My journey to experience the spectacular Shandur Polo begins at the staging post – in Peshawar, the capital of the Khyber Pakhtun Khwa (KPK) province of Pakistan. The fiesta begins at the very doors of the Pearl Continental Hotel, in time to celebrate the Mango Food Festival, and here I am given a taste of local hospitality at par excellence. The hotel’s talk of the town Bukhara BBQ Restaurant with indoor and outdoor fine dining is newly decorated with Truck Art, a form of art only found in Pakistan, where the loader trucks are meticulously painted with flora, birds and other features of nature. Bukhara wears this new look with traditional art serving BBQ, and dishes out signature dish: Dum Pukht – a succulent lamb’s leg cooked in local style, undoubtedly the yummiest meat dish that your taste buds will relish. The secret lies in the traditional recipe and local style of cooking. www.pchotels.com/pcpeshawar
Pakistan is also home to some of the finest mangoes production in the world, and at the Marco Polo Restaurant, the all-day dining venue; besides gourmet buffet meals, I choose from about a dozen varieties of mangoes. My luxury room comes with a view of the Bala Hisar Fortress, a prime historical attraction of the ancient city, which traces its existence since 630 AD as a Citadel and later used as a fortified residence by the ruling monarchs, including Babur – the founder of the Mughal dynasty.
Once the gateway from the west to the east via the fabled Khyber Pass, other key attractions of Peshawar is the Mohabbat Khan masjid, Qissa-khwani (Story-tellers) street and the spice bazaar in the old district of the City, in the narrow streets behind the masjid, there is a queue of antique and jewellery shops (recommended by Bakhshesh Ahmad & Co. +92344-9863011). An excursion to the Khyber Pass is subject to permission from PA. After a couple of days in home comfort, I am mentally prepared for an adventure in high places and endure camping overnight in extremely cold temperatures.
From Peshawar, we journey about 12 hours to arrive at Booni, a small village in upper Chitral in the KPK province. The next day, we hire jeeps and proceed to the top: Shandur Pass, a driving time of about 5 hours.
At the festive site, tents and vendors sell fruits, food, woollen wear, blankets, and consumable products. Our host takes us to my tent, equipped with a mat, mattress and blankets.
The word polo is derived from the Tibetan word pulu, meaning ball. The origin of the polo has its sign beyond recorded history between 600BC and 100AD, then staged in Persia (Iran). Later, the British founded the first polo club in 1859 at Silchar, Assam (India) and introduced modern polo with a set of rules and do’s and don’ts. The first polo match at Shandur was played in 1936. Then, after many years, Shandur Polo became a regular event in 1985.
Shandur polo field, located on the borders of Chitral (KPK) and Gilgit (GB), is the highest in the world, and here polo is played free-style with the minimum set of rules otherwise applied during international polo matches elsewhere.
The next day, festivities take on the natural stage at 10 AM in the awesome surrounding of snow-capped mountains rising above the deep blue Shandur Lake. Hang gliders, paragliders, and Pakistan Army sky-divers displayed their skill of on-spot landing; groups of the Big Band from Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral, local Musicians and performers from Kalash, Chitral, Gilgit and nearby villages frolic to entertain the audience during the three-day spectacle.
The match begins between Chitral (Laspur) and Gilgit (Gizer) teams. Gilgit team scoring only three goals overwhelmingly taken over by the winning Chitral team with 17 goals. After an interval, the mesmerized audience watched yet another thumping match between Chitral (Mastuj) taking seven goals to Gilgit (Yasin) with a score of 6.
Player bump or ride-off the opponent so that one player rides his pony next to his opponent to break the opposing player’s focus and divert him from taking a direct hit at the bull.
On the second day, 1st match is between the Chitral D and the Gilgit D teams Keeping up the spirit of “The Gilgit Game”, the Gilgit team won the match, scoring six goals against Chitral taking four goals. But in the afternoon match, Chitral (C) played with full valour scoring 11 goals and beating Gilgit (C), that scored only two goals.
On the final day, Chtral (B) with eight goals and Gilgit (B) with two goals and in the final match, Chitral (A) team emerged as the winner scoring ten goals, while the Gilgit (A) team fought back gallantly but lost marginally, scoring nine goals.
During the matches, players had fallen off their horses but had no serious injury. Over the many years now, the Gilgit teams have been losing to Chitral teams, unable to uphold the title of the once “Gilgit Game”. www.kptourism.com
Unfortunately, despite the extremely talented and legendary polo teams of Chitral and Gilgit, polo in Pakistan has neither made a global impact on its image at international tournaments nor has managed to hold international polo matches on its home ground. International polo players and polo fans – in general, having had a chance to witness polo at Shandur, unanimously rate the matches and the location incomparable. St. Moritz in Switzerland is also regarded as one of the best locations for polo tournaments played on a frozen lake.
Back in the late 90s, a Swiss team of professional documentary filmmakers made an effort to the portrayal of Shandur polo: “Highway to Heaven”. The documentary received major awards in 2000 – now seems buried and forgotten over time, with no efforts on the part of local authorities to invite international media for the coverage of the grand spectacle.
Written by & Pictures by: Saifuddin Ismailji