I Photographed Kalash Valley In Pakistan: Where West Embraced East

The world keeps amazing me. The more I travel the more I realize how much I don’t know. Pakistan was my latest adventure and my trip's purpose was to visit the Kalash valley located in the Hindu Kush mountain range near the Afghani border.

The moment you meet the Kalash you notice their different looks. It is like you have visited an old European village. They have a unique culture which is totally different from the Pakistani and Afghani people. Their facial structure and skin tones are more European than local. The Kalash are mostly Pagans, they worship different gods and they used to keep their dead in open graves above the ground until the body dissolves.

The women wear a beautiful embroidered black dress which is decorated with vibrant colored patterns. What is also unique is that girls and women are sent to live in the "Bashaleni", the village menstrual building, during their periods, until they regain their "purity". They are also required to give birth in the same building. There is also a ritual restoring "purity" to a woman after childbirth which must be performed before a wife can return to her husband.

Mystery still revolves around the origin of the Kalash people. The most common theory is that they are the descendants of Alexander the Great. Others claim that they are the remaining of lost Slavic tribes who lost their track in these mountains. Another theory is that they come from the Aryan tribes. Therefore, nobody can confirm their origin, but surely, the Kalash people have migrated from a place very far from Pakistan.

It was a lovely experience and a great honor to meet these people. Their hospitality and warm welcoming were amazing like every place I've visited in Pakistan.

More info: Instagram