On the cusp of six borders

Bordered by China, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan lies at the very heart of Asia. Home to more than 32 million people, a quarter of its population lives in large urban centres such as Mazar-e Sharif (pictured), located 320km north-west of the capital Kabul. The fourth-largest city in the country, its centrepiece is the Shrine of Hazrit Ali – a masterpiece of Islamic architecture, which, according to local legend, is the burial place of Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad. The shrine is also renowned for its flocks of white doves. Locals believe that a small speck of another colour on a bird's feathers will instantly turn pure white when in the sacred building's vicinity. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

A remote corridor

Some 600km to the east of Mazar-e Sharif, the Wakhan Corridor (pictured) is a world apart from the rest of the country, both culturally and geographically. This 350km-long panhandle, in the region of Badakhshan, sits at the convergence of three of the world's major mountain ranges: the Hindu Kush, the Karakoram and the Pamirs – known as the Pamir Knot."This is about as far away from the noise, the traffic and the muezzin's call to prayer of urban Afghanistan as you can get," said James Willcox of untamedborders.com, one of just a few adventure travel companies in the world that arranges trips to the region. "It is barely habited and hard to get to; few people even know of its existence. It's undoubtedly one of the remotest, and most beautiful places in the whole of Asia." (Credit: Simon Urwin)

A rural life

Scattered along the Wakhan Corridor are small rural settlements like Khandud (pictured), their simple houses made of stone, mud and timber. Some of the larger villages are connected by a single dirt track, often made impassible by the waters of the River Panj."Very few people have their own car in the Wakhan, but we have community transport – as well as donkeys, and our feet, of course," said Azim Ziahee, a resident of the market town of Ishkashim, located 80km away at the Corridor's western end. "The Wakhan still remains very cut-off though. Some villages are more than four days' walk to Ishkashim. The nearest big town from here – Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan – is a three-day drive. The isolation keeps the corridor like a time capsule. We look over to the border towards Tajikistan, with its electricity, paved roads and mobile phone signal, and say that it's like looking 100 years into the future." (Credit: Simon Urwin)

Home of the Wakhi

For more than 2,500 years, the Wakhan Corridor has been the homeland of the Wakhi people and is now home to a population of around 12,000. While the majority of Afghans are conservative Sunni Muslims, the Wakhi are Ismailis, who belong to the Shia branch of Islam. Here, women do not wear the burqa, and there are no mosques; instead, the Wakhi visit jamatkhanas (houses of prayer that also serve as community halls for conducting village business)."Ismailis are considered less strict than Sunnis," said Willcox. "For example, in the Wakhan, a Western male visitor can ask permission to take a woman's photograph without causing offence. Elsewhere in Afghanistan that would be unthinkable. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

The rhythm of life

The Wakhi are farmers, cultivating wheat, barley, peas, potatoes, and apple and apricot trees in the semi-arid conditions of the corridor; their fields fed by melt water from mountain glaciers. Wealthier families have sheep and goats along with a few camels, yaks, horses and donkeys."Every June, the Wakhi take their livestock to summer pastures, up as high as 4,500m, where the animals grow fat on the rich grass," said Ziahee. "The migration is called the 'kuch'. We also have the 'Chinir', which is our festival in early August to celebrate the start of the barley harvest. In the towns of Afghanistan, the five daily prayers form the structure of the day, but here, we feel a great connection to the land, and whilst we pray daily, the rhythm of life revolves more around the fields, the seasons and nature." (Credit: Simon Urwin)

A centuries-old tradition

One of the most distinctive traditions of the Wakhan is the centuries-old game of buzkhasi, sometimes described as rugby on horseback with the body of a goat as a ball. Thought to be an early pre-cursor to polo, buzkashi has no rules and no sides. There is certainly no sense of "fair play", as competitors will punch and whip each other in an effort to steal the goat, and broken bones are not uncommon."The Wakhi villages love to play each other, especially at Nawruz, which is the Afghan New Year," Ziahee explained. "But here it's different to other parts of Afghanistan. Elsewhere, buzkashi is more political – put on to show the power of the elite, or by a politician as a way to win votes. Here, it is all about the competition and the community. It is one of many things that makes the Wakhan so unique." (Credit: Simon Urwin)

