Foreign Exchange

For hundreds of years, the nomadic Kyrgyz people used the highlands of the Little Pamir on the Afghanistan–Pakistan border as their summer quarters, feeding their livestock on the rich grasses that grow there

Then, during the 18th century, Russian advances into Central Asia saw around 30,000 settle in their summer quarters permanently. Living at such high elevations – often in excess of 4,000 metres – the Kyrgyz are unable to grow crops. Instead, they trade their yaks for flour and other staples with the Wakhis, an ethnic minority living at lower elevations in Pakistan. This trade involves the Kyrgyz undertaking week-long treks with their yak caravans along treacherous mountain tracks. Photographer Matthieu Paley joined one such caravan as it made its way back to the Little Pamir over one of the many 5,000-metre passes that span the Afghanistan–Pakistan border.