Halfway up the Hindu Kush

I received the following from a friend, David, who I met in Afghanistan. He is hoping to start up travel tourism in the remote Wakhan corridor, home of Marco Polo Sheep in Badakhshan, along the Amu Darya (Oxus River). He is part of Mountain Unity a non-profit organisation that promotes travel tourism in NE Afghanistan. 

Follow the link below to watch a film about Mountain Unity's fact finding trip to the Afghan Hindu Kush where we investigated how tourism could bring development and stability to the peaceful far north east of the country.

Video: Tourism in the Afghan Hindu Kush  (don't forget to select "watch in high definition" on the bottom right of the screen.)

Video:  Visit the Wakhan Corridor       

Website:    mountainunity                 

Tourism may sound like a crazy idea but already Mountain Wilderness, the Aga Khan Foundation, GTZ, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Wildlife Conservation Society and a number of other organisations have recognised the potential of climbing and trekking in the Wakhan Corridor and invested in building infrastructure and capacity.

Tour operators have been successfully running fully booked tours into the Wakhan for a number of years and mountaineers are returning to take advantage of the good weather, short approaches and numerous unclimbed routes.

Why not visit the site and leave your comments. Who knows maybe one day you'll be, in the words of Katie Melua,   'Halfway up the Hindu Kush'