Untouched by tourism

While Afghanistan's security situation dictates that much of the country is off-limits to foreigners, the corridor's relative safety, alongside its pristine mountain scenery and well-preserved Wakhi culture, has seen its appeal with off-the-beaten-trackers grow markedly in recent years."At first there were only a handful of visitors," said Ade Summers, an adventure guide who has led nine expeditions to the Wakhan. "Over a decade, that's slowly grown to up to 600 people a year. It's a privilege to visit somewhere so untouched by mainstream tourism, where you can engage with people who still relish their traditional way of life. As you journey along the Wakhan, not only is it very beautiful, every step you take is like turning the pages of a fascinating history book." (Credit: Simon Urwin)

Part of the Silk Road

For hundreds of years, the Wakhan Corridor was an important route for merchants travelling along the Silk Road, the trade route that emerged in the 1st and 2nd Centuries BCE linking China with the Mediterranean."Those merchants carried Chinese silk, Persian silver, Roman gold and Afghan lapis lazuli, mined here in the Badakhshan region," said Summers. "We find rock art detailing the road's history, such as petroglyphs of camels walking in single file as a trade caravan." Travellers and pilgrims followed in the merchants' footsteps. "Marco Polo is said to have passed through here on his way to China in the 13th Century, also Alexander the Great. We can still see the remains of historic travellers' shelters known as rabats, as well as ancient Buddhist stupas." (Credit: Simon Urwin)

A strategic place

In the late 19th Century, the Wakhan Corridor played a key role in the so-called "Great Game" between Great Britain and Russia. "When the Russians and the British were fighting for control of Central Asia, Afghanistan was hugely strategic,", said Willcox. "The Wakhan's current boundaries were formed in 1893 to create a buffer zone to prevent both parties' territories from touching each other – in this case, the British Raj and the Tsarist Russian empire. It eventually turned an old trade route into a cul-de-sac. More recent, history has seen the Wakhan caught up in the Cold War; and now the latest changes in geopolitics will have perhaps an unexpected consequence, with China's Belt and Road Initiative turning it into an important trade route once again." (Credit: Simon Urwin)

New construction

Until recently, the dirt track from Ishkashim reached only as far as Sarhad-e Broghil in the centre of the Corridor. Onward travel east was only possible by foot or with pack animals. Now though, with Belt and Road construction, the track has been extended by some 75km, as far as the village of Bozai Gumbaz, around three quarters of the way along the Wakhan."It follows an old trading route that the Kyrgyz nomads take to get to Sarhad from where they live around Chaqmaqtin Lake," said Summers. "The bulldozers have come in, and while they've only constructed something the size of a farmer's track, the potential consequences are much bigger. The Chinese are said to be building the stretch that will eventually connect their border with Bozai Gumbaz, something that will open up the cul-de-sac once more. Ultimately, it will give China great access to the markets of Central Asia and beyond." (Credit: Simon Urwin)

Mixed emotions

Ziahee says that the people of the Wakhan have mixed feelings about the road's potential impact. "Some things will be good for us," he said. "We will be able to buy goats from China which will be much cheaper than from the market in Ishkashim. We hope to have access to better healthcare, too. At the moment, many of our facilities are very limited. But we worry that the unique Wakhi culture and slow way of life will be changed forever. We love the silence and beautiful nature, but fear that it will be destroyed by traffic pollution. Building a road takes a long time in the mountains, but we think in the next year or so it will be completed. Both the Chinese and Afghan governments want it to happen. Only time will tell what the future holds for us as a result." (Credit: Simon Urwin)