we were among the roughly 100,000 foreign tourists to visit northern Pakistan each year.




A boy plays on the wall of the family’s mud house in Kermin village, in the Chapursan Valley.







She is blind and he takes care of her—a Wakhi couple poses in Darkot village






The recently repaired Karakoram Highway has inspired more and more tourists from the heated plains of Pakistan to take road trips through Gojal to the Pakistan-China border. Selfies in front of the stunning, mountainous Cathedral Ridge are practically mandatory.






Men and women’s chores are often interchangeable in Wakhi culture. Here, a mother and daughter from Hussaini village walk to their summer pastures to collect fodder for their animals.

Reactions: Like Like:
23


----------



## Sulman Badshah

A bride and bridesmaids laugh at a selfie






The remote Shimshal village, with its incredible hiking territory, once saw many tourists. But after 9/11, the number of tourists to northern Pakistan dwindled.






Fruit trees, potatoes, wheat, and barley surround most Wakhi homes. The crops can grow in the short summer.

We stayed for months, opening new passes, learning the language, and exploring the Karakoram, Hindu Kush, and Pamir. I kept returning, but over the years, I saw the number of fellow hikers plunge. The tourism department now records only a few thousand foreign visitors each year.

“Following the terrible September 11th attacks, anyone involved in tourism had to sell their jeeps or hotels; no tourists dared to come here anymore,” says Karim Jan, a local tour guide.

With each return visit, I noticed other changes. While outsiders were rare, the improved Karakoram Highway, now able to host vehicles other than Jeeps and 4x4s, brought in local tourists from south Pakistan, and southern cities became more accessible to the Wakhi.






Shah Bul Masoom practices songs on his Rubab, a traditional instrument similar to a lute. He is a student of the Bulbulik music school in Gulmit village, and he’s working on mixing traditional Wakhi music with modern influences




Years ago, marriages in the area were arranged by the bride and groom’s parents. Now, most couples tell their parents whom they should pick for a partner.





Robina, in scarf, tries her cousin’s motorcycle. She wants to learn how to ride, so she can be more independent.








A man from the Hussaini village returns home after playing a cricket game. On his forearm, he wears a sleeve that doubles as sunburn protection and fashion accessory.

Reactions: Like Like:
28


----------



## Sulman Badshah

oung men and women began leaving to study in these cities, and they came back for summer holiday dressed in new, hip fashions. Shops multiplied along the road, selling new spices, sugary snacks, and sodas. Biryani rice, a favorite dish from Punjab, now often replaces the traditional turnip soup or buckwheat pancakes during celebrations.

But despite what I’ve seen change on the surface, the spirit of Gojal is very much the same.





AREA

ENLARGED

TAJIKISTAN

AFGHAN.

CHINA

Gojal

Passu

PAKISTAN

INDIA

50 mi

Islamabad

50 km

ANDREW UMENTUM, NG STAFF


“In these remote parts, our relationship to our honored guests has never changed,” Jan says. “You know, our kids go away to the cities, but deep down we are just mountain farmers living off the land. Sometimes we feel sadness for the way the Western world thinks of us, but we would rather joke about it than be bothered by it.”

The day after Alvi’s going-away party, we climb a nearby hill where young people are gathering. In the distance, we see the peak of Tupopdan—which means "sun-drenched mountain" in Wakhi—as it towers above a green oasis and the Passu village. A road winds through a barren valley—a branch of the old Silk Road. Beyond these peaks are the deserts and plains of Central Asia, China, and Afghanistan.




Some of the young men on the hill sport designer t-shirts, jeans, styled beards, and ponytails (hipsters know no boundary). Others wear the traditional white pants and long shirt. Four young men bring up a huge speaker and blast a mix of dancehall and traditional music.

As we dance, a group of girls watches us, laughing. Others ignore us, focusing instead on a game of volleyball. Alvi points to them.

“They are all going to school and most of them speak at least four languages,” he says, as our conversation switches between English, Wakhi, and Urdu. “We have a famous saying: If you have two children, a boy and a girl, but you can afford to educate only one, you must give the education to the girl.”







A few days later, Esar Ali, dressed in a suit and ready for a family wedding, climbs a boulder, away from the crowd. “The recent changes,” he says, discussing village life, “they come a lot from our education. Nowadays we go to universities outside of our villages, in the cities or abroad.”

“But they also come from this,” he adds, pointing to his phone. Smartphones and mobile data networks have changed how the people here relate to the outside world, and to their neighbors.

“I first saw Shayna in a town near my village,” Ali says. “There is a decent 2G reception there."





Young Wakhis dance after celebrating Imamat Day, which marks the anniversary of the day their present (or Hazar) 
imam succeeded his predecessor. These young men study in big cities away from the mountains, and for them, this celebration is a time to reconnect with their homeland





A Wakhi home sports an embroidery of Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, the current imam of Ismaili Muslims. He has an estimated 15 million followers in more than 25 countries, including 20,000 in Gojal.

We started messaging, agreeing on a time to talk when no one is at home," he says. "In our tradition, to be with someone is something sacred. So while we slowly establish our relationship, we never want to offend our elders. Phone or no phone, we have to keep our customs alive.”

Ali is now married to Shayna. This courtship would’ve been much different 10 years ago, but not because he wouldn’t have had a mobile phone. Back then, “our parents would pick the bride or groom,” he says. “But now it’s practically all love marriages, or rather _arranged love_marriages. We simply suggest to our parents the boy or girl we want to marry.”

There are two long lines in front of the wedding house; men on one side, women on the other. An elderly lady, her white veil flowing on top of an embroidered skullcap, welcomes me. She takes my right hand and kisses the top of it. I kiss hers in return; it’s the Wakhi way of greeting each other. I walk down the line, asking the traditional “How is your health, my sweet mother?” to each of the ladies.

It’s a typical mud house, and inside, young men are standing next to a gigantic pot of food; Ali steps up and says he hopes I’m hungry. “They are making _bat_ for over 200 people,” he says, referring to the porridge-like food in the pot. “We will eat that with boiled sheep meat and lots of chai.”







"We first met on social media, and we slowly fell in love," say Esar Ali and Shayna, who married 11 months ago. 

My wife and two young sons are outside somewhere playing cricket. When I look for them, I see my wife being pulled into a group selfie with the young bride and her friends. They ask me to join in.

Here, there is no such a thing as an uninvited guest. We’re joined by our friends Emmanuelle and Julien from Paris, and they’ve brought their two daughters. “With the current world situation, people thought we were joking when we were telling them that we were going on holiday to Pakistan,” Emmanuelle says. “We got worried too and almost called off the trip.”

But Emmanuelle says she’s glad she didn’t cancel. The scene is nothing like what she assumed.

“I mean, if you ask someone back home to imagine life in a remote mountain region in Pakistan, do you think they will picture this? This place is really doing something to me; it’s making my soul grow.”

