For three years I worked as a teacher in a school in the Chapursan Valley. It was a great experience working with the children, but I felt that as a teacher I should be continually learning. How could I learn more when I spent my whole day inside the class? In Pakistan, most teachers remain in the class for 25 years or more.
I wasn’t sure if this was the right path for me, and I felt like I needed a change. I had no idea about the trekking industry or about foreigners. One of my friends told me, “If you go to Skardu you can go with the Angrez [foreigners] and make good money,” so I thought, why not?
I went to Skardu in May 1991. There was a group there who wanted to trek to Biafo Hispar. I took work as a porter for their trek. The next time I worked as a cook. By the end of the season, I was asked to be a trekking guide for Lonely Planet authors John Mock and Kimberly O’Neil. They were working on the guidebook for the Karakoram and Hindu Kush and were looking for someone who was born in the high mountain valley of Chapursan.
Since I was from that area, I was chosen for the job. I spent the next six months trekking and guiding these writers. We enjoyed each other’s company and until now we have remained friends. In the book they say that Alam Jan Dario knows his way on glaciers!
Yes, you know in our culture we have many difficulties for women. I can proudly say these difficulties are not in Islam, these difficulties stem from our tradition. We are on the way of change, hoping to change these bad parts of our culture.
Chapursan Valley was closed to foreigners since before I was born. It was only in 1998 that the area opened to foreigners. Now, I take it as my responsibility to invite people to come to Chapsuran and see our culture and our people. My wife, Haji bibi, works with me and helps me to host travelers. We have invited many people to visit the valley, and they feel comfortable staying with us. Not only have they learned about our ways, but my wife and I hae also learned many things from the travelers. We think of spending time with people from different cultures like a “university of living life.”
It was eye opening for me to come from a remote place like Chapursan Valley, where there isn’t even a jeep road, and to travel throughout the Northern Areas and even all the way to Islamabad. Once I traveled from the capital to the Northern Areas with an international geological group that was planning to measure the elevation of K2, the second highest mountain in the world. On the way I got to sit in the front seat of the bus and I was amazed at all the protocols, the hotels and the media interviews. Back then I was young and good-looking, and I got a lot of attention from the ladies!
For a short trek, I like to do the Yishkuk Glacier Pamiri trek. If beginners are interested in doing a longer trek, I’d take them into the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan.
If I had a week to go trekking, I would like to find new routes and paths. I like to look for passes among the glaciers and between high mountains. I’ve done this type of thing several times and have discovered new trekking routes.
December-January and July-August.
By internet. It’s best to contact me before your arrival in Pakistan. You can call me on my mobile (+92-346-5226623), although I do not have phone service in the remote areas. I do not always have Internet access, but I come down from Chapursan to check it every few weeks.
"… Alam Jan Dariyo the man who opened Chapursan Valley to tourism. .. Known as ‘Pahari Bakri’ the mountain goat, Alam has a story that stuns even the bravest and fearless among us… His father was a Robin Hood of his era… The legend passed on to the sons… His strong stature and penchant for mountains made him a good cut out for the crazy foreigners heading towards gigantic glacier treks and 8000ers. He would carry ridiculous amount of weight and walked days without wavering…The word got out and he became famous. To the point where, Lonely Planet, travel guide authors for Pakistan came down to meet him. He helped John Mock write one of the most comprehensive book on the area taking them to Afghanistan and cross into Pakistan through mountainous passes. He took several journeys on horses and yaks to Tajikistan. He speaks numerous regional languages and has somewhat princely status among the rest… I stumbled upon a publication by Central Asia Institute, founded by the infamous Greg Mortenson of the ‘Three Cups of Tea’ fame. What I didn’t know was that the man who helped him setup literally everything from the bottom up was Alam Jan and his brother Sarfraz… Like they say I left some part of me there, taking some part of it with me. "
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Alam Jan talks about life in the Chapursan Valley and high Pamirs, about travel and trekking in Pakistan, and about the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Alam Jan shares the story of his unique and compelling life and speaks with a quiet passion and poignancy of his beautiful valley and beloved homeland.
"(Alam Jan) Dario has intimate knowledge of those living in the region – they are essentially Tajiks who are scattered in Chapursan Valley as well as in Afghanistan’s northeastern Wakhan strip on the other side of the border. “They are the same people,” he told me… Expect to pay around 1000-1500 Rs per night, including breakfast and dinner with his family.
Alam Jan can also arrange camping equipment, treks, and horse and yak rentals for you. Price is negotiable, though I know horse rentals are about 5,000 PKR per day. Though bad knees have stopped him from trekking himself, there’s no more knowledgeable person about trekking in the valley. Alam Jan has guided the likes of Matthieu Paley, the renowned National Geographic photographer and a friend of his, as well as Lonely Planet authors…."
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