8 hours ago
Polo at high altitude in Pakistan, with no rules or referee
Letter from New Delhi
The mountaintops were still capped with snow and sharply contrasted with the bright green pastures where a herd of yaks grazed peacefully beside a lake with crystal-clear waters. The air was crisp in early June at the Shandur Pass, which is situated at an altitude of 12,316 feet. This majestic setting in the heart of the Hindu Kush in northern Pakistan was set to host the annual Shandur Polo Festival from June 20 to 22, known as "the highest polo tournament in the world."
The match will be played on a high-altitude field at the border between Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, where even the horses need time to acclimatize to the thin air and arrive several days in advance. The festival lasts three days, featuring celebrations, dances and concerts, with the polo competition pitting the rival teams of Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan against each other.
The field, laid out in a meadow with white stone stands, was built during British colonial rule in 1936 at the request of Evelyn Hey Cobb, the administrator of the Northern Areas and an avid polo enthusiast.
