Visiting the Rambur Valley Home of the Kalash

Visiting the Rambur Valley, where the Kalash live. It has been a long time since my last visit. I was thrilled to meet these beautiful young ladies.

The village scene at dusk. The valley’s steep slopes are used as a base for these lively dwellings.

Here is a Pashtun street merchant who was selling plates on the corner. The young lady is negotiating with the man, but instead of money, she placed some walnuts in the bowl she wanted to buy and handed it to him. They are bartering! The white bag behind him, to the left of the photo, is full of walnuts.

Going further into the village. The ditch full of trash caught my attention.

This lady was sewing on the terrace. She was using a sewing machine powered by her foot pedal. This is one of the beautiful sights of the Kalash Valley.

These young girls were playing a rock-kicking game. It is like an old Japanese children’s game! It really surprised me how similar it is.

The girls didn’t mind at all when the camera was pointed at them, and just continue to play their game. Some of the youngsters said proudly, “Foreigners take photos of us and publish them in books.” I really enjoyed spending time with these fairy-like girls, but the time came, and I needed to leave the valley.

This is the view of Tirich Mir (7,708m/25,288 feet), the highest peak in the Hindu Kush region. The view on the way through Ayun and Kalash Valleys, of this high peak, is one of the bonus scenes of this trip.

 

Photo & text : Mariko SAWADA

Visit : Nov 2021, Rambur, Kalash Valley, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

Category : ◆Khyber Pakhtunkhwa > - Kalash Valley
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Kalash Valley: November in the Bumburet Village

In early November, I visited the Bumburet Valley. If I had a chance to go a little earlier, I could have seen the Corn Harvest season, but instead I was there during the time of everyone preparing for the coming of winter.
In this time of the year, there are very few tourists and the village is pretty quiet.

We traveled through the town of Ayun to get to the Kalash Valley. This is the amazing view along the way. The towering Tirich Mir (7,708m/25,288 feet), the highest peak in the Hindu Kush, appears over the hills of Ayun. The massive form shines in the morning sunlight.

After crossing this suspension bridge, we come to the junction of the Bumburet and Rambur Valleys. We head west here and continue on to Bumburet.

The Kalash homes started to come into view. The wooden houses are built into the slopes, making efficient use of the terrace and roofs.

These young girls who were playing with a baby goat caught my attention. She has such a charming, fairy-like beauty.

I went up these stairs, made from a hollowed-out tree, to the shaman lady’s house.

This is the terrace of the shaman’s house. According to her, she has the power to foresee the future and find things people had lost, so the people asked her to become a shaman.

Inside the shaman’s house. With the light only coming in from the doorway, the traditional lifestyle of the Kalash people is simple.

These wooden statues stood in the village funeral parlour.

The handmade wine made by the Kalash people, I found it so good.

This woman is threshing crops on her roof. This is a scene that is unique to the harvest season.

It filled me with so much happiness to revisit a school teacher home in Anish village, I found daughter has now become a mother! I used to visit them often, so this is the best memory.

The last time I could visit Bumburet Village was 2 years ago. The Muslim population is increasing and the number of Kalash girls wearing hijabs was higher than before. The color of the handmade embroidery on the traditional folk clothing was quite popular and flashy.

Over the past 30 years, as a tour guide for Saiyu Travel, I have seen the decline of the traditional ethnic lifestyles and clothing in various parts of the world. For the people, the more things become more modernized, their life also becomes easier, so it means these traditional ways are lost voluntarily. But still, it makes me sad to see the sudden shift away from ancient traditions and beliefs. I send strong prayers that these precious ethnic minorities like the Kalash can hold on their culture and rich traditions as part of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

 

Photos & text: Mariko SAWADA
Visit: Nov 2021, Bumburet, Kalash Valley, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

Category : ◆Khyber Pakhtunkhwa > - Kalash Valley
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Kalash Valley’s Bumburet and Rambur

This is a video that highlights the scenery of the Kalash Valley when we visited in October. In the past when we visited Bumburet village, it was during the tourist season and quite crowded with domestic tourists.

However, by the middle of October, there were very few visitors at this time of year and the village was quiet.

 

KALASH VALLEY Bumburet & Rambur|カラーシャの谷(ボンボレット&ランブール)

 

Image : Mariko SAWADA

Visit : Oct 2021, Bomboret & Rambur, Kalash valley, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Category : = Video Clip KPK > ◆ Video Breathtaking Views of Pakistan > ◆Khyber Pakhtunkhwa > - Kalash Valley
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Autumn in the Kalash Valley

After not having been able to visit in a few years, I was able to return to the valley of the Kalash people, to a village called Bumburet. Mid-October proved to be a truly beautiful time to visit with the fall colors and corn harvest taking place.

On October 16, 2019, the Royal Couple Prince William and his wife visited Kalasha Valley where they enjoyed seeing traditional dances. The social media and news was flooded with “The Royal Couple” and “Kalasha” where trending amongst the Pakistani people.

> Kalash Valley “Where did the Kalash people come from?”

>Religion of Kalash Valley

 

Taking a turn off the main road, and crossing the bridge brings you into Ayrun village. It is like traveling back in time. You will see as you enter into the village, narrow fields and the beautiful traditional Pakistan. You will eventually come to the intersection of Bumburet and Rumbur Villages.

 

The road into Bumburet village hasn’t changed. It is still the small dirt road that has pull-offs to allow two small cars to pass each other.
However, as we entered into the village, I was a little shocked at the changes I saw. The women we saw were dressed in the traditional Karasha clothing but about half of them were also wearing the shalwar kameez (national dress of Pakistan). And the number of guesthouses was a bit overwhelming.

Where did the traditional style houses go? In recent years, an increase in domestic tours and a shortage of lodges for the tourists to stay, naturally meant that the number of guesthouses increased suddenly. Most of the managers of these guesthouses are from the outside. I hoped they would build them in the traditional style to match the landscape and keep the flavor of the original village.

 

Walking on a path between the corn fields, I went to visit an acquaintance. The Kalasha children I met on the way.

 

This is the School  dress of the Kalasha young ladies. There seems to be more girls wearing scarves then before.

 

Just off the main road through the village I could see this beautiful figure taking a walk.

 

Children playing next to a cornfield where their parents are busy harvesting.

 

No on can stop change that comes with progress, but I hope that these beautiful sights can continue into the future.

 

On the way out from the Kalasha Valley, we could see the village of Ayun sitting at the base of Tirich Mir. The highest peak of Hindu Kush is Tirich Mir (or Terichmir stands at 7,708 meters) was bathed in the hues of the setting sun.

 

Photo & Text : Mariko SAWADA
Visit : Oct 2019, Bomboret Village, Kalash Valley, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Category : ◆Khyber Pakhtunkhwa > - Kalash Valley
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