Coming here again and again, this tight community always humbles me. Now, as external changes increasingly permeate daily life and relationships, Gojal has planted a foot in the modern world while retaining its traditions and ability to inspire. Traveling in places that we only know little about—or hold wrong ideas about—puts life into perspective. I hope the grace of this place will touch many more people.









Shortly before reaching Passu village, a trekker walks along a hanging bridge across the Hunza River.

Reactions: Positive Rating Positive Rating:
2 | Like Like:
30


----------



## pak-marine

Sulman Badshah said:


> *This Remote Pakistani Village Is Nothing Like You’d Expect*
> 
> Over the years, a mountainous region in Pakistan has become my second home. I’ve seen firsthand how global events have hurt locals’ livelihoods and how technology has challenged the meaning of tradition.
> 
> View attachment 346056
> 
> 
> Above the village of Passu, a teenager checks his Facebook. Many residents here are Ismaili, followers of a moderate branch of Islam. A sign on the mountain slope commemorates the time in 1987, when the Ismaili imam, the Aga Khan, visited the remote region.
> 
> 
> PHOTOGRAPH BY MATTHIEU PALEY, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
> Photos and story by Matthieu Paley
> PUBLISHED OCTOBER 24, 2016
> 
> PASSU, Pakistan—Sajid Alvi is excited. He just got a grant to study in Sweden.
> 
> “My Ph.D. is about friction in turbo jet engines,” Alvi says. “I will work on developing new aerospace materials—real geeky stuff!”
> 
> Alvi’s relatives have come to bid him farewell as he prepares to leave his mountain village and study in a new country, some 3,000 miles away.
> 
> “We will see you again,” one of them says as they hang out in the potato field in front of Alvi’s house. “You know you won’t get far with a long beard like that. You look like Taliban!”
> 
> Alvi, dressed in low-hanging shorts and a Yankees cap, is far from a fundamentalist: He’s Wakhi, part of an ethnic group with Persian origins. And like everyone else here, he is Ismaili—a follower of a moderate branch of Islam whose imam is the Aga Khan, currently residing in France. There are 15 million Ismailis around the world, and 20,000 live here in the Gojal region of northern Pakistan.
> View attachment 346057
> 
> 
> Girls play a game of cricket during school break. In the distance, a high-altitude trail leads into Afghanistan’s Pamir Mountains.
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 346058
> 
> At a school assembly in the Zood Khun village, the boys' class discusses an upcoming excursion to the edge of Chapursan Valley.
> 
> View attachment 346059
> 
> 
> Education is a cornerstone of Ismaili culture, especially for girls.
> 
> I’ve been visiting Gojal for 17 years, and I’ve watched as lives like Alvi’s have become more common here. Surrounded by the mighty Karakoram Range, the Ismailis here have long been relatively isolated, seeing tourists but little else of global events. But now, an improved highway and the arrival of mobile phones have let the outside world in, bringing new lifestyles and opportunities: Children grow up and head off to university, fashions change, and technology reshapes tradition. Gojal has adjusted to all of this, surprising me every time I return by showing me just how adaptable traditions can be.
> 
> 
> With these photos, I hope to add nuance to our understanding of Pakistan, a country many Westerners associate with terrorism or violence. People have suffered from this reputation, and many feel helpless in trying to change it. The Pakistan I’ve seen is different from that popular perception. I returned there this summer with my family and focused my attention on a young and forward-thinking community in Gojal, a place I know well.
> 
> I first came here in the summer of 1999. I was 25 and my girlfriend and I bought one-way tickets to Pakistan. We were looking for inspiring treks (the Karakoram Range has the highest concentration of peaks taller than 8,000 meters). Back then, we were among the roughly 100,000 foreign tourists to visit northern Pakistan each year.
> View attachment 346060
> 
> A boy plays on the wall of the family’s mud house in Kermin village, in the Chapursan Valley.
> 
> 
> View attachment 346061
> 
> 
> She is blind and he takes care of her—a Wakhi couple poses in Darkot village
> 
> View attachment 346062
> 
> 
> The recently repaired Karakoram Highway has inspired more and more tourists from the heated plains of Pakistan to take road trips through Gojal to the Pakistan-China border. Selfies in front of the stunning, mountainous Cathedral Ridge are practically mandatory.
> 
> 
> View attachment 346063
> 
> Men and women’s chores are often interchangeable in Wakhi culture. Here, a mother and daughter from Hussaini village walk to their summer pastures to collect fodder for their animals.


I dont mind shit hole like khi with this


----------



## HttpError

Pakistan is so beautiful, the more we get to know about it, the more we fall in love with it.

Reactions: Like Like:
7


----------



## Pakistani E

We are such a diverse nation, wish people of Pakistan realise our strength lies in diversity and not through trying to force everyone to be the same as them. Differing of opinions is a sign of a healthy society. 

Khuda her Pakistani ki, jahan bhi ho, hifazat karay.

Reactions: Like Like:
5


----------



## PAKISTANFOREVER

Sulman Badshah said:


> *This Remote Pakistani Village Is Nothing Like You’d Expect*
> 
> Over the years, a mountainous region in Pakistan has become my second home. I’ve seen firsthand how global events have hurt locals’ livelihoods and how technology has challenged the meaning of tradition.
> 
> View attachment 346056
> 
> 
> Above the village of Passu, a teenager checks his Facebook. Many residents here are Ismaili, followers of a moderate branch of Islam. A sign on the mountain slope commemorates the time in 1987, when the Ismaili imam, the Aga Khan, visited the remote region.
> 
> 
> PHOTOGRAPH BY MATTHIEU PALEY, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
> Photos and story by Matthieu Paley
> PUBLISHED OCTOBER 24, 2016
> 
> PASSU, Pakistan—Sajid Alvi is excited. He just got a grant to study in Sweden.
> 
> “My Ph.D. is about friction in turbo jet engines,” Alvi says. “I will work on developing new aerospace materials—real geeky stuff!”
> 
> Alvi’s relatives have come to bid him farewell as he prepares to leave his mountain village and study in a new country, some 3,000 miles away.
> 
> “We will see you again,” one of them says as they hang out in the potato field in front of Alvi’s house. “You know you won’t get far with a long beard like that. You look like Taliban!”
> 
> Alvi, dressed in low-hanging shorts and a Yankees cap, is far from a fundamentalist: He’s Wakhi, part of an ethnic group with Persian origins. And like everyone else here, he is Ismaili—a follower of a moderate branch of Islam whose imam is the Aga Khan, currently residing in France. There are 15 million Ismailis around the world, and 20,000 live here in the Gojal region of northern Pakistan.
> View attachment 346057
> 
> 
> Girls play a game of cricket during school break. In the distance, a high-altitude trail leads into Afghanistan’s Pamir Mountains.
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 346058
> 
> At a school assembly in the Zood Khun village, the boys' class discusses an upcoming excursion to the edge of Chapursan Valley.
> 
> View attachment 346059
> 
> 
> Education is a cornerstone of Ismaili culture, especially for girls.
> 
> I’ve been visiting Gojal for 17 years, and I’ve watched as lives like Alvi’s have become more common here. Surrounded by the mighty Karakoram Range, the Ismailis here have long been relatively isolated, seeing tourists but little else of global events. But now, an improved highway and the arrival of mobile phones have let the outside world in, bringing new lifestyles and opportunities: Children grow up and head off to university, fashions change, and technology reshapes tradition. Gojal has adjusted to all of this, surprising me every time I return by showing me just how adaptable traditions can be.
> 
> 
> With these photos, I hope to add nuance to our understanding of Pakistan, a country many Westerners associate with terrorism or violence. People have suffered from this reputation, and many feel helpless in trying to change it. The Pakistan I’ve seen is different from that popular perception. I returned there this summer with my family and focused my attention on a young and forward-thinking community in Gojal, a place I know well.
> 
> I first came here in the summer of 1999. I was 25 and my girlfriend and I bought one-way tickets to Pakistan. We were looking for inspiring treks (the Karakoram Range has the highest concentration of peaks taller than 8,000 meters). Back then, we were among the roughly 100,000 foreign tourists to visit northern Pakistan each year.
> View attachment 346060
> 
> A boy plays on the wall of the family’s mud house in Kermin village, in the Chapursan Valley.
> 
> 
> View attachment 346061
> 
> 
> She is blind and he takes care of her—a Wakhi couple poses in Darkot village
> 
> View attachment 346062
> 
> 
> The recently repaired Karakoram Highway has inspired more and more tourists from the heated plains of Pakistan to take road trips through Gojal to the Pakistan-China border. Selfies in front of the stunning, mountainous Cathedral Ridge are practically mandatory.
> 
> 
> View attachment 346063
> 
> Men and women’s chores are often interchangeable in Wakhi culture. Here, a mother and daughter from Hussaini village walk to their summer pastures to collect fodder for their animals.





