Home | Introduction | Security | President Karzai | Ministry of Tourism | Expeditions
Slide shows | Community Support | 2004 Expeditions | Dates & Prices 2005 | Books
Map | Guides | Contact | Buy Guidebook
In Xanadu: The Royal Hunting Grounds of AjarI am indebted to Jonathan Ledgard of The Economist and Anthony Fitzherbert of UNEP who re-discovered this astonishing valley and, with HM Zahir Shah, are working for its restoration.
The Ajar Valley cuts east-west through the high rocky tablelands some ten hours drive north of Bamian. At its western end, the Ajar river, which probably originates from the Band-i-Amir lakes, runs through underground caverns of unknown length and then suddenly springs out of a cave at the foot of the kilometer-high canyon wall and into a lake, the same spectacular dark-blue as the Band-I-Amir chain [1]. The lake itself is full of trout – a guide told me that in the 1970s a visitor had caught an 11 pound fish – so bring your fishing rod.
Eastwards from the spring and lake sweeps a long green valley that narrows at its end into a canyon of honey-coloured stone through which one enters the valley. This was the heart of the king’s gardens, with orchards of walnut, juniper, pine and tamarisk trees. About 700 of the king’s servants still live here, led by the shikari, the king’s chief hunter, living around the ruins of the royal lodge with a swimming pool, and who told Jonathan Ledgard in 2003 ‘You are the first foreigners to stay in Ajar since 1979.’ Rising above this valley are the mesas – flat topped hills with precipitous sides – where the wildlife for which Ajar was famous may have remained undisturbed.
Apart from its extraordinary natural beauty, Ajar drew the king because of its profusion of wildlife. In his time, the valley and the surrounding mountains were maintained as a wild-life reserve[2] and were full of game including urial wild sheep (Ovis orientalis), ibex (Capra ibex sibericus), a population of Bactrian deer (Cervus elephus bactrianus), introduced from the Oxus valley, and a herd of wild yaks, introduced from the Pamirs. The valley is also on north-south migration routes for birds. Partridge can be bought from locals coming down from the mountains who shoot them with antique shotguns.
Some of this wildlife has been killed by the Taliban who sacked the village in 1998 – certainly the yaks and deer. However, local reports suggest that the indigenous wildlife remains. Mir Abdul recounted to Jonathan Ledgard that in 2004 spring he saw a snow leopard (uncia uncia) killing an ibex. He kept the head of the ibex stuffed as proof[3] - the leopard took a side of the ibex and buried it.
The valley itself is 6,000 feet and the mountains rise to 14,000 feet. You follow the river up between a narrow defile and you are surprised to find a huge lake. The lake was formed in 1956 by an earthquake which dislodged the huge boulders. The river downstream was dry for three days and then some of the rocks were dynamited to let the water through. You can see the remains of a pathway that was reached up a ladder, higher than the path you use today, which consists of stepping stones along the left hand wall. The cliffs rise sheer up, well over one thousand feet high. At the end, there is the cave from which the river rises. It is called Chiltan and is sacred. It is said that centuries earlier forty holy men had entered and were there still, asleep or praying until Judgment day.
The cave is decorated with tiny scraps of fabric, each placed their to mark a request. It is said that the water originates at Band i Amir and flows underground until it rises here. Certainly, the colour of the water matches the deep blue of those lakes. By turning left here and continuing up one reaches a juniper forest. Haji Safit Mir, the ATO’s head guide, in the 1960s followed this route all the way to Band i Amir. It was a seven day journey through a completely desolate landscape. He had been commissioned to survey the area to see if a trekking route for tourists could be established here.
[1] As far as we know, no scientist has ever tested this assumption properly and this is something I want to do with one group of tourists.
[2]See Jonathan Ledgard’s piece in the Atlantic Monthly April 2004 – available on the internet at www.theatlantic.com - which contains an interview with the king.
[3]However, Anthony Fitzherbert – probably the leading foreign expert on Afghan fauna – remains sceptical of this story. He thinks it may have been a common or Asiatic leopard (Panthera pardus)ii See the report Afghanistan: A Post Conflict Assessment, UNEP 2004 p.85