WF traveller Maureen Flynn visited Afghanistan in May on our Afghan Explorer group tour. Below Maureen talks about what it's really like to visit a country that's so often in the news for negative reasons.
After reading many travelogues over the years including those of Newby, Murphy, Bealby and more recently Elliot, Stewart and Lamb I knew that I had to visit Afghanistan. Eventually, after a cancelled flight (which resulted in missing the first day of the tour), the pilot on the flight from Dubai constantly giving us details of our ETA (always followed with ‘Inshallah’) and news of a bomb blast that morning near the airport, it was no wonder that I felt quite emotional on arrival but the overriding feeling was that of excitement of finally being there. There was a slight hitch at the airport, but I eventually met up with my group at the Ka Faroshi Bird Market and at last my long-awaited trip commenced.
Kabul is a capital city like many with a mix of smart and not so smart hotels, shops, restaurants, banks, embassies, traffic and Afghans going about their daily lives; school girls wearing white headscarves, schoolboys wearing light blue shirts, construction workers and smartly dressed, ineffective traffic police. It was certainly not quite the devastated city I was half expecting with hostile armed locals wanting to take your life on every corner.
This was similar to the other cities on the itinerary – less so for the more rural areas, although there was still evidence of construction work being carried out including new hotels and renovation work to the Buddha niches at Bamiyan. One of the many highlights was Band-e Amir with its startlingly blue lakes, incredible mountains and friendly Hazaras; this was probably the most rural place we visited.
I wore loose clothing to conceal my female form and a headscarf as recommended and noted that, although there were many women in burqas, there were also just as many who wore modest European style clothes and headscarves. I found Afghan women were curious of me but always polite, returning my smiles and at a holy shrine I was hugged and kissed by three women. Although they did not want to be photographed themselves some would invite me to take photos of their children.
Afghan men were courteous and some, noting my camera, would ask to be photographed, looking delighted at the results. Shopping for gifts, the shopkeepers (always male) would invite me in to look at their wares, to sit down and offer me green tea. However, they remained steadfast on their prices, only allowing a small discount!
The highlight of my visit to Afghanistan was finally being there. I would have loved to have had more time to explore and to have trekked in its fantastic mountain ranges – so perhaps a trip to the Wakham Corridor is one to consider.
There is no mistaking that visiting Afghanistan has some risk attached, but if you have the desire and the right support, i.e. a competent tour leader and a reputable local company as I did, you will see a country of immense beauty, magnificent mountains, incredibly blue lakes, historical sites and friendly, welcoming people.
