Buzkashi and a Religious Festival in Kunduz

We travelled north over the snow-covered Hindu Kush to the northern town of Kunduz, a lovely town of wide tree-lined streets. Colorful horse-drawn carts and camels were the main forms of transport in and around the town. We had come to see Buzkashi, the famous game of horsemanship and fierce competition that many see as encapsulating male Afghan culture.

 


Salang Tunnel through the Hindu Kush


Kunduz


Village high in the Salang Valley


Buzkashi horsemen


Lead horseman carries the "ball"--a decapitated calf


Whips are used as teams struggle
for control of the calf carcass


Spectators await the start of the game
(delayed for convenience of a royal family member, much to local annoyance)


Rider reaches down for carcass,
which can weigh eighty pounds


Teams converge around rider with carcass


Annual Festival at a Moslem Shrine nearby
(the only women there were a few
prostitutes on the margins)


Boys pose in front of shrine


A hand-driven merry-go-round
for boys at the festival

Kabul

South to Qandahar
and West to Herat

October 21, 2001