Chitral itself was another small, one-street town with nada to do or see. We were supposed to have time to explore the area. I think we finally had a hotel but arrived so late at night we couldn't enjoy it. On to the Kalash valley, a very long bumpy drive through a canyon.

Once in the Kalash Valley, a new camping site...and to say the Kalash valley was a letdown would be an understatement... One day of admiring their native dress and homes would have been enough. There was supposed to be a big song-and-dance along with festivities one evening. To see this meant another one-hour drive in each direction. ex-Marine and I took a pass and just laid around in our tent completely exhausted. Several hours later the group returned in hysterics. A two-hour drive for nothing. The Kalash decided not to entertain that night.

The Kalash (Nuristani: Kasivo) or Kalasha, are an ethnic group of the Hindu Kush, who settled in the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan. They speak the Kalash language.

Some of the children were very fair and some scholars think that the Kalash they also may be direct descendants of Alexander the Great's army. (His troops were everywhere.) Blond hair and/or light eyes were not unusual and this little boy was my favorite...blonde hair, blue eyes and very dirty face...