The Hindu Kush stretches for about 800 kilometres, which is roughly the same as driving from London to Munich. The mountains are so wide and tall that they divide Afghanistan into a warm, flat south and a cool, high north. People, animals and rivers all behave differently on each side.
Glaciers — slow-moving rivers of ice — sit tucked between the highest peaks. When the sun warms them in spring, they melt and send fresh water rushing down into valleys below, filling rivers and streams that farmers depend on to water their fields and orchards.
The slopes of the Hindu Kush are home to snow leopards, golden eagles and Marco Polo sheep. In summer, herders guide their flocks up to high meadows of green grass that only appear when the snow melts, then bring them back down to lower valleys before the first autumn snowfall.