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A Day on Khyber Pass

Peshawar sits at the base of one of the most historic passes in the world. For millenia, invaders of the subcontinent have tried to take Khyber Pass. For millenia, they have been turned back in the pass, which at its narrowest point is only about 15 meters (a bit more than 16 yards) across.

The drive up Khyber pass can be dangerous. The road is a small strip of Pakistani- controlled land through the tribal territories, an area only nominally part of Pakistan. This area of the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan is very porous, because of the tribal lands on each side. A trip up Kyhber Pass by foreigners requires permission from the military, which provides an armed escort to minimize the danger from snipers.

The Khyber Pass appears to have been carved by streams and flash floods over the years. The power of the water that must occasionally flow through here is immense, to have carved this canyon.

The reward at the top, on a brilliant February day, is a view of the Hindu Kush, 200 kilometers (120 miles) distant. The road in the center of the picture leads down into Afghanistan, where the customs checkpoints can be seen in the distance. With binoculars, one can see the containers filled with merchandise waiting to be smuggled into Pakistan.

A "smuggler's warehouse," where goods smuggled over from Afghanistan are loaded onto the backs of human "mules" for final transport through tribal lands into Pakistan. The day we went up, thousands of white-clad men could be seen carrying piles of boxes on their backs along the mountain trails near the road.

The sword dance, performed by the Khyber Rifles for the benefit of the esteemed visitors to Khyber Pass (that's us).