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Still Stranded, 10 years on - The Kyrgyz of Afghanistan's Pamir mountains

75 images Created 23 Apr 2013

Afghanistan’s Kyrgyz nomads survive in one of the most remote, high-altitude, bewitching landscapes on Earth. It’s a heavenly life – and a living hell.
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  • Overview of Er Ali Boi's summer camp. The borders of Tajikistan and China are at the far end of the plateau. The borders are sealed and guarded..Summer camp of Muqur, Er Ali Boi's place...Trekking through the high altitude plateau of the Little Pamir mountains (average 4200 meters) , where the Afghan Kyrgyz community live all year, on the borders of China, Tajikistan and Pakistan.
    97_Afghanistan_Pamir_0729_MM8120_120...jpg
  • Aziz's daughter gets angry at her brother for not wanting to help her bring the water back to camp. Khan's summer camp of Kara Jylga...Daily life at the Khan (chief) summer camp of Kara Jylga...Trekking through the high altitude plateau of the Little Pamir mountains (average 4200 meters) , where the Afghan Kyrgyz community live all year, on the borders of China, Tajikistan and Pakistan.
    97_Afghanistan_Pamir_0632_MM8120_120...jpg
  • Ayeem Khan milks the family yak usually twice a day - morning and evening..Summer camp of Muqur, Er Ali Boi's place...Trekking through the high altitude plateau of the Little Pamir mountains (average 4200 meters) , where the Afghan Kyrgyz community live all year, on the borders of China, Tajikistan and Pakistan.
    97_Afghanistan_Pamir_0719_MM8120_120...jpg
  • Six-year old Susaï is fetching water near camp in a spring claimed as one of the sources of the Oxus, also known as Amu Darya, Central Asia's largest river.  Its waters define most of Afghanistan's borders with other nations to the north..Summer camp of Muqur, Er Ali Boi's place...Trekking through the high altitude plateau of the Little Pamir mountains (average 4200 meters) , where the Afghan Kyrgyz community live all year, on the borders of China, Tajikistan and Pakistan.
    97_Afghanistan_Pamir_0717_MM8120_120...jpg
  • Aziz's father has dilapidated most of his wealth (his livestock), bartering it against opium. Now, the family has only a few yaks left and a horse that young Juma is especially fond of it...Trekking through the high altitude plateau of the Little Pamir mountains (average 4200 meters) , where the Afghan Kyrgyz community live all year, on the borders of China, Tajikistan and Pakistan.
    97_Afghanistan_Pamir_0623_MM8120_120...jpg
  • Daryo Boi returns home on horseback under a stormy sky...Daily life at the Khan (chief) autumn camp (called Teramo Jai - place of Autumn), beside the Aksu river...Trekking through the high altitude plateau of the Little Pamir mountains (average 4200 meters) , where the Afghan Kyrgyz community live all year, on the borders of China, Tajikistan and Pakistan.
    97_Afghanistan_Pamir_0642_MM8120_120...jpg
  • View of the summer camp of Muqur, Er Ali Boi's place. Behind the mountains in the distance is Tajikistan...Trekking through the high altitude plateau of the Little Pamir mountains (average 4200 meters) , where the Afghan Kyrgyz community live all year, on the borders of China, Tajikistan and Pakistan.
    97_Afghanistan_Pamir_0727_MM8120_120...jpg
  • Chinor rushes inside the family home. With winter approaching, most time will be spent indoors..Camp of Ortobil, Manara (Sufi camp), near the borders with China and Tajikistan.
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  • Ayeem Khan, Mamalai's daughter, feeding a sick goat kept inside the house..Inside Mamalai's home - an opium addict, father of Daryo Boi..The Kyrgyz settlement of Ech Keli, above Chaqmaqtin lake, Er Ali Boi's camp...Trekking through the high altitude plateau of the Little Pamir mountains, where the Afghan Kyrgyz community live all year, on the borders of China, Tajikistan and Pakistan.
    97_Afghanistan_Pamir_0356_MM8120_120...jpg
  • Chinor wears the traditional 6-braids of an unmarried girl - she will have 2 long braids when married. For practical reasons the braids are buttoned to the back of her dress, keeping the long hair out of the way as she does her various chores around camp...Daily life at the Khan (chief) summer camp of Kara Jylga...Trekking through the high altitude plateau of the Little Pamir mountains (average 4200 meters) , where the Afghan Kyrgyz community live all year, on the borders of China, Tajikistan and Pakistan.
