The feudal principalities of far northern Pakistan — home to walled villages, yak herders, glacial rivers, golden poplar forests and snow leopards — held off, or played off, would-be conquerors ranging from Alexander the Great to imperial Great Britain. Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with National Geographic Explorer Paul Salopek, whose globe-spanning journey on foot brought him through this remote region that is on the cusp of change.
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