Afghanistan Wild Shepherdess with Kate Humble

Go on! Yeah, yeah, yeah!

-Like that?

-LAUGHTER

Look at me. I'm covered.

'In the most remote places on Earth,

'people depend on their animals for survival.

'A few years ago, I moved to a farm in the Welsh hills.

'I've become fascinated by the bond between shepherd and flock.

'Now, I'm going to explore this relationship's ancient origins.'

I could have been standing here 500 years ago

and witnessed exactly that same scene.

'And I want to look at the future of herding.'

There is sex going on in every direction.

Have I just made a sheep?

'My journey begins in the mountains of Afghanistan.'

The air has a real biting chill to it.

'The shepherds here live as they have done for a thousand years.'

They're such a smooth ride.

They seem to have built-in shock absorbers.

It is an exhausting way of life and it's very cold

and I would do almost anything for a hot bath.

The admiration that I have for these people really knows no bounds.

'I want to look back in time, to experience an ancient way of life,

'and see if it still has a place in the 21st century.'

'I'm in transit, heading to the airport

'and driving along one of the most dangerous roads in the world.

'Three days ago, a suicide bomber killed 12 ex-pat workers

'a couple of miles from here.

'Kabul is a city on the edge.'

This is the riskiest thing, probably, that we're doing

on our whole three-week trip.

You're told all the things to look out for

and all the things not to do and, erm...

but once you're here, you still feel slightly helpless

even though you've put everything in place

to try and make sure that things are safe.

'Being here is really unnerving, but I have to pass through Kabul

'to get to some of the most traditional shepherds on Earth.'

We're now entering the airport complex, by the looks of things,

and, erm, you can see, maybe, that it's bristling with security.

But, cars piled up in one place, does that make us a target?

You just don't know.

'After five security checks, we finally get to our charter plane.

'That's the most stressful part of the journey over,

'but it's going to take me two more days

'to get to the shepherds I want to live with.'

We're going to fly 250 kilometres north-east to the Wakhan Corridor.

By all accounts, it's a spectacular flight through the mountains

and it's going to take us to one of the most remote

and unexplored regions of Afghanistan.

'This rugged land is one of the last places in the world

'where you can find truly traditional shepherds

'whose way of life goes back to ancient times.'

When you look across at all this incredible natural beauty,

it's hard to think that when you say the word "Afghanistan"

to almost anybody, all they think about is war and strife and terror,

and yet...from here,

it just looks like a place of indescribable mountainous beauty.

'We're flying across the western edge of the Himalayas,

'heading towards the Wakhan Corridor,

'home of the Wakhi shepherds.

'This narrow slither of mountainous Afghani territory

'is a legacy of 19th century imperial rivalry.

'Britain and Russia declared that their empires must never meet

'and so the Wakhan Corridor was created as a neutral buffer zone

'between what is now Tajikistan and Pakistan.'

We are literally, apparently, somewhere near the airstrip.

I can't see it. All I can see is rocks and mountains

and this crazy landscape.

Oh, my God!

And we're on the ground.

Wow. We're in the Wakhan...

..and there's even a welcoming party.

Do you want to take it?

-Salaam.

-Salaam.

Salaam alaikum.

Salaam alaikum.

'This region is so remote, it was never captured by the Taliban.

'There are no soldiers here, no guns.

'This feels like a completely different country -

'a different world to Kabul.'

It's ready? OK. Well, I'm ready.

Let's go.

This man, his name?

Shambey? Shambey.

-Shambey.

-Ah, Shambey.

'We drive up the Wakhan Valley, passing donkeys and cows.

'But, as yet, there's no sign of any sheep or any shepherds.

'We're now 3,000 metres above sea level.

'It feels like the roof of the world.'

The air is clear and crisp and sharp

and a landscape that just takes your breath away.

You don't really think there are places like this left in the world.

Down in the valley here is the heartland of the Wakhan communities

but no sign of the sheep that basically allow these people

to survive in a spectacular but, nonetheless, harsh environment.

So where are those sheep?

Well, in the summer, they're driven up, staggeringly,

over those mountains into what is called the Big Pamir -

these huge valleys.

To go and find the Wakhan shepherds, I've got to go there too.

'The Wakhi have lived in this valley for 2,500 years or more.

