Travel Guide Cholistan

Cholistan takes its name from the semi-nomadic tradition of its inhabitants (Cholna means mobile). This desert region, an extension of the Thar Desert in India, covers about 26,000 km2. It is inhabited by more than 100,000 nomadic herders of cattle, camels, goats or sheep. Some are sedentary and settled in small villages. In lime-covered brick houses - a few open rooms built around a central courtyard - women cook over a wood fire or embroider household linen, while the older ones rest on carpoys, cooled by fans when electricity allows, and children play with wooden wheels and poles. Cholistan is mainly visited for the Derawar fort (there are actually eight other forts, badly preserved) and during the jeep rally organised every year. Its shifting sand dunes are home to some 130 species of plants and animals, such as black hippotragues (antelopes), gazelles, lynxes and desert foxes and many birds.