"The Chitral Valleys" a Chitral Travel Page by Ekahau

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

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

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.