'Wheat is the staple crop and mid-September is harvest time.

'It feels like I've stepped into the Middle Ages.

'The valley is only a few miles wide.

'There's no room to graze sheep as well as grow crops

'so, earlier in the summer, the Wakhi divided into two teams.

'Some stayed down here in their villages to farm,

'while others went up to the mountain pastures to herd.

'It's a tough, 20-mile trek up to the shepherds.

'The film crew and I are not exactly travelling light

'so we've hired some pack animals and their owners

'to help us on the final leg of our journey.'

We've got nine yaks and four horses

but there's me, there's the crew, and then our support team

and all the guys who are looking after their animals.

Suddenly, our little band has swollen to a good number of people.

'Yaks are the Wakhis' 4x4s.

'These hairy, cow-like beasts can cover almost any terrain,

'though at a rather gentle, sedate pace.'

It's this route that many of the Wakhan shepherds

will take at the beginning of every summer...

..to bring their flocks up to the good grazing lands.

'These mountain paths were once used by merchants

'following the Silk Road from Europe to China.

'Marco Polo passed close by.

'He described how wild animal horns marked the route

'and it doesn't look like much has changed

'since he was here almost 800 years ago.

'After trekking for six hours, we're halfway to the summer pastures.

'We stop for the night at a shepherds' hut.'

'I wake up to a light dusting of snow.

'My first night under canvas was very cold

'and the thin mountain air is having a strange effect on my body.'

I'm doing this because we're at 4,000 metres

and I always swell up at altitude. It's nice isn't it?

'But there's no time to worry about a puffy face.'

If snow has reached the areas where the shepherds are,

they might be thinking about packing up and moving to lower elevations

so the big worry at this stage is that we've done this climb

for nothing, and that the shepherds would have already moved.

'I want to get to the pastures as soon as possible

'so we pick up the pace.

'We stop to rest the animals

'and I show the men some pictures from my farm.'

LAUGHTER

These are Welsh sheep, not Wakhan sheep!

'With all the troubles in the rest of Afghanistan,

'I want to know what life is like for the Wakhi.'

Is it very hard up in the mountains?

'The Wakhi may be far from the horrors of war,

'but living here is by no means easy.

'At 4,600 metres

'we get our first spectacular view of the mountain pastures

'known as the Big Pamir.'

This is what we've climbed to see.

This giant U-shaped valley,

a flat expanse of rich grazing land

and every bit of it will be used by the Wakhan shepherds.

'There may be plenty of space for animals

'but it looks more like a moonscape than lush pasture.

'We drop down into the Big Pamir.

'Ahead of us, at last, is Mulung-dhan -

'one of the Wakhis' summer camps.

'I want to find out what it's like to herd in a world

'that is very different from mine.

'And this is a far cry from the Welsh hills.'

The Wakhan have an association and we have one of the members

travelling with us and he's gone ahead on a horse

to let the village know that we are arriving

and, hopefully, to give us permission to enter the village.

As you can see, there are definitely sheep here so that's a good thing.

However, what's not so good is what's coming along the valley

behind us, which looks like the beginnings of a snowstorm.

So I think we have to hope that they will let us stay

at least for one night.

Salaam alaikum.

Salaam.

'We've been given the OK to stay in the camp.'

Salaam alaikum.

Wow.

Salaam alaikum.

Salaam alaikum.

Salaam alaikum.

So this is your son?

Yeah. And this...?

And your son. And this...?

This is your husband.

I love their decoration.

'Some old sweet wrappers add a splash of colour to the yurt.

'Choi - local tea - is prepared.'

So this is salt?

-This is milk.

-Yeah.

-This is tea.

-Yeah.

'Salty tea may not sound very appetising,

'but I'm desperate for a cuppa.'

Oh...so good.

What's the word for...?

What is it? Hod...? For good?

Delicious?

'Flat bread, baked in the fire, is handed out.'

-Very nice bread.

-Very nice bread.

'Visitors, however unexpected, are always made to feel welcome.'

How often do you do the milking?

Shall I come and help you?

-Yes.

-Is that OK?

-Yes.

You must be my teacher!

The sheep and the yaks are just coming in for the night.

And they go into the enclosures, is that right? Yeah.

Why do you bring them in at night?