Wow!!!!!!!.......Pakistan is an incredible country. Pakistan is a beautiful country with a naturally beautiful race of people.

Reactions: Like Like:
3


----------



## Ultima Thule

Sulman Badshah said:


> oung men and women began leaving to study in these cities, and they came back for summer holiday dressed in new, hip fashions. Shops multiplied along the road, selling new spices, sugary snacks, and sodas. Biryani rice, a favorite dish from Punjab, now often replaces the traditional turnip soup or buckwheat pancakes during celebrations.
> 
> But despite what I’ve seen change on the surface, the spirit of Gojal is very much the same.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> AREA
> 
> ENLARGED
> 
> TAJIKISTAN
> 
> AFGHAN.
> 
> CHINA
> 
> Gojal
> 
> Passu
> 
> PAKISTAN
> 
> INDIA
> 
> 50 mi
> 
> Islamabad
> 
> 50 km
> 
> ANDREW UMENTUM, NG STAFF
> 
> 
> “In these remote parts, our relationship to our honored guests has never changed,” Jan says. “You know, our kids go away to the cities, but deep down we are just mountain farmers living off the land. Sometimes we feel sadness for the way the Western world thinks of us, but we would rather joke about it than be bothered by it.”
> 
> The day after Alvi’s going-away party, we climb a nearby hill where young people are gathering. In the distance, we see the peak of Tupopdan—which means "sun-drenched mountain" in Wakhi—as it towers above a green oasis and the Passu village. A road winds through a barren valley—a branch of the old Silk Road. Beyond these peaks are the deserts and plains of Central Asia, China, and Afghanistan.
> View attachment 346072
> 
> Some of the young men on the hill sport designer t-shirts, jeans, styled beards, and ponytails (hipsters know no boundary). Others wear the traditional white pants and long shirt. Four young men bring up a huge speaker and blast a mix of dancehall and traditional music.
> 
> As we dance, a group of girls watches us, laughing. Others ignore us, focusing instead on a game of volleyball. Alvi points to them.
> 
> “They are all going to school and most of them speak at least four languages,” he says, as our conversation switches between English, Wakhi, and Urdu. “We have a famous saying: If you have two children, a boy and a girl, but you can afford to educate only one, you must give the education to the girl.”
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 346073
> 
> A few days later, Esar Ali, dressed in a suit and ready for a family wedding, climbs a boulder, away from the crowd. “The recent changes,” he says, discussing village life, “they come a lot from our education. Nowadays we go to universities outside of our villages, in the cities or abroad.”
> 
> “But they also come from this,” he adds, pointing to his phone. Smartphones and mobile data networks have changed how the people here relate to the outside world, and to their neighbors.
> 
> “I first saw Shayna in a town near my village,” Ali says. “There is a decent 2G reception there."
> 
> View attachment 346074
> 
> Young Wakhis dance after celebrating Imamat Day, which marks the anniversary of the day their present (or Hazar)
> imam succeeded his predecessor. These young men study in big cities away from the mountains, and for them, this celebration is a time to reconnect with their homeland
> 
> View attachment 346075
> 
> A Wakhi home sports an embroidery of Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, the current imam of Ismaili Muslims. He has an estimated 15 million followers in more than 25 countries, including 20,000 in Gojal.
> 
> We started messaging, agreeing on a time to talk when no one is at home," he says. "In our tradition, to be with someone is something sacred. So while we slowly establish our relationship, we never want to offend our elders. Phone or no phone, we have to keep our customs alive.”
> 
> Ali is now married to Shayna. This courtship would’ve been much different 10 years ago, but not because he wouldn’t have had a mobile phone. Back then, “our parents would pick the bride or groom,” he says. “But now it’s practically all love marriages, or rather _arranged love_marriages. We simply suggest to our parents the boy or girl we want to marry.”
> 
> There are two long lines in front of the wedding house; men on one side, women on the other. An elderly lady, her white veil flowing on top of an embroidered skullcap, welcomes me. She takes my right hand and kisses the top of it. I kiss hers in return; it’s the Wakhi way of greeting each other. I walk down the line, asking the traditional “How is your health, my sweet mother?” to each of the ladies.
> 
> It’s a typical mud house, and inside, young men are standing next to a gigantic pot of food; Ali steps up and says he hopes I’m hungry. “They are making _bat_ for over 200 people,” he says, referring to the porridge-like food in the pot. “We will eat that with boiled sheep meat and lots of chai.”
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 346076
> 
> "We first met on social media, and we slowly fell in love," say Esar Ali and Shayna, who married 11 months ago.
> 
> My wife and two young sons are outside somewhere playing cricket. When I look for them, I see my wife being pulled into a group selfie with the young bride and her friends. They ask me to join in.
> 
> Here, there is no such a thing as an uninvited guest. We’re joined by our friends Emmanuelle and Julien from Paris, and they’ve brought their two daughters. “With the current world situation, people thought we were joking when we were telling them that we were going on holiday to Pakistan,” Emmanuelle says. “We got worried too and almost called off the trip.”
> 
> But Emmanuelle says she’s glad she didn’t cancel. The scene is nothing like what she assumed.
> 
> “I mean, if you ask someone back home to imagine life in a remote mountain region in Pakistan, do you think they will picture this? This place is really doing something to me; it’s making my soul grow.”
> 
> Coming here again and again, this tight community always humbles me. Now, as external changes increasingly permeate daily life and relationships, Gojal has planted a foot in the modern world while retaining its traditions and ability to inspire. Traveling in places that we only know little about—or hold wrong ideas about—puts life into perspective. I hope the grace of this place will touch many more people.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 346077
> 
> 
> Shortly before reaching Passu village, a trekker walks along a hanging bridge across the Hunza River.


