"The Chitral Valleys" Top 5 Page for this destination Chitral by Ekahau

Chitral Travel Guide: 80 reviews and 169 photos

Chitral is Fantastic

I have traveled about a dozen times to Islamabad Pakistan and have found that it is easy and inexpensive to go from there to the Northern (the Sangria la) parts of Pakistan. Even the trip by Air is an adventure flying up onto the roof of the world with peaks as tall as 8,600 meters. This 322 km. hideout in the mountain valleys of the Hindu Kush range, is a place of absolutely amazing beauty and intriguing culture. The Pakistan Gov tourist site said it nicely and I would agree - "Chitral’s collection of rugged mountains, sulphur springs, rivers teeming with trout, orchard-dotted slopes, friendly people and annual festivals are enchanting beyond description. For the modern day traveler this scenic region offers an exciting experience. It is easily accessible by air from historic city of Peshawar."

Here is a video of the Valley

Looking for Alexandra the Great

Macedonian child or Kalashian

This is a journey looking for Alexandra the Great and the Greek culture and people left over from the time when the descendents of Alexandra the Great ruled this part of the world. The Chitral Valley a place Alexandra the Great marched through in 327 BC and where Greek was spoken for 1000 years. And you see the Chitral valleys, is still to this day the home of the about 6,000 strong Kalasha community who are the descents of the army of Alexander the Great. The Kalasha are also the only community left in the world that this VTer knows about that still practice elements of the ancient Greek religion as in Zeus and all those gods we read about in school. The traditional dress of the Kalash women are very similar to the old classical Macedonian paintings and sculptures. To this day in parts of Macedonia and Greece the same picturesque headgear made of woolen materials with shells, and buttons.

On this page are two photos on from Macedonia the other from the Chitral valley see if you can tell which is which

Diversity of Language and Culture

Chitral town

Another great reason to visit for this VTer who loves language and culture is that the Chitral Valley according to the famous linguist Georg Morgenstierne happens to be the area of the greatest linguistic diversity in the world. Eleven or twelve laguages are spoken in this small valley. Khowar Kalash, Palula, Dameli, Gawar-Bati, Nuristani, Yidgha, Burushaski, Gujar, Wakhi, Kyrgyz, Persian, Pashto and well now English.

Intro Updated Jun 5, 2007
Add to Trip Planner (?)
Report Abuse

Reviews (7)

Flight to Chitral Transportation (1)

25 May, 07: The first flight PK 664 of the newly commissioned Islamabad-Chitral route landed in Chitral with Chitrali... more travel advice

Visit the Greek Cultural Center Bumburet Things to Do (3)

Greece, has established a museum — Cultural Centre of Kalasha (Kalashadur) -– in the Bumburet town, Chitral district,... more travel advice

Chitral Fort Things to Do (3)

Chitral was a Princely State in fact it remained so until 1961 in fact and the fort of Chital was the HQ so to speak.... more travel advice

Visit the culture in the Kalash Things to Do (3)

The Kalash People are found in 3 valleys the Rumbur, Bumburet and Birir. The Kalash are not Muslims but follow their own... more travel advice

Hotels (2)
See All Oh so POSH in

Restaurants (1)
Roof of the World Dining

Comments (8)

Reply
- Report abuse
pakistanibrain Aug 12, 2007 at 6:15 AM

Excellent page and tips. In particular the one about the flight between Islamabad and Chitral. I didn't even know that Chitral has an airport.
Reply
- Report abuse
craic Jul 8, 2007 at 8:33 AM

well yet again fascinating - and the kipling connection
Reply
- Report abuse
atufft Jul 3, 2007 at 4:04 PM

Excellent work! The video links worked fine and the portrait images are very good. Thanks for visiting my pages, Paul.
Reply
- Report abuse
adeeltahir Jun 10, 2007 at 4:47 AM

Hi, Thank you once again so much for updating Pakistan Page. Well done! shall continue to visit your page for updation.
Reply
- Report abuse
kiwi Jun 4, 2007 at 1:46 PM

What an amazing corner of the world, and your photos are stunning. You really do go to interesting places, thanks! Pam.
Reply
- Report abuse
JohnniOmani Jun 1, 2007 at 11:57 AM

Extremely Impressive as usual :) keep up the good work. john
Reply
- Report abuse
tini58de May 27, 2007 at 5:45 AM

What an interesting destination, Paul - I find the Greek-Pakistani connection absolutely fascinating and your photos are stunning! Thanks for sharing!
Reply
- Report abuse
Trekki May 27, 2007 at 3:55 AM

Oh my, yes, I must consider northern Pakistan for one of my next hiking trips - Chitral just looks magic :-) When looking at the photo of the bazaar... I get hungry ! Lovely people, beuatiful ones, and an interesting tour to history :-)