Deadliest Roads | Pakistan: In the Valley of the Immortals

[dexter]

In the far north of Pakistan, on the borders of China and Afghanistan, the Hunza valley clings to the foothills of the Himalayas. During the winter the villages above 3500 metres in altitude, are cut off from the rest of the world. Only a few precipitous tracks cut through the schist of the mountain. These tracks are the only food supply routes for the villages of Shimshal or Chipoorson. Raymond and Mohammad are among the very few drivers daring enough to venture on these roads covered with snow and black ice. The slightest slip and their vehicle, 4×4 or minibus, will drop 800m off the cliff. A few kilometres from the Chinese border, nestled in the hollow of the Hunza mountains, the Wakhi villages perpetuate their ancestral traditions, such as that of the Buzkashi, a fierce game where acrobatic horse-riders fight over the carcass of a goat.