just one word *speechless*

Reactions: Like Like:
1


----------



## Alpha Ace

Sulman Badshah said:


> oung men and women began leaving to study in these cities, and they came back for summer holiday dressed in new, hip fashions. Shops multiplied along the road, selling new spices, sugary snacks, and sodas. Biryani rice, a favorite dish from Punjab, now often replaces the traditional turnip soup or buckwheat pancakes during celebrations.
> 
> But despite what I’ve seen change on the surface, the spirit of Gojal is very much the same.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> AREA
> 
> ENLARGED
> 
> TAJIKISTAN
> 
> AFGHAN.
> 
> CHINA
> 
> Gojal
> 
> Passu
> 
> PAKISTAN
> 
> INDIA
> 
> 50 mi
> 
> Islamabad
> 
> 50 km
> 
> ANDREW UMENTUM, NG STAFF
> 
> 
> “In these remote parts, our relationship to our honored guests has never changed,” Jan says. “You know, our kids go away to the cities, but deep down we are just mountain farmers living off the land. Sometimes we feel sadness for the way the Western world thinks of us, but we would rather joke about it than be bothered by it.”
> 
> The day after Alvi’s going-away party, we climb a nearby hill where young people are gathering. In the distance, we see the peak of Tupopdan—which means "sun-drenched mountain" in Wakhi—as it towers above a green oasis and the Passu village. A road winds through a barren valley—a branch of the old Silk Road. Beyond these peaks are the deserts and plains of Central Asia, China, and Afghanistan.
> View attachment 346072
> 
> Some of the young men on the hill sport designer t-shirts, jeans, styled beards, and ponytails (hipsters know no boundary). Others wear the traditional white pants and long shirt. Four young men bring up a huge speaker and blast a mix of dancehall and traditional music.
> 
> As we dance, a group of girls watches us, laughing. Others ignore us, focusing instead on a game of volleyball. Alvi points to them.
> 
> “They are all going to school and most of them speak at least four languages,” he says, as our conversation switches between English, Wakhi, and Urdu. “We have a famous saying: If you have two children, a boy and a girl, but you can afford to educate only one, you must give the education to the girl.”
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 346073
> 
> A few days later, Esar Ali, dressed in a suit and ready for a family wedding, climbs a boulder, away from the crowd. “The recent changes,” he says, discussing village life, “they come a lot from our education. Nowadays we go to universities outside of our villages, in the cities or abroad.”
> 
> “But they also come from this,” he adds, pointing to his phone. Smartphones and mobile data networks have changed how the people here relate to the outside world, and to their neighbors.
> 
> “I first saw Shayna in a town near my village,” Ali says. “There is a decent 2G reception there."
> 
> View attachment 346074
> 
> Young Wakhis dance after celebrating Imamat Day, which marks the anniversary of the day their present (or Hazar)
> imam succeeded his predecessor. These young men study in big cities away from the mountains, and for them, this celebration is a time to reconnect with their homeland
> 
> View attachment 346075
> 
> A Wakhi home sports an embroidery of Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, the current imam of Ismaili Muslims. He has an estimated 15 million followers in more than 25 countries, including 20,000 in Gojal.
> 
> We started messaging, agreeing on a time to talk when no one is at home," he says. "In our tradition, to be with someone is something sacred. So while we slowly establish our relationship, we never want to offend our elders. Phone or no phone, we have to keep our customs alive.”
> 
> Ali is now married to Shayna. This courtship would’ve been much different 10 years ago, but not because he wouldn’t have had a mobile phone. Back then, “our parents would pick the bride or groom,” he says. “But now it’s practically all love marriages, or rather _arranged love_marriages. We simply suggest to our parents the boy or girl we want to marry.”
> 
> There are two long lines in front of the wedding house; men on one side, women on the other. An elderly lady, her white veil flowing on top of an embroidered skullcap, welcomes me. She takes my right hand and kisses the top of it. I kiss hers in return; it’s the Wakhi way of greeting each other. I walk down the line, asking the traditional “How is your health, my sweet mother?” to each of the ladies.
> 
> It’s a typical mud house, and inside, young men are standing next to a gigantic pot of food; Ali steps up and says he hopes I’m hungry. “They are making _bat_ for over 200 people,” he says, referring to the porridge-like food in the pot. “We will eat that with boiled sheep meat and lots of chai.”
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 346076
> 
> "We first met on social media, and we slowly fell in love," say Esar Ali and Shayna, who married 11 months ago.
> 
> My wife and two young sons are outside somewhere playing cricket. When I look for them, I see my wife being pulled into a group selfie with the young bride and her friends. They ask me to join in.
> 
> Here, there is no such a thing as an uninvited guest. We’re joined by our friends Emmanuelle and Julien from Paris, and they’ve brought their two daughters. “With the current world situation, people thought we were joking when we were telling them that we were going on holiday to Pakistan,” Emmanuelle says. “We got worried too and almost called off the trip.”
> 
> But Emmanuelle says she’s glad she didn’t cancel. The scene is nothing like what she assumed.
> 
> “I mean, if you ask someone back home to imagine life in a remote mountain region in Pakistan, do you think they will picture this? This place is really doing something to me; it’s making my soul grow.”
> 
> Coming here again and again, this tight community always humbles me. Now, as external changes increasingly permeate daily life and relationships, Gojal has planted a foot in the modern world while retaining its traditions and ability to inspire. Traveling in places that we only know little about—or hold wrong ideas about—puts life into perspective. I hope the grace of this place will touch many more people.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 346077
> 
> 
> Shortly before reaching Passu village, a trekker walks along a hanging bridge across the Hunza River.



Thank you for sharing such beauty, and such a pity we are not investing in beautiful people of this beautiful country. May we be on right path and understand that no other country in this world have what we have. 

Invest in education and people, give them tarbiat and direction rather than information only. Tell the children what we really are, our civilization history which don't starts in 1947 but is thousands and thousands of years old. Make them proud of who our ancestors were. And i can guarantee we will not be needing loans, asking for help to acquire tech, or even bothering about our shitty neighbors. Every thing will just fall in place by itself.

Reactions: Like Like:
3


----------



## YeBeWarned

Beautiful Indeed


----------



## django

@WAJsal @Zibago @Moonlight @The Sandman @PaklovesTurkiye

Reactions: Like Like:
3


----------



## WAJsal

django said:


> @WAJsal @Zibago @Moonlight @The Sandman @PaklovesTurkiye





pak-marine said:


> I dont mind shit hole like khi with this


One can learn a lot from them..The community based work and it's results are brilliant. The government needs to extend powers to the lower level. Watch this video, rest of the Pakistan can certainly do much better if we transfer power to the people who are capable...

