Baltistan – Hushe, August 1997 & 92
On the outskirts of Hushe a young boy and his even younger sister watch us pass
Children in Hushe
On the outskirts of Hushe a grimy, inquisitive welcoming party awaits
"What's going on... let me see!" This inquisitive, bright-eyed, little Moslem "Top-gun" symbolises the future of his mountain people. Although he lives in an almost medieval village, he wears a cap advertising a high-tec jet fighter movie! As such, he is being exposed to two entirely different worlds. This, in itself, is not a bad thing, but sensitivity and guidance are needed so that he and others like him do not lose their way between two cultures in the coming decades. More exposure to Western ways, ideas and things is inevitable. Whether this exposure has a positive impact or not depends on us
At 3,050 metres, on a roof in Hushe village, two young Balti women play distractedly with two toddlers. Like alpine flowers, their brightly coloured shawls make a happy contrast with the grey tones of their rocky home
From the same village, only several generations older, a village elder treads a familiar path through the five hundred year old alleyways of Hushe
Wherever something is happening, small faces materialise, eager for a part in the action
Local Hushe children stop their alley-way game for a photograph. It is normally prohibited to take photographs of Balti women, but taking pictures of the children is often encouraged
Proud grandfather with his grandchild, Hushe
Elderly ladies, Hushe
The old and the young, Hushe
Young girls, Hushe
In the narrow alleys of Hushe
Inquisitive children gather for a photo, Hushe
Children, Hushe
Children, Hushe
A young woman, Hushe
Old woman, Hushe
An old woman perched on one of the flat roofs of Hushe
Young boys pose proudly near their home in Hushe
My young guides lead me through another of the alleyways in the labyrinth of Hushe
A woman approaches the old bridge that spans the Hushe River
The caterlevered bridge spanning the Hushe River
Another hard working local, Hushe
Tending crops above Hushe
A view towards the summer settlement above Hushe (4,000m), accessed via the very steep Honbruk valley
A closer view of the Honbruk settlement reveals the basic shelters used. Hondrok Peak (6,459m) lies further up the valley
A young girl peers from her stone shelter at the summer settlement above Hushe
Sisters at the summer settlement above Hushe
Inside her stone shelter at the summer settlement, a young girl makes curd
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