Diana Australis' photos with the keyword: Chitral

To make you laugh, perhaps. I have fear of heights, so in North Pakistan, decided to confront it by zip lining across a high ravine. My gorgeous Pakistani friend Sher Baz videoed it. If I look terrified, I am at the start, but as I zipped along I started to really enjoy it and went back later to do it again!

Crossing the broad Chitral River in a local cable car….like the one this last week which had a dramatic rescue of 8 people from high above a gorge in a nearby part of Pakistan. These are very frequently the only means of transport across stretches of rivers, or over very high ravines where bridges would be impossible or impractical. They bear very little resemblance to the western idea of a cable car, frequently just being put together and run by locals with little funds at hand. Nevertheless they transport thousands of people a day across the mountainous north of Pakistan, and also India and Nepal. And yes, I have crossed in these. I hope your Friday is a really splendid one. And your weekend superb.

Late spring in North Pakistan is the time to bring the large herds of yaks to their high altitude summer pastures. Yaks are the source of much income to owners and in subsistence communities their value cannot be underestimated. After a long winter of temperatures down to -40°C where the animals are kept in close proximity to homes to guard against predation by snow leopards, wolves and bears, they are taken up above the 4000 m level to the alpine pastures formed when snow and glaciers melt. Here on the Shandur Pass around 4500m high, thousands of yaks and their shepherds come to the summer meadows. As they have very long winter fur, they need to be shorn. We were lucky to find many groups of shearers clipping the wool off the big hairy yaks for summer. The wool is used for carpets and for thick linings for curtains to ward off the bitter winter cold. We spent some hours with the shearers ..in a light snowfall as they worked with their traditional yak clipping shears.

Chitral, Pakistan. At the polo match. I was the only woman in quite a big crowd in this more conservative area of Pakistan, out towards the Khyber Pass. The men were exceeding hospitable and polite, invited me to sit on a large soft puffy VIP sofa to watch the match, and asked me to throw the ball in to start play. There were lots of very interesting characters about! Have a wonderful weekend. Cheers, Diana

River crossing. Chitral, Pakistan. Sending best wishes for a splendid weekend. Keep well, safe and happy. And take photos!