Having realised how much time, effort and money we will be investing just to get a visa to enter pakistan we have decided to spend a whole month there instead of doing Pakistan and Thailand together.
Now we have more time one thing I'm particularly interested in is the winter festival (Chamos) in the Kalash Valleys.
How accessable is this to non Kalashas? I've read that outsiders have to be ritually cleansed before being admitted, does this need to be done before Chamos begins, the earliest date I can leave the UK is Dec 17th and the next flight to Chitral after that is 19th, so we would be looking at enjoying the final four days of Chamos.
Are Foreigners currently allowed to stay overnight in the valleys, last time I was in Pakistan was Autumn 2010 and the situation regarding travel to this region was in flux, for some weeks foreigners weren't permitted at all, then briefly just on day visits then overnight but with an escort, all these changes occued over the course of two months and I have no idea what the situation is now.
Temperatures? I know it will be cold, the only question is how cold (not that it'll put us off)
I understand that flights are cancelled more frequently in Winter, how often does this happen on average, the PIA website lists only three flights a week in December, so if its cancelled we'll be in for a long wait and may miss the whole festival.
After the festival it will be Christmas in looking for somewhere a bit special to spend Christmas day and Boxing day I stumbled accross the Naghar fort guesthouse about halfway between Chitral and the Lowari pass, does anyone know wether they are open in the low season?
I know thats a lot of questions, thanks to anyone who takes the time to answer them.
Jeraboa
Edited by: Jeraboa
