Chitral in the far north of Pakistan stands out for its idyllic scenery and majestic Hindukush mountains surrounding it. The over 8000 metre snow-capped Trichmir Peak also peeps over them into the valleys spread over about 15000 square kilometres and inhabited by Sunni Muslims as well as some 30 per cent Ismaili Muslims. Chitral is also the doorway to Bumburet (Kafiristan) valley, where the roughly 4000 Kailash tribesmen are fighting threats of extinction and invasion into their culture.
The region is plagued with problems but also full of prospects of prosperity; the town itself is all right if compared with most of the regions around it. Abject poverty, even in Ismaili-dominated villages, difficult access inhospitable cratered roads, little social infrastructure, is writ large on the faces and bodies of underfed inhabitants, embodiments of helplessness.
Ismailimail 