'There's a price to pay

'for bringing animals up to this mountain wilderness.

'Predators.

'The temperature plummets to -15 degrees centigrade.

'It's too cold for the shepherds to stay up and guard their animals

'but the flock is not without protection.

'Dogs have taken care of the nightshift.

'These are not pets. They spend their lives outside.

'And their ears are clipped short

'so predators cannot latch onto them in a fight.

'As well as wolves, the shepherds and their dogs

'need to protect the flock from snow leopards and bears.'

What is the most dangerous animal for you

when you are living up here in the Pamir?

'Last year, wolves killed eight animals here in Mulung-dhan.

'The Wakhis' herds are key to their survival, and this kind of loss

'can seriously affect a family's chance

'of making it through the winter.

'Every day, just after sunrise, the herd is driven out onto the hills.'

I'm going out today with one of the men of the village,

Panchambey, whose name means "Thursday".

'Only a few of these animals actually belong to Panchambey.

'The men take it in turns to go out shepherding

'so today he's in charge of the whole flock,

'all 200 of them.

'We climb up the valley, far from the camp,

'but I can't see any improvement in the pasture.

'The grass is still low, brown and scrubby.'

This isn't a lush green Welsh pasture like my sheep are used to

and, yet, these animals look like they are in the peak of condition -

they are fat, they look healthy

and something that I'm incredibly envious of

is that not a single one of them is limping.

'It's been really wet back at home.

'My sheep have been plagued by foot rot.

'But none of these animals are showing any sign of it.

'Sheep were first domesticated in the hills of Turkey, Iran

'and Iraq around 12,000 years ago,

'and they do seem to thrive in this kind of dry, mountainous terrain.'

Come on, you lot at the back!

'But summer is nearly over. There is a long, lean winter ahead.

'These sheep have adapted to a life of feast and famine

'by storing reserves in their fatty hind-quarters.'

There you go.

I still quite can't get over this.

Something vaguely obscene about those bottoms!

'After a morning grazing on the slopes,

'the animals are brought back to the camp to be milked.

'One of the women, Nisa,

'is struggling to get used to our strange ways.'

'Young animals are kept apart from their mothers during the day,

'to stop them drinking all the milk, but they are briefly reunited now.'

They allow the lambs to keep feeding...

..to stimulate the production of the milk

but they also take some themselves.

'It's a very efficient system. Lambs are kept happy and healthy

'and the women get as much milk as possible.'

There's something really lovely about being with people

who handle animals with such...

sort of, confidence and... I mean, it really is second nature.

'These sheep are much tamer than the ones on my farm.

'I only breed mine for meat so they're hardly ever handled

'and I never milk them.

So, will you explain, what do I do?

OK, so you take the udder,

Like this?

Like that? Yeah.

Oh, it's working.

Is this good? What do you think?

Very slow.

Nothing there!

So this one is done now?

You can see already she's got impatient with my pathetic efforts.

'The animals are driven back out onto the slopes.

'They'll spend the rest of the day grazing

'before they're brought home for the night.

'The next job is bread baking.

'First, we need fuel for the fire.

'There are no trees up this high,

'but there's a never-ending supply of yak dung.'

'The herders come back to this camp every year

'so there are stone huts here as well as yurts.'

It's quite smoky in here, isn't it?

The dung, it makes a lot of smoke in your eyes.

So it is flour, water, salt.

The lid goes on.

So you put the hot dung on top of the lid and that cooks the bread.

Bread with tea is the Wakhi staple.

It's the only thing many people eat for breakfast, lunch,

and dinner, day after day, week after week.

'Traders from the west of the province arrive in camp.

'It's taken them 25 days to cross the mountains.'

Why did you come here?

So are there many traders like you

that come to this area to buy animals?

Do you come here because the Wakhi people have very good animals?

'These men may get a good deal up here,

'but this is the only way the Wakhi have of earning any money.

'Nisa has a few yaks, and she sold one to the trader.'

So are you happy today because you sold a yak?

-She said, I'm unhappy.

-You are unhappy? Why?

So she... This was a good yak for her? She didn't want to sell?

'As well as providing everyday necessities like milk and wool,

'the family's animals can be cashed in when times are hard.

'As long as they have their herd, they have the means to survive.'

-She wants you to spin the wool.

-I might break it. I might break it.