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/789852674116186112https://defence.pk/threads/al-jazeera-report-on-education-in-hunza-valley.457667/

@shimshali , this threads for us bro...

@Joe Shearer ,@Kaptaan ,@Arsalan and others...



Sulman Badshah said:


> Girls play a game of cricket during school break. In the distance, a high-altitude trail leads into Afghanistan’s Pamir Mountains.


And they say women aren't allowed to get education in Pakistan...



Sulman Badshah said:


> “My Ph.D. is about friction in turbo jet engines,” Alvi says. “I will work on developing new aerospace materials—real geeky stuff!”


The hell... well done mate..

Reactions: Like Like:
6


----------



## saiyan0321

@WAJsal everyday man I dream of just leaving this damned city and settling in a remote village like the above with a simple life away from all the tensions..

Would love to live there and settle there. Seems like a dream. A beautiful dream

Reactions: Like Like:
2


----------



## django

@WAJsal are these wakhi folk of tajik origin?


----------



## WAJsal

Proud to be partly from Hunza, from my mother side. 
PS: have loads of family in Gojal. Last time i went to Gojal, it was recently after the Attabad lake disaster. Tough times. Anyway, we would literally play all day. Cousins would have some days of summer holidays. Brilliant memories. We would go for a swim everyday...
And @shimshali is a waki, from Shimshal valley. @django . He might even be in one of these images.


saiyan0321 said:


> @WAJsal everyday man I dream of just leaving this damned city and settling in a remote village like the above with a simple life away from all the tensions..
> 
> Would love to live there and settle there. Seems like a dream. A beautiful dream


Man you are missing on life. 


django said:


> @WAJsal are these wakhi folk of tajik origin?


Yes. @shimshali , please help him with background. 

Needs more audience, @waz ,@Zibago ,@Chauvinist ,@anant_s ,@jbgt90 .....

@Side-Winder , do whats necessary bro...


__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/790626348893110273

Reactions: Like Like:
7


----------



## Chauvinist

WAJsal said:


> Proud to be partly from Hunza, from my mother side.



This village though far far away from my village but it's making me to brag over city that I'm "*paindu*"..

@WAJsal know where my soul belongs? Dia-Meer... that's my peak.. I have read so much about it that I could walk blindly and go there. Though I never even went away from Naran.. but still bagher dekhay I could walk to Hussain Abad and take left to Shigar and go straight to Chigori...

Gilgit is waiting for me to come and then it would take me in its lap and never let me a part..
I'm a soul of mountains .. pta nai Yahan kesay a gai...

Reactions: Like Like:
2


----------



## anant_s

Sulman Badshah said:


>



Right arm fast over the wicket 
Its difficult to stay away from cricket fever in sub continent (@WAJsal @Arsalan )



Sulman Badshah said:


>





Sulman Badshah said:


>



God Bless the young kids!



Sulman Badshah said:


>





Sulman Badshah said:


>


Wow
The place looks like a heaven for a photographer.
I sure would want to take a few snaps here myself with my trusty 16-35 f4L

Reactions: Like Like:
1


----------



## Side-Winder

WAJsal said:


> do whats necessary bro



The thread is posted already on PDF page. Thats why it has had over 60,000 views till now.

Reactions: Like Like:
1


----------



## Moonlight

amazingly beautiful. They have life. 


django said:


> @WAJsal @Zibago @Moonlight @The Sandman @PaklovesTurkiye

Reactions: Like Like:
1


----------



## django

Moonlight said:


> amazingly beautiful. They have life.


Heaven is a place on earth, this place is it


----------



## Moonlight

django said:


> Heaven is a place on earth, this place is it



So many places of Pakistan are heaven on earth. And we need to protect this heaven. Enemies doing all the can do to mess it up.

Reactions: Like Like:
1


----------



## TOPGUN

Pakistan is so beautiful mashallah , I really want to travel to the northern areas and other areas of Pakistan one day soon inshallah.


----------



## Jackdaws

It's very beautiful - and seems like an excellent place to visit. Perhaps when things calm down in a few decades - I'd be able to drive there in a 4x4 from Bombay - would be a heck of a drive.


----------



## insight-out

pak-marine said:


> I dont mind shit hole like khi with this



But wouldn't it be better if Karachi wasn't a s*it hole? Then we would have this _and _ a world-class city.


----------



## pak-marine

insight-out said:


> But wouldn't it be better if Karachi wasn't a s*it hole? Then we would have this _and _ a world-class city.



Who doesnt want ! but its divided Too many groups & their interests so we might see a short period of development but will be follwed on by years of same mess what we have now


----------



## Zibago

WAJsal said:


> Proud to be partly from Hunza, from my mother side.
> PS: have loads of family in Gojal. Last time i went to Gojal, it was recently after the Attabad lake disaster. Tough times. Anyway, we would literally play all day. Cousins would have some days of summer holidays. Brilliant memories. We would go for a swim everyday...
> And @shimshali is a waki, from Shimshal valley. @django . He might even be in one of these images.
> 
> Man you are missing on life.
> 
> Yes. @shimshali , please help him with background.
> 
> Needs more audience, @waz ,@Zibago ,@Chauvinist ,@anant_s ,@jbgt90 .....
> 
> @Side-Winder , do whats necessary bro...
> 
> 
> __ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/790626348893110273


Been to all provinces except GB and FATA love people from GB they are very polite and hospitable people
Would love to visit Ghizer one day mainly to eat yak meat and free cherries 
@unleashed ham ayein gay to khilao gay na 



Chauvinist said:


> This village though far far away from my village but it's making me to brag over city that I'm "*paindu*"..
> 
> @WAJsal know where my soul belongs? Dia-Meer... that's my peak.. I have read so much about it that I could walk blindly and go there. Though I never even went away from Naran.. but still bagher dekhay I could walk to Hussain Abad and take left to Shigar and go straight to Chigori...
> 
> Gilgit is waiting for me to come and then it would take me in its lap and never let me a part..
> I'm a soul of mountains .. pta nai Yahan kesay a gai...


Mountains dor sey hi achey lagtey hain 



pak-marine said:


> Who doesnt want ! but its divided Too many groups & their interests so we might see a short period of development but will be follwed on by years of same mess what we have now


Ham Bahria town shift ho jayejn gay uska rakba Islamabad shehar jitna hay

Reactions: Like Like:
1


----------



## pak-marine

Zibago said:


> Ham Bahria town shift ho jayejn gay uska rakba Islamabad shehar jitna hay



sheikho teray pas har cheez ka solution hai got
To give u credit bro when due

Reactions: Like Like:
1


----------



## ghazi52

Pakistan is such a extreme beauty.....................................


