After finishing university I returned to the Kalasha for Caumos, their winter solstice festival and the highpoint of their ritual calendar. Heavy snows had sealed the mountain passes in and out of the district, cutting it off from physical contact with the rest of the world. The sense of isolation was magnified by the Kalasha practice of not straying beyond the purified perimeter of their community during the most sacred part of the festival. The fascination which my first trip had engendered in me was consolidated by the privilege of being included in Caumos.