ISLAMABAD, June 26: As preparations for the Shandur polo festival get underway, an event of the Wakhi migrant community settled in Chitral’s Boroghil valley near the Wakhan border is also attracting tourists towards a hitherto unexplored exotic culture.

The people of the area have been celebrating the event for the last five years on the ancient Silk Route in collaboration with some non-government organisations. The festival is held near the famous Kurumbar Lake and the 33-km-long Chiantar glacier.

The valley with its population of about 1,500 people shares its borders with Wakhan corridor of Afghanistan via Darwaza pass, with Hunza via Chilingi pass and is linked with Ishkoman valley through Sukhtarabad pass and Yasin valley through the Darkhot pass. The Kurumbar Lake, the source of the Yarkhoon river, links the area with the Pamir Plateau.

The area can truly be called the roof of the world due to its location in the middle of Pamir sliced among the borders of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and China.

Talking to Dawn, Murad Akbar Raza of HOAP, which has sponsored the event, said the event would help the local people preserve their unique culture besides promoting tourism in the area.