#ishkashim

Portrait of an afghan girl, Badakhshan province, Ishkashim, Afghanistan. Taken on August 9, 2016.

Afghan man cutting his beard in the street, Badakhshan province, Ishkashim, Afghanistan. Taken on August 9, 2016.

Portrait of a wakhi nomad mother with her daughter, Big pamir, Wakhan, Afghanistan. Taken on August 11, 2016

Wakhi mother and her daughter in the Big Pamir, Afghanistan. Want to meet them too? Easy: fly Dushanbe in Tadjikistan, drive 2 days on the most awful off roads to Khorog, then drive to afghan border in Ishkashim. Add one day drive to Uzed (awful road too) then rent yacks, and walk for 2 days to reach them at 4500 m in the mountain...Those people live in the worst conditions you can imagine, with only their sheeps and yacks, and they say they are poor but happy...

Men riding a motorcycle in the streets of the market, Badakhshan province, Ishkashim, Afghanistan. Taken on August 9, 2016.

Afghan teenage girl with nice eyes, Badakhshan province, Khandood, Afghanistan. Taken on August 13, 2016

Afghanistan, without the burka. In the area i visited, Pamir, the burka that covers the full body is used by women when they go out of their homes, or when they go in the Ishkashim market, runned by Sunnis men, who are very conservative (they call them the long beard). In this area, most of the people are Ismaili, following the rules of Aga Khan, praying 2 times a day, not going to the mosque...

Women wearing burkas in the market buying clothes, Badakhshan province, Ishkashim, Afghanistan. Taken on August 9, 2016

Ishkashim is a small settlement located in the beginning of the Wakhan corridor, where the Pamir Highway branches out to the south. It is home to 2900 people, most of whom consider themselves Pamirians. The settlement at a height of 2500 m above sea level lies in the picturesque valley surrounded by Pamir and Gindukush mountains right on the border with Afghanistan. The river Panj divides it from the village with the same name on the Afghan side. These two settlements are connected by a bridge where they sometimes have Sunday markets.

Some linguists assume that the name “Ishkashim” comes from a gradual transformation of the toponym “Shikashim” which in its turn, stems from the word combination “Saka” and “sim” that meant in Indo-Arian languages “Land of Saks”. This is grounded by the fact that Saka tribes did indeed live in the Wakhan corridor.