    97_Afghanistan_Pamir_0663_MM8120_120...jpg
  • Women often wear several watches. "I was given a watch for my wedding - it broke. Then my mother in law gave me a new one, so now I have 2 on my wrist" says Rosman's wife. Khan's summer camp...Daily life at the Khan (chief) summer camp of Kara Jylga...Trekking through the high altitude plateau of the Little Pamir mountains (average 4200 meters) , where the Afghan Kyrgyz community live all year, on the borders of China, Tajikistan and Pakistan.
    97_Afghanistan_Pamir_0617_MM8120_120...jpg
  • Under the gaze of President Karzai, a lazy morning at the Khan's winter house. The Kyrgyz are notoriously fractious and independent-minded. They don't often rally around a leader. A Kyrgyz joke goes that if you put three people in a yurt and come back an hour later, you'll find five Khans. They respect President Karzai's authority but hold little hope that the central government can help them improving their living conditions...At the Qyzyl Qorum camp. It is the camp of the now deceased Khan (Abdul Rashid Khan, died in December 2009), and headed by the self proclaimed young Haji Roshan Khan (his son). Opium addicted Haji Roshan was never officially stated Khan and is therefore not accepted as leader by the entire Kyrgyz community. Near the Afghan-China border..Pirum Verde (from Ech Keli) is sleeping late...Trekking through the high altitude plateau of the Little Pamir mountains, where the Afghan Kyrgyz community live all year, on the borders of China, Tajikistan and Pakistan.
    97_Afghanistan_Pamir_0414_MM8120_120...jpg
  • Khaltcha and Abdul Muttalib smoke opium several times a day - like approximately 20% of the Kyrgyz. ?We started smoking when we lost our first child? says Abdul, ?Every year, one of our children would die? - often from diseases easily treatable elsewhere. Only one, a son, survived to age five. Then he, too, passed away. ?We lost 11 children, we are unlucky?. In the Pamir, it is not unusual for parents to lose six or seven children. Most Kyrgyz are extremely unsentimental about death and dying and accept it as an unavoidable part of life. In 2007, Alex Duncan, a British doctor, collected data in the Afghan Pamir and established that child-under-five mortality there was 520 deaths per 1,000 live births (52% mortality), the world's highest rate. Main reasons to this are the intense isolation, the high altitude environment and no access to doctors or health clinics...The Kyrgyz settlement of Tchelab, near Chaqmaqtin lake, Haji Bootoo Boi's camp...Trekking through the high altitude plateau of the Little Pamir mountains, where the Afghan Kyrgyz community live all year, on the borders of China, Tajikistan and Pakistan.
    97_Afghanistan_Pamir_0317_MM8120_120...jpg
  • A Kyrgyz man, Haji Bootoo Boi's brother, is watching Kyrgystan channel on one of the few TV with satellite in the Little Pamir - car batteries are powered by solar energy and run the TV set. The equipment was bought in neighboring Pakistan, a week long journey with a yak caravan..The Kyrgyz settlement of Tchelab, near Chaqmaqtin lake, Haji Bootoo Boi's camp...Trekking through the high altitude plateau of the Little Pamir mountains, where the Afghan Kyrgyz community live all year, on the borders of China, Tajikistan and Pakistan.
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  • Kamol, 7 days old son of Er Ali Boi - Er Ali Boi's two previous wives died in labor. Afghan Kyrgyz community has the world's highest maternal mortality rate..The Kyrgyz settlement of Ech Keli, above Chaqmaqtin lake, Er Ali Boi's camp...Trekking through the high altitude plateau of the Little Pamir mountains, where the Afghan Kyrgyz community live all year, on the borders of China, Tajikistan and Pakistan.
    97_Afghanistan_Pamir_0354_MM8120_120...jpg
  • Khairuddin's father hopes that shaving his son's head?and putting the hair in a ?clean place,? such as a frozen river?will cure the boy's persistent headaches. Although the Kyrgyz are Sunni Muslims, their rituals also reflect other ancient traditions. They believe that evil spirits cause many medical problems...The Kyrgyz settlement of Tchelab, near Chaqmaqtin lake, Haji Bootoo Boi's camp...Trekking through the high altitude plateau of the Little Pamir mountains, where the Afghan Kyrgyz community live all year, on the borders of China, Tajikistan and Pakistan.