LAUGHTER

How do I do it? It's gone very thick here.

You're not helping at all.

'The shepherds are highly mobile,

'migrating as the cold weather starts to set in.

'The Wakhi call these journeys the "kuch"

'and I've come here at the end of summer hoping to take part in one.

'Mulung-dhan is low down and sheltered

'and no-one has any plans to move yet.

'But we've heard there is another camp

'where the people are getting ready to make a kuch

'so we pack our bags and say our goodbyes.'

Thank you.

The village that we're heading to now is the highest of all of them.

It's tucked right up at the base of the mountains at the snow line...

..so if anyone's thinking of moving for the winter,

I would imagine it would be this community that moves first.

'Our destination is 4,500 metres above sea level

'and is the most remote settlement in the Big Pamir.'

We're getting our first glimpse of the village now...

..and it is noticeably higher, not just because my legs ache

but because the air has a real biting chill to it.

The sun may be bright

but the wind is coming straight off those snowy peaks.

'The village is called Asan Katich.

'About 50 people live here,

'so it's almost twice the size of Mulung-dhan.

'And we're in luck. They're getting ready to move - to make a kuch.

'But there's a problem.

'Yesterday, we sent someone ahead to ask if we could film here,

'and we were given the OK,

'but, now, some of the men seem less keen.

'We spend the rest of the day talking things through,

'waiting for a final decision.

'In a way, I totally understand the men's reluctance.

'How would we react if strangers turned up at our homes

'and asked to film us?

'But we were given such a warm welcome back in Mulung-dhan,

'it seems strange that things could be so different up here.'

It may be that this is just a very remote community.

Even their village in the valley is very remote.

They won't have seen a lot of foreigners

and so we think that, quite understandably,

when we all turn up they just think, "What are you doing here?"

And what we hope is that, maybe tomorrow,

they might feel more comfortable about us filming.

'Next morning, things are still a bit tense.

'The men tell us we can film in the camp, but the women are off limits.

'But not everyone is happy with this decision.'

Some of the women in the village have said, "Don't tell a soul.

"Go and get a camera, come and film us."

So that's what I'm going to do.

WHISPERING

'All they are doing is making bread

'but they have a mischievous look in their eye.

'One of the women walks behind me to look at the camera's flip-out screen.'

'I put the camera away before we're discovered.

'Then, a woman called Bakht Begum says she wants to show me

'how to make food for the winter.

'No-one, it seems, tells this lady what she can or cannot do.

'I'm immediately put to work.'

So...in here...

we have boiled milk

and we churn it and what do we make?

-Making the butter now.

-Making the batter now? Ah, OK.

And we have this ingenious system

of a...sort of, paddle, erm...

and this leather strap.

And we're churning it for, I'm not quite sure how long,

I'm not quite sure how long I'm going to be able to last.

She's incredibly strong and very feisty, this woman.

You want me to do it now by myself?

I'm not sure this is going to work. Let's see.

Like that, like that.

It's very hard.

I'm exhausted!

It seems that the summer is the time when all the dairy produce

that they make is all made up here in the mountains

and then stored and taken down to the village for the winter.

'After many hours of churning, the fat of the milk separates out.'

So this is the butter. It comes from here? Aha!

'The remaining butter milk is boiled again for a few hours

'and allowed to cool.

'The water is then squeezed out,

'leaving a moist, yoghurt-like paste called qurut.'

Can I try?

Mmm! Very good,

Very good yoghurt.

So it is a complete dairy - yoghurt, butter.

'Nothing is wasted.

'Stale bread goes into the leftover residue and is given to the dogs.'

The dogs are going to get well fed tonight.

'Everyone's been busy packing up, getting ready for the kuch.

'The chief has come up from the main village in the valley to oversee things.

'Crucially for us, he seems very relaxed that we are here

'and he gives us his full support.

'We're given the OK just as the herd is driven back for milking

'and, as if by magic, the women appear.'

What's so incredible is that you have kids as young as this

all helping, all manoeuvring the sheep and the goats,

and you can see that they literally learn their craft

from the moment they can walk.

'But the young workers do get the odd break.

'Little girls have no dolls to dress

'so they make do with goats instead.'

So our breakthrough came.

