ABOUT UNTAMED BORDERS 

The Team

Prince Mahir Ullah Khan

Since the mid nineties the Prince has been a one man tourist board and NGO rolled into one for Peshawar and the NWFP. He is the president of both the "The World Welfare Organisation" and the "Peace, Welfare and Development Organisation". The two organisation deal with a raft of issues including tourism promotion, educational projects, legal aid and drug abuse facilities in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan. He also acts as the editor of "World Problem's" magazine which has a varied readership from national politicians to local religious leaders. He has travelled to numerous countries in his role as a cultural ambassador and has received awards for this service from the Pakistan Tourism and Development department. However his first love is showing people around the sights of Pakistan and he has arranged countless trips and tours for a variety of people from ambassadors to backpackers. His enthusiastic approach never changes and he has bought countless people their first cup of tea in the great Pathan city of Peshawar.

Kausar Hussain

Born in Peshawar, Hussain has travelled every inch of Pakistan and Afghanistan and has friends almost everywhere from the bustling bazaars of Kabul to sleepy, poppy growing villages in the Tribal Areas. When not leading tours and running Untamed Borders, Hussain works as a photographer and journalist. He is the chief reporter for "World Problems" magazine and also works freelance. For ten years he has worked with foreign correspondents allowing them access to restricted areas in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He also works with Prince as part of the "World Welfare Organisation", a Peshawar based NGO. He is well known to many independent travellers for his advice on traveling safely in the region and offering access to restricted areas.  Either in person when they reach Peshawar or through travel chat rooms and bulletin boards. 

Hussain speaks 9 languages and for the last 5 years spends time teaching English to Afghan refugees based in the camps that surround Peshawar.

James Willcox 

After a varied career in the UK, James set off from Istanbul a few years back heading for an Indian beach. He got delayed however in Pakistan and Afghanistan. After a chance meeting with Hussain and a mutual love of an area that they both want the rest of the world to come and see they set up Untamed Borders.

When James is not guiding people around Central Asia he can be found either in Peshawar drinking tea, in Amsterdam with his girlfriend or in London where he is slowly coming to terms with owning a flat with negative equity.

Pei Tapan Gab

Pei is Untamed Borders man in the North East of India. He and James met by chance in a train compartment between Calcutta and Guwahati in 2007 just as Pei was finishing his studies. After a string of adventures too numerous to mention they decided to work together on trips to see the real North East of India. 

Pei's generation are the first from Arunachal Pradesh to leave the state and be educated in other parts of India. He is very aware that he and his generation will preside over a crucial time in Arunachal Pradesh's history. The tribal culture is changing as it encounters the rest of the world and he feels it is his responsibility to ensure that their culture is not eroded by the waves of outside influences. He has recently set up the first travel agency to be run by a member of the Nyishi tribe, he also manages his families tea garden and works on his burgeoning political career.

Whenever we run any trips to the North East he puts all this on hold to arrange permits and joins us to make sure we are well looked after. 

Nando Rollando

Nando is our head mountain man for Afghanistan. As well as being able to cook great Gnocchi, he is an IFMGA qualified mountain guide with 25 years experience in Europe and Asia. He has made numerous first ascents and descents on mountains in China particularly in Yunnan where he “brought ski” to the province as well as the wilds of Qinghai. However, he rates his finest achievement as having led groups to the summit of Mount Blanc at least 10 times a year since 1991.

He spent his first winter in Afghanistan in 2010/11 training Afghan ski guides for the Aga Khan Foundation and is currently working on a project called Kohistan (Land of Mountains) to help mountain people in Afghanistan in a variety of sustainable ways including tourist development. He is as good a mountain guide as is available and knows the mountains of Afghanistan as well as anyone guiding today.

He will be heading up our ski and climbing trips for 2012 so please check out what we have to offer.

For those of you with a passing interest in Afghanistan, the picture is of Nando in the depths of winter climbing the waterfalls of the frozen lakes of Band e Amir.