    97_Afghanistan_Pamir_0303_MM8120_120...jpg
  • Kher-u Din throwing his hairs outside near his house, in a clean place (as opposed to throwing them in the garbage or in the oven), a Kyrgyz tradition..Although the Kyrgyz are Sunni Muslims, their rituals also reflect other ancient traditions. They believe that evil spirits cause many medical problems...The young Kher-u Din is getting a haircut: his head will be shaved to "cure" a persistent headache...The Kyrgyz settlement of Tchelab, near Chaqmaqtin lake, Haji Bootoo Boi's camp...Trekking through the high altitude plateau of the Little Pamir mountains, where the Afghan Kyrgyz community live all year, on the borders of China, Tajikistan and Pakistan.
    97_Afghanistan_Pamir_0306_MM8120_120...jpg
  • Kids are happy with the only football in the Afghan Pamir, brought by an anthropologist in 2010...At the Qyzyl Qorum camp. It is the camp of the now deceased Khan (Abdul Rashid Khan, died in December 2009), and headed by the self proclaimed young Haji Roshan Khan (his son). Opium addicted Haji Roshan was never officially stated Khan and is therefore not accepted as leader by the entire Kyrgyz community. Near the Afghan-China border...Trekking through the high altitude plateau of the Little Pamir mountains, where the Afghan Kyrgyz community live all year, on the borders of China, Tajikistan and Pakistan.
    97_Afghanistan_Pamir_0420_MM8120_120...jpg
  • A young boy plays while the family cloth are drying, laid out on the summer grass...The Kyrgyz settlement of Tchelab, near Chaqmaqtin lake, Haji Bootoo Boi's camp...Trekking through the high altitude plateau of the Little Pamir mountains (average 4200 meters) , where the Afghan Kyrgyz community live all year, on the borders of China, Tajikistan and Pakistan.
    97_Afghanistan_Pamir_0558_MM8120_120...jpg
  • Early winter night. It gets down to -40C in winter, which can last up to 8 months in the Pamir..In and around Ech Keli, Er Ali Boi's camp, one of the richest Kyrgyz in the Little Pamir...Trekking with yak caravan through the Little Pamir where the Afghan Kyrgyz community live all year, on the borders of China, Tajikistan and Pakistan.
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  • A Snow leopard track..Snow leopards are rare in the Pamir Plateau, but more present in the lower valleys...Trekking up the Wakhan frozen river, the only way up to reach the high altitude Little Pamir plateau, home of the Afghan Kyrgyz community.
    97_Afghanistan_Pamir_0252_MM8120_120...jpg
  • The mighty Pamir mountains, the frozen Chaqmaqtin Lake and a herd of yaks...Trekking through the high altitude plateau of the Little Pamir mountains, where the Afghan Kyrgyz community live all year, on the borders of China, Tajikistan and Pakistan.
    97_Afghanistan_Pamir_0469_MM8120_120...jpg
  • An opium dealer makes his way on slippery ground. In winter everything is frozen solid, including the young Amu Darya river. For most of the year, the only way to access the Afghan Pamir is by walking up this frozen river. The dangers are real, and people regularly die by falling through the ice or getting hit by avalanches...Between Kher Metek and Mirzo Murad shepherd house...Trekking down the Wakhan frozen river, the only way down to leave the high altitude Little Pamir plateau, home of the Afghan Kyrgyz community.
    97_Afghanistan_Pamir_0485_MM8120_120...jpg
  • A caravan leader looks for water under the thick sheets of ice covering the Wakhan river. No luck: he will have to melt snow for his tea...Shepherd place names Kher Metek...Going back down to Sarhad village with a yak caravan led by 2 Wakhi traders: Shur Ali and Roz Ali...Trekking down the Wakhan frozen river, the only way down to leave the high altitude Little Pamir plateau, home of the Afghan Kyrgyz community.
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  • Crossing a pass during the 5 day winter journey out of the Pamir plateau, down to the lower valley..Up and over the Shower pass..Between Zang Kuk and  Zard-e Bar shepherd house..Going back down to Sarhad village with a yak caravan led by 2 Wakhi traders: Shur Ali and Roz Ali...Trekking down the Wakhan frozen river, the only way down to leave the high altitude Little Pamir plateau, home of the Afghan Kyrgyz community.
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