I'm so delighted that we're able to film here

and, the day after tomorrow, the whole village is going to move

and we'll get a sense of the true scale of the kuch

when everybody and all their livestock move down into the valley.

'The kuch will move the camp to a lower, more sheltered spot.

'But there's still lots of work to do before we leave.

'The women take to the roof

'for the next stage of winter food production.

'The qurut paste, made from boiled buttermilk,

'has been drained and now needs to dry.'

This, you roll it and put in the sun?

'From milking to churning to drying,

'making qurut is what this time of year is all about.'

So this is an important product

that you make while you're here in the summer?

It actually...it tastes like feta.

It's a kind of salty, soft, almost a cheese.

You don't really taste it like yoghurt.

They're very good.

'The qurut is dried and bagged up. It should last for six months -

'just long enough to see everyone through the winter.'

I don't want it to fall on your head.

'The migration is going to be in two waves.

'An advance party will leave today.

'Everyone else, including Bakht Begum and myself,

'will follow on tomorrow.

'There's a lot of work to be done. The pressure is on.'

Faster? OK.

'Their livestock provide the Wakhi with almost everything they need.

'Wool is compressed into felt panels.

'Yak hair is twisted into ropes.

'And the animals themselves are removal vans.'

You know that feeling when you're trying to pack up the car

and someone says, "Shall I help?", and you just want to go, "No, let me get on and do it."

That's what's happening at the moment.

This guy is saying, "Well, why don't I put this sack on?"

And he's going, "I don't want the sack. I want something else.

"Get that sack!"

LAUGHTER

'The advance party sets off down the Pamir, heading for warmer pastures.'

Last minute things that have been forgotten.

"Hang on a minute, you've left your coat!"

I could have been standing here 500 years ago

and witnessed exactly that same scene.

'Next morning, winter is beginning to bite.

'The snow makes it hard for the animals to graze

'so the herd is immediately driven down the valley.'

We've been here about 10 days now.

It is an exhausting...way of life.

And doing anything at this altitude just wears you out.

It's like someone's put bricks in the bottom of your boots.

And, erm, I look at these guys

and the women, who seem totally tireless.

'But there's lots to be done and I try to make myself useful.

'The women and children are wearing their finest clothes,

'giving the occasion a festival air.'

Are you pleased to be moving?

WOMAN TRANSLATES

Really? Not feeling so good today?

'Finally, the most important cargo of all - a summer's worth of qurut

'and butter.'

This is a precious load.

That represents hours and hours and hours of really physical labour.

Oh! It's like sitting on a sofa with legs.

'The yurts are down, the yaks are loaded.

'and our kuch begins.'

They're such a smooth ride.

They seem to have built-in shock-absorbers,

so, even over this very rough terrain,

you feel like you're almost floating over it.

So we get off here? Yeah? OK.

Thanks you, yak.

So we stay here? OK.

So, I think what's happening, in the good tradition of any house move

is that there will be tea.

Wow, look at this! Ah, it's a perfect picnic.

Tashakur.

'We've passed close to another herding camp.

'The women come out bearing tea and bread.

'Only a few hundred Wakhi shepherds live up here,

'spread out across a huge area.

'Moments like these forge bonds between disparate communities.'

OK.

This feels like such an ancient tradition...

..that has been held on to

not for any romantic reasons,

simply reasons that are practical.

This is how these people live.

'It's mid-afternoon by the time we get to Vagboy,

'a temporary herding camp at the foot of a huge scree slope.'

You can see already that there's more pasture,

there's more grass down here.

It's definitely warmer.

And, erm...

so now is the big task of settling in,

re-putting up the yurts

and, erm, yeah...

making ourselves at home.

'It's much harder putting a yurt up than taking it down.

'They are giant, 3D jigsaw puzzles.

'Get the wrong pole in the wrong place

'and you have to start again from scratch.'

Are you OK?

'I help Bakht Begum move into the hut that will be her home

'for the next few weeks.

'The herd is driven into camp.

'Nothing gets in the way of milking.

'A few hours later, all the yurts are up

'and the smell of burning yak dung fills the air.'

So what are you cooking, Begum?

'This meal is only made on important occasions -

'religious festivals, funerals and at the end of a kuch.'

What have you put in here?

A special oil, flour,

-A little bit of salt.

-A little bit of salt.

-Very warm?