----------



## The Sandman

django said:


> @WAJsal @Zibago @Moonlight @The Sandman @PaklovesTurkiye


That area is so FREAKING BEAUTIFUL

Reactions: Like Like:
1


----------



## django

The Sandman said:


> That area is so FREAKING BEAUTIFUL


True


----------



## Mansoon

Sulman Badshah said:


> Men and women’s chores are often interchangeable in Wakhi culture. Here, a mother and daughter from Hussaini village walk to their summer pastures to collect fodder for their animals.


Very nice thread. Thanks for sharing.

Reactions: Like Like:
1


----------



## bananarepublic

Sulman Badshah said:


> The remote Shimshal village, with its incredible hiking territory, once saw many tourists. But after 9/11, the number of tourists to northern Pakistan dwindled.


 
lol the women in this picture is my aunt 




django said:


> @WAJsal are these wakhi folk of tajik origin?



we did originate from Tajikistan and migrated to different areas with the recent wakhi migrants being in the upper areas of ghizer district and brogal in chitral hosting afghan wakhi...



WAJsal said:


> One can learn a lot from them..The community based work and it's results are brilliant. The government needs to extend powers to the lower level. Watch this video, rest of the Pakistan can certainly do much better if we transfer power to the people who are capable...
> 
> __ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/789852674116186112https://defence.pk/threads/al-jazeera-report-on-education-in-hunza-valley.457667/
> 
> @shimshali , this threads for us bro...
> 
> @Joe Shearer ,@Kaptaan ,@Arsalan and others...
> 
> 
> And they say women aren't allowed to get education in Pakistan...
> 
> 
> The hell... well done mate..



HAhaha a thread dedicated to the gojali people
my mother is actually from this village Passu and from the same family (alvi)

Reactions: Like Like:
6


----------



## WAJsal

shimshali said:


> lol the women in this picture is my aunt


Lol, @Levina ...
Dude, we might even be somewhat related. I have a number of relatives in Gojal, mostly in upper Hunza though. Let's wait and see.

Reactions: Like Like:
3


----------



## bananarepublic

WAJsal said:


> Lol, @Levina ...
> Dude, we might even be somewhat related. I have a number of relatives in Gojal, mostly in upper Hunza though. Let's wait and see.



haha that may be true 

here are some more pictures of passu

Reactions: Like Like:
11


----------



## Levina

WAJsal said:


> Lol, @Levina ...
> Dude, we might even be somewhat related. I have a number of relatives in Gojal, mostly in upper Hunza though. Let's wait and see.


Seems you stumbled upon something.lol

Reactions: Like Like:
1


----------



## fatman17

Passu village in the karakoram range

Reactions: Like Like:
3


----------



## Indus Falcon

d1.reloaded said:


> what is the purpose of this thread ?


Passu village in the Karakoram Range

Reactions: Like Like:
2


----------



## Counterpunch

Apart from natural breathtaking beauty, the education percentage seems to be on a higher side. Without education the beauty would have meant nothing for the people who would have their generations consumed by years of feuds and blood shed as happens in North Waziristan and some other agencies.


----------



## Sulman Badshah

@fatman17 Bro I already posted the article on Tuesday .. So this is an Duplicate thread 

https://defence.pk/threads/this-remote-pakistani-village-is-nothing-like-you’d-expect.457699/

Reactions: Like Like:
1


----------



## PaklovesTurkiye

@d1.reloaded @Taygibay @monitor @DJ_Viper @idune @T-Rex @bsruzm @long_ @HAKIKAT ....Place and people looks really nice.

Reactions: Like Like:
1


----------



## Kambojaric

Great thread. Love the diversity of this country.


----------



## Taygibay

Thanks Paklove, good mate but I had read this thread already.
I always do when WAJsal tags me and sometimes when he forgets
as his cultural threads and infos are a soothing balm for the soul. 

MY favourite part this time was that old couple's pic & caption.

In general tough, I'd say that trying to set up organized travel
would probably attract the most tourists. That is how most of
westerners visit China today for example.
Something like GB/Kashmir to Islamabad & from Multan down
the Indus valley to Karachi. Linear, varied but easier to protect.

The majority of folks will possibly follow once those herded sheep
come back alive and amazed.
Although, in all honesty, most folks probably want to go to Disneyland.

All the best to you and yours, Tay.

P.S. Had first snow yesterday and going to dig a foundation today;
will think of Shimsali's sunny Passu pics from the mud pit!

Reactions: Like Like:
3


----------



## PaklovesTurkiye

@Andrea17 ....interesting and beautiful place...

@Englishman


----------



## Indus Falcon

Chauvinist said:


> This village though far far away from my village but it's making me to brag over city that I'm "*paindu*"..
> 
> @WAJsal know where my soul belongs? Dia-Meer... that's my peak.. I have read so much about it that I could walk blindly and go there. Though I never even went away from Naran.. but still bagher dekhay I could walk to Hussain Abad and take left to Shigar and go straight to Chigori...
> 
> Gilgit is waiting for me to come and then it would take me in its lap and never let me a part..
> I'm a soul of mountains .. pta nai Yahan kesay a gai...



I'd rather be a paindu, than a city dweller. 

When I go to Sialkot, the sector I served in, I feel more at home, than Karachi / Islamabad. The love and warmth of the people is simply non-existent in big cities.

Reactions: Like Like:
2


----------



## Chauvinist

Indus Falcon said:


> I'd rather be a paindu, than a city dweller.
> 
> When I go to Sialkot, the sector I served in, I feel more at home, than Karachi / Islamabad. The love and warmth of the people is simply non-existent in big cities.



Seriously... here is an invisible chaos which only can be felt.. 
Itna koi sakoon milta Hai na ghar ja k... I often feel a permanent music is missing and that's of traffic.

Reactions: Like Like:
2


----------



## Thunder Bolt

Over the years, a mountainous region in Pakistan has become my second home. I’ve seen firsthand how global events have hurt locals’ livelihoods and how technology has challenged the meaning of tradition.








Above the village of Passu, a teenager checks his Facebook. Many residents here are Ismaili, followers of a moderate branch of Islam. A sign on the mountain slope commemorates the time in 1987, when the Ismaili imam, the Aga Khan, visited the remote region.


PHOTOGRAPH BY MATTHIEU PALEY, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
Photos and story by Matthieu Paley
PUBLISHED OCTOBER 24, 2016

PASSU, Pakistan—Sajid Alvi is excited. He just got a grant to study in Sweden.


“My Ph.D. is about friction in turbo jet engines,” Alvi says. “I will work on developing new aerospace materials—real geeky stuff!”

Alvi’s relatives have come to bid him farewell as he prepares to leave his mountain village and study in a new country, some 3,000 miles away.

“We will see you again,” one of them says as they hang out in the potato field in front of Alvi’s house. “You know you won’t get far with a long beard like that. You look like Taliban!”

Alvi, dressed in low-hanging shorts and a Yankees cap, is far from a fundamentalist: He’s Wakhi, part of an ethnic group with Persian origins. And like everyone else here, he is Ismaili—a follower of a moderate branch of Islam whose imam is the Aga Khan, currently residing in France. There are 15 million Ismailis around the world, and 20,000 live here in the Gojal region of northern Pakistan.




Girls play a game of cricket during school break. In the distance, a high-altitude trail leads into Afghanistan’s Pamir Mountains.










At a school assembly in the Zood Khun village, the boys' class discusses an upcoming excursion to the edge of Chapursan Valley.

Right: Education is a cornerstone of Ismaili culture, especially for girls.
PHOTOGRAPH BY MATTHIEU PALEY, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
I’ve been visiting Gojal for 17 years, and I’ve watched as lives like Alvi’s have become more common here. Surrounded by the mighty Karakoram Range, the Ismailis here have long been relatively isolated, seeing tourists but little else of global events. But now, an improved highway and the arrival of mobile phones have let the outside world in, bringing new lifestyles and opportunities: Children grow up and head off to university, fashions change, and technology reshapes tradition. Gojal has adjusted to all of this, surprising me every time I return by showing me just how adaptable traditions can be.


With these photos, I hope to add nuance to our understanding of Pakistan, a country many Westerners associate with terrorism or violence. People have suffered from this reputation, and many feel helpless in trying to change it. The Pakistan I’ve seen is different from that popular perception. I returned there this summer with my family and focused my attention on a young and forward-thinking community in Gojal, a place I know well.

I first came here in the summer of 1999. I was 25 and my girlfriend and I bought one-way tickets to Pakistan. We were looking for inspiring treks (the Karakoram Range has the highest concentration of peaks taller than 8,000 meters). Back then, we were among the roughly 100,000 foreign tourists to visit northern Pakistan each year.

Reactions: Like Like:
2


----------



## Thunder Bolt



Reactions: Like Like:
1


----------



## Thunder Bolt

We stayed for months, opening new passes, learning the language, and exploring the Karakoram, Hindu Kush, and Pamir. I kept returning, but over the years, I saw the number of fellow hikers plunge. The tourism department now records only a few thousand foreign visitors each year.

“Following the terrible September 11th attacks, anyone involved in tourism had to sell their jeeps or hotels; no tourists dared to come here anymore,” says Karim Jan, a local tour guide.

With each return visit, I noticed other changes. While outsiders were rare, the improved Karakoram Highway, now able to host vehicles other than Jeeps and 4x4s, brought in local tourists from south Pakistan, and southern cities became more accessible to the Wakhi.









Left: 

Shah Bul Masoom practices songs on his Rubab, a traditional instrument similar to a lute. He is a student of the Bulbulik music school in Gulmit village, and he’s working on mixing traditional Wakhi music with modern influences.

Right: 
Years ago, marriages in the area were arranged by the bride and groom’s parents. Now, most couples tell their parents whom they should pick for a partner.










Left: 

Robina, in scarf, tries her cousin’s motorcycle. She wants to learn how to ride, so she can be more independent.

Right: 
A man from the Hussaini village returns home after playing a cricket game. On his forearm, he wears a sleeve that doubles as sunburn protection and fashion accessory.
Young men and women began leaving to study in these cities, and they came back for summer holiday dressed in new, hip fashions. Shops multiplied along the road, selling new spices, sugary snacks, and sodas. Biryani rice, a favorite dish from Punjab, now often replaces the traditional turnip soup or buckwheat pancakes during celebrations.

But despite what I’ve seen change on the surface, the spirit of Gojal is very much the same.





AREA

ENLARGED

TAJIKISTAN

AFGHAN.

CHINA

Gojal

Passu

PAKISTAN

INDIA

50 mi

Islamabad

50 km

ANDREW UMENTUM, NG STAFF


“In these remote parts, our relationship to our honored guests has never changed,” Jan says. “You know, our kids go away to the cities, but deep down we are just mountain farmers living off the land. Sometimes we feel sadness for the way the Western world thinks of us, but we would rather joke about it than be bothered by it.”

The day after Alvi’s going-away party, we climb a nearby hill where young people are gathering. In the distance, we see the peak of Tupopdan—which means "sun-drenched mountain" in Wakhi—as it towers above a green oasis and the Passu village. A road winds through a barren valley—a branch of the old Silk Road. Beyond these peaks are the deserts and plains of Central Asia, China, and Afghanistan.

Reactions: Like Like:
2


----------



## Thunder Bolt

A full moon rises over the Passu village and its glacier, and the Karakoram Highway snakes its way through the landscape.


PHOTOGRAPH BY MATTHIEU PALEY, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Some of the young men on the hill sport designer t-shirts, jeans, styled beards, and ponytails (hipsters know no boundary). Others wear the traditional white pants and long shirt. Four young men bring up a huge speaker and blast a mix of dancehall and traditional music.

As we dance, a group of girls watches us, laughing. Others ignore us, focusing instead on a game of volleyball. Alvi points to them.

“They are all going to school and most of them speak at least four languages,” he says, as our conversation switches between English, Wakhi, and Urdu. “We have a famous saying: If you have two children, a boy and a girl, but you can afford to educate only one, you must give the education to the girl.”





A few days later, Esar Ali, dressed in a suit and ready for a family wedding, climbs a boulder, away from the crowd. “The recent changes,” he says, discussing village life, “they come a lot from our education. Nowadays we go to universities outside of our villages, in the cities or abroad.”

“But they also come from this,” he adds, pointing to his phone. Smartphones and mobile data networks have changed how the people here relate to the outside world, and to their neighbors.

“I first saw Shayna in a town near my village,” Ali says. “There is a decent 2G reception there."









Young Wakhis dance after celebrating Imamat Day, which marks the anniversary of the day their present (or Hazar) imam succeeded his predecessor. These young men study in big cities away from the mountains, and for them, this celebration is a time to reconnect with their homeland.
Left:
Young Wakhis dance after celebrating Imamat Day, which marks the anniversary of the day their present (or Hazar) imam succeeded his predecessor. These young men study in big cities away from the mountains, and for them, this celebration is a time to reconnect with their homeland.

Right: A Wakhi home sports an embroidery of Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, the current imam of Ismaili Muslims. He has an estimated 15 million followers in more than 25 countries, including 20,000 in Gojal.
PHOTOGRAPH BY MATTHIEU PALEY, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

“We started messaging, agreeing on a time to talk when no one is at home," he says. "In our tradition, to be with someone is something sacred. So while we slowly establish our relationship, we never want to offend our elders. Phone or no phone, we have to keep our customs alive.”

Ali is now married to Shayna. This courtship would’ve been much different 10 years ago, but not because he wouldn’t have had a mobile phone. Back then, “our parents would pick the bride or groom,” he says. “But now it’s practically all love marriages, or rather _arranged love_marriages. We simply suggest to our parents the boy or girl we want to marry.”

There are two long lines in front of the wedding house; men on one side, women on the other. An elderly lady, her white veil flowing on top of an embroidered skullcap, welcomes me. She takes my right hand and kisses the top of it. I kiss hers in return; it’s the Wakhi way of greeting each other. I walk down the line, asking the traditional “How is your health, my sweet mother?” to each of the ladies.

It’s a typical mud house, and inside, young men are standing next to a gigantic pot of food; Ali steps up and says he hopes I’m hungry. “They are making _bat_ for over 200 people,” he says, referring to the porridge-like food in the pot. “We will eat that with boiled sheep meat and lots of chai.”





"We first met on social media, and we slowly fell in love," say Esar Ali and Shayna, who married 11 months ago.
PHOTOGRAPH BY MATTHIEU PALEY, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
My wife and two young sons are outside somewhere playing cricket. When I look for them, I see my wife being pulled into a group selfie with the young bride and her friends. They ask me to join in.

Here, there is no such a thing as an uninvited guest. We’re joined by our friends Emmanuelle and Julien from Paris, and they’ve brought their two daughters. “With the current world situation, people thought we were joking when we were telling them that we were going on holiday to Pakistan,” Emmanuelle says. “We got worried too and almost called off the trip.”

But Emmanuelle says she’s glad she didn’t cancel. The scene is nothing like what she assumed.

“I mean, if you ask someone back home to imagine life in a remote mountain region in Pakistan, do you think they will picture this? This place is really doing something to me; it’s making my soul grow.”

Coming here again and again, this tight community always humbles me. Now, as external changes increasingly permeate daily life and relationships, Gojal has planted a foot in the modern world while retaining its traditions and ability to inspire. Traveling in places that we only know little about—or hold wrong ideas about—puts life into perspective. I hope the grace of this place will touch many more people.





Shortly before reaching Passu village, a trekker walks along a hanging bridge across the Hunza River.

Reactions: Like Like:
2


----------



## bananarepublic

The author Mathew palay is an excellent photographer from France this year he came together with his whole family to visit.my family got the opportunity to host him.

Reactions: Like Like:
2


----------



## Ultima Thule

Thunder Bolt said:


> A full moon rises over the Passu village and its glacier, and the Karakoram Highway snakes its way through the landscape.
> 
> 
> PHOTOGRAPH BY MATTHIEU PALEY, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
> 
> Some of the young men on the hill sport designer t-shirts, jeans, styled beards, and ponytails (hipsters know no boundary). Others wear the traditional white pants and long shirt. Four young men bring up a huge speaker and blast a mix of dancehall and traditional music.
> 
> As we dance, a group of girls watches us, laughing. Others ignore us, focusing instead on a game of volleyball. Alvi points to them.
> 
> “They are all going to school and most of them speak at least four languages,” he says, as our conversation switches between English, Wakhi, and Urdu. “We have a famous saying: If you have two children, a boy and a girl, but you can afford to educate only one, you must give the education to the girl.”
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> A few days later, Esar Ali, dressed in a suit and ready for a family wedding, climbs a boulder, away from the crowd. “The recent changes,” he says, discussing village life, “they come a lot from our education. Nowadays we go to universities outside of our villages, in the cities or abroad.”
> 
> “But they also come from this,” he adds, pointing to his phone. Smartphones and mobile data networks have changed how the people here relate to the outside world, and to their neighbors.
> 
> “I first saw Shayna in a town near my village,” Ali says. “There is a decent 2G reception there."
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Young Wakhis dance after celebrating Imamat Day, which marks the anniversary of the day their present (or Hazar) imam succeeded his predecessor. These young men study in big cities away from the mountains, and for them, this celebration is a time to reconnect with their homeland.
> Left:
> Young Wakhis dance after celebrating Imamat Day, which marks the anniversary of the day their present (or Hazar) imam succeeded his predecessor. These young men study in big cities away from the mountains, and for them, this celebration is a time to reconnect with their homeland.
> 
> Right: A Wakhi home sports an embroidery of Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, the current imam of Ismaili Muslims. He has an estimated 15 million followers in more than 25 countries, including 20,000 in Gojal.
> PHOTOGRAPH BY MATTHIEU PALEY, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
> 
> “We started messaging, agreeing on a time to talk when no one is at home," he says. "In our tradition, to be with someone is something sacred. So while we slowly establish our relationship, we never want to offend our elders. Phone or no phone, we have to keep our customs alive.”
> 
> Ali is now married to Shayna. This courtship would’ve been much different 10 years ago, but not because he wouldn’t have had a mobile phone. Back then, “our parents would pick the bride or groom,” he says. “But now it’s practically all love marriages, or rather _arranged love_marriages. We simply suggest to our parents the boy or girl we want to marry.”
> 
> There are two long lines in front of the wedding house; men on one side, women on the other. An elderly lady, her white veil flowing on top of an embroidered skullcap, welcomes me. She takes my right hand and kisses the top of it. I kiss hers in return; it’s the Wakhi way of greeting each other. I walk down the line, asking the traditional “How is your health, my sweet mother?” to each of the ladies.
> 
> It’s a typical mud house, and inside, young men are standing next to a gigantic pot of food; Ali steps up and says he hopes I’m hungry. “They are making _bat_ for over 200 people,” he says, referring to the porridge-like food in the pot. “We will eat that with boiled sheep meat and lots of chai.”
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "We first met on social media, and we slowly fell in love," say Esar Ali and Shayna, who married 11 months ago.
> PHOTOGRAPH BY MATTHIEU PALEY, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
> My wife and two young sons are outside somewhere playing cricket. When I look for them, I see my wife being pulled into a group selfie with the young bride and her friends. They ask me to join in.
> 
> Here, there is no such a thing as an uninvited guest. We’re joined by our friends Emmanuelle and Julien from Paris, and they’ve brought their two daughters. “With the current world situation, people thought we were joking when we were telling them that we were going on holiday to Pakistan,” Emmanuelle says. “We got worried too and almost called off the trip.”
> 
> But Emmanuelle says she’s glad she didn’t cancel. The scene is nothing like what she assumed.
> 
> “I mean, if you ask someone back home to imagine life in a remote mountain region in Pakistan, do you think they will picture this? This place is really doing something to me; it’s making my soul grow.”
> 
> Coming here again and again, this tight community always humbles me. Now, as external changes increasingly permeate daily life and relationships, Gojal has planted a foot in the modern world while retaining its traditions and ability to inspire. Traveling in places that we only know little about—or hold wrong ideas about—puts life into perspective. I hope the grace of this place will touch many more people.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Shortly before reaching Passu village, a trekker walks along a hanging bridge across the Hunza River.


Already posted bro here is link
https://defence.pk/threads/this-remote-pakistani-village-is-nothing-like-you’d-expect.457699/


----------



## WAJsal

shimshali said:


> The author Mathew palay is an excellent photographer from France this year he came together with his whole family to visit.my family got the opportunity to host him.


Nice to hear. Hope he enjoyed his stay and our hospitality...


----------



## bananarepublic

Yeah because of our hospitality he has been coming for the past 5-6 years to Pakistan



WAJsal said:


> Nice to hear. Hope he enjoyed his stay and our hospitality...

Reactions: Like Like:
1


----------

