Meeting the Kalasha: a guide's notes on travelling with respect
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Meeting the Kalasha: a guide's notes on travelling with respect

Imran Baig · 4 March 2026

How to visit one of the world's most ancient surviving cultures without being another tourist who takes and takes.

The Kalash valleys of Chitral receive around 50,000 visitors a year. The Kalash people number fewer than 4,000. That ratio should give every visitor pause.

I have led groups into Bumburet, Rumbur, and Birir for eleven years. In that time I have seen tourists photograph women without asking, film ceremonies they were asked not to film, and haggle aggressively over handicrafts that represent weeks of work.