-Yes.

Mmm!

Very good, very good.

What seems so special about this dish is that

it combines all the things that the Wakhi produce.

They produce the wheat and barley down in the valley

that makes the flour.

They milk the sheep that makes the butter that makes the oil.

So everything in this bowl is really...

it's like all the Wakhi produce brought together.

Definitely, on a cold winter's night,

if somebody gave you a bowl of this, you would not complain.

It's very good.

Tashakur.

'Life quickly returns to its normal routine.

'Mamad Ayoub is repairing felt panels

'that were damaged on the kuch.

'This way of life feels timeless. But how long will it last?'

Do you think that your son's children

will want to come to the Pamir to be shepherds?

Is there one thing that you think

would make life easier for the Wakhan?

'The Wakhan Corridor is the poorest district in the poorest province

'in one of the poorest countries in the world.

'It's hard to see how things can change,

'how life here could be made easier.

'It feels like the future for the Wakhi

'for the next few decades at least, will be much the same as their past.

'The constant struggle to survive does take its toll.'

Is this a very hard life?

Seven children?

'As many as one in five Wakhi children die

'before they reach their first birthday.

'Half of Wakhi children under two are malnourished.

'Because of the harsh conditions,

'average life expectancy for the Wakhi is only 35 years of age.

'Bakht Begum's life story is heart-rending,

'so I'm touched when she says she now thinks of me

'as her honorary daughter.'

I feel very honoured to be Feroza.

'Bakht Begum has no children up here to look after her

'and she has few animals of her own,

'but she has been lent some sheep and goats by wealthier herders.

'She can milk them, and breed from them, before eventually

'returning the animals to their rightful owners.

'So she always has something to eat and something to do.

'In the absence of any outside help,

'the Wakhi have created a simple but effective welfare system.

'It's my last day in the Pamir.

'We've bought a sheep and are throwing a farewell feast.

'The chief blesses the knife and the sheep's throat is cut.'

The fleece has come off in one very neat piece.

I'm envious of their, erm, butchery skills.

'When we kill a lamb in the UK, we throw as much as a fifth of it away.

'Here, everything goes in the pot - brains, lungs, heart.

'Every last drop of blood is savoured.'

Tashakur.

Salaam, salaam!

'Animals are only slaughtered on special occasions like marriages.

'They're too valuable to eat otherwise.'

'People here are lucky if they eat meat once a month.

'At home we take it for granted,

'often eating meat once or twice a day.

'It's time to leave the Big Pamir.

'It's been a real privilege to have experienced, for a short while,

'how the Wakhi shepherds live.

'But it's incredibly tough up here and, I have to admit,

'the thought of a few home comforts is rather appealing.'

I haven't washed for three weeks.

There are no loos that flush or otherwise

for probably...a good 100 miles or so from here.

And at this stage in the game, am I looking forward to

a nice clean bathroom, a hot shower, a cup of tea and a sofa?

I'd be totally lying if I said I wasn't.

One thing I will miss will be Bakht Begum's friendship.

Tashakur.

'The Wakhi may be some of the most traditional herders in the world,

'but there are lessons we can learn from them.

'As more and more sheep are raised worldwide, using new technology

'and modern methods, I hope we don't forget all of the old ways -

'about how to value our animals

'and use them efficiently and respectfully.'

There's something very heartening, I think, that in a country

that is racked by war and religious strife and poverty,

in a world that is upside-down and sometimes, kind of, too miserable

to contemplate, there are these people in these mountains

surviving, actually, with dignity and with honour

with no guns, with no strife,

with no battles, just the battles with the elements

and the battles of keeping their animals alive.

'There is nothing romantic about this way of life,

'but it is inspiring to discover that the ancient connection

'between shepherd and flock still exists,

'allowing both to survive in such a harsh, unforgiving land.'

Thank you for letting us stay in your village.

Thank you.

Oh, it's wider than I thought!

'My journey to remote herding communities doesn't end here.

'Next time, I travel to the High Andes

'where I get to grips with alpacas.'

Aqui! Aqui! There you go. There you go.

'Peru is at a crossroads between old and new ways of herding.

'Can ancient tradition compete against science and technology?'

What I'm going for is what I go for when I pick a racehorse,

which is a pretty face and a nice bum.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd