Kalash Valleys
Home Of The Kalasha, A People Of A Few Thousand With Their Own Language And Religion, In Three Valleys Of Chitral District · Bumburet, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
The Kalash Valleys - Bumburet, Rumbur and Birir, south of Chitral near the Afghan border - are home to the Kalasha, a people of a few thousand who kept their own language and polytheistic religion while every community around them became Muslim. They are known across Pakistan and far beyond it for the women's black robes embroidered in bright colours and their heavy bead headdresses, for wooden houses stacked up the valley sides, and for festivals of dance and song that mark the seasons: Chilam Joshi in spring, Uchau at harvest and Chawmos at the winter solstice. Bumburet is the largest and most visited valley, with the Kalasha Dur museum and most of the guesthouses; Rumbur is smaller and more traditional; Birir is the quietest. This is a living community, not a museum. The best visit is slow and respectful, and the Kalasha themselves have complained of visitors photographing women without asking. Foreigners register with police in Chitral, and the Lowari Tunnel has made the road far easier than it was.
Bumburet, Rumbur and Birir valleys, Lower Chitral District, Bumburet, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
The valleys are lived-in villages with no opening hours. Foreigners register on arrival in Chitral and pay a valley entry fee at the checkpost, and police may assign an escort - rules change, so confirm in Chitral. Chitral town is reached by road from Peshawar through the Lowari Tunnel, a long day's drive, or by small plane from Islamabad when it flies; Bumburet is then about two hours by jeep. The Kalasha Dur museum keeps daytime hours. Festival dates move each year with the Kalasha calendar.