Afghanistan – part 2

Visited: October 2023

Duration of visit: 5 days

Capital city: Kabul

Population: 40 million (2023)

Estimated reading time: 13 minutes

• The Blue Mosque surrounded by tents with refuges, who lost their homes in recent earthquakes in Herat.
• Driving through remote areas in a 4WD from Herat to Maymana.
• Admiring beautiful mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif, where Shrine of Hazrat Ali stands.
• Savoring fresh, inexpensive fruit juices and shakes all over the country.

I decided to visit Afghanistan as part of Central Asian trip in October 2023, entering through Torkham border after receiving the Afghani visa in Peshawar (Pakistan) and exiting to Tajikistan at Shir Khan Bandar. I traveled for ten days overland and took a flight from Kabul to Herat in order to save my limited time.

There was not much official information available, but, through a WhatsApp group of travelers, I was well informed about the current situation, conditions of travelling, checkpoints, behavioral habits and risks. I tried to adapt to local lifestyle, customs or appearance as much as possible: dressed in perahan tunban (long top and loose trousers), patu (thick shawl) covering my head or wrapped around my neck and long beard facilitated my meetings with local rulers.

In this article I describe the second part of my trip to Afghanistan in October 2023: Herat after the earthquake, remote areas to Mazar-I-Sharif, sleeping in a restaurant chamber, magnificent Shrine of Hazrat Ali, meat and bread, feeling safe, the future of Afghanistan.

More articles about my Afghanistan adventures are available here:

Instead of continuing overland from Bamiyan to Herat through poorly connected mountainous area, I return to Kabul, spend another day exploring the capital and the next morning take a comfortable hour and a half flight to Herat.

My first impressions of this oasis city, which has been known as a regional hub since the times of Silk Road, are positive: hassle free negotiations for a taxi to downtown, a lot of movement along the main road, brilliant lightning, a jungle of street vendors and somehow clean neighborhoods.

Herat is only an hour drive from Iranian border, therefore the impact of the language, commerce and connections is logical. There are two main reasons why I arrived to this important center of arts sciences, calligraphy, astronomy, mathematics and philosophy: The Great Mosque and the recent earthquakes that struck villages around the city.

Due to other important disasters around the world at the time, Afghan earthquake was in the news only for two weeks; the coverage was poor. In view of the fact that the Taliban government is internationally unrecognized, foreign aid is officially not allowed in the country.

The physical consequences of the earthquake are not visible in the city of Herat, but I spot hundreds of tents around the urban area, where families live in very basic conditions.

Temporary lodgings are scattered in front of the central mosque, in suburb areas, parks, around the citadel and many other open areas, where people could feel safe.

However, there is order, kids are playing, no-one is begging for money or food. It seems that nourishment is provided and people are calm.

I hire a reliable taxi driver through the hotel reception. Qader is an ideal driver: honest, knowledgeable about the area, English speaking due to cooperation with Americans during occupation, calm and easy going.

“You will pay me 3,000 Afghan rupees. I will take you to the villages and show you around. If it is too much for you, you can pay me whatever amount you want. You are my guest in Afghanistan.”

40.00 US$ is a lot of money, but I am aware of the remoteness of the area, bad road connections and the time that we would need to reach the villages. I don’t negotiate the price anymore.

We first drive 30 kilometers north of the city on tarmac road and then another 30 kilometers on gravel road, cross rivers and car tracks, full of dust, that occasionally disappear. As soon as we enter the first village, I notice a complete devastation, caused by a rather modest quake that destroyed absolutely all mud structures.

Pieces of mud bricks, segments of compact soil, wood and scarce other objects, are completely useless. There is nothing to repair, refurbish or reuse. Residents moved to the outskirt, where tents were set up, basic latrines installed, water with sink and portable showers put in place.

During my visit people stay mostly inside tents, some approach me to start conversation.

The main stroke, measuring 6.3 Richter scale, hit the area at 11:13 am on 7^th October 2023.

In a question of seconds most of the homes were gone. Thirty minutes later the second wave finished the job; many aftershocks were not that strong any more.

People don’t remember previous earthquakes in the past, neither didn’t hear from parents or grandparents talking about natural disasters.

Residents are calm, standing upright, receiving warm clothes and blankets as part of international and local aid. The winter is approaching, they have no other place to go. Fortunately, not that many people died; total estimated casualties are 1,500. The new cemetery was erected two hundred meters away. A plan for new neighborhood is drawn, first materials delivered. Completely new houses will be built, hopefully with superior construction methods, more resistant to natural disasters.

I find a similar destruction in other two villages that I visit. Some international help arrived and first replacement houses started to be built. Indeed, iron bars, sand, cement and proper bricks are used to reduce the risk in case the earth tremor repeats.

Thrust faulting was also associated with these earthquakes. A group of livestock farmers guide me to the area, where apparently long ditches opened in the ground during the time when the earth was shaking and water started to bubble to the surface. Small scratches are still visible, but the land is dry again.

The legendary travelling from Herat to Mazar-I-Sharif (730 kilometers) lasts two days with an overnight stay in Maymana. After I get the last available seat in a Toyota Landcruiser, we are ready to kick off from a busy parking lot in Eastern outskirts of Herat at 10:00am.

A mature Muslim devote and myself are squeezing in the passenger seat next to a young driver, while in the back of the car there are 4 completely covered women, a man and 6 children – members of the same family.

After two kilometers, I realize that I would not be able to seat in the middle of the front row, therefore I require a change of position to enjoy the less uncomfortable half of the seat next to the window.

It takes some time to negotiate in Slovenian, English, Farsi and other languages, before my co-passenger accepts the fact that he is smaller. Therefore, it is his turn to uncomfortably fit into the unbearable central position.

For the next twelve hours we tour mostly macadam roads with areas of dunes of soft sand and dust, where we move at a speed of only a few kilometers per hour. Alternative sections of asphalt are rare. Poor roadside villages built of mud houses with flat or half-round oval roofs reflect the misery and poverty in which the local residents live.

In some areas, which are completely bare, without a tree, bush or grass, goats or sheep graze. I often wonder, how people can even survive here and what they do for a living. In principle, their daily bread is agriculture and animal husbandry.

At the beginning of November, most of the riverbeds are completely dry. The flat surface, covered with plowed land, give the impression that agriculture is practiced here during the summer months.

In the late afternoon, we stop for lunch in a larger settlement. As I watch butchers shearing the sheep and a cook in the neglected kitchen, I quickly feel the need to enjoy a warm meal. Soon a serious man with a long beard approaches me and asks for my passport.

I think he is a Taliban, but I am not convinced, because the long-bearded men are very similar to each other. After a few minutes of haggling, each in their own language, I show him my passport.

He looks at it for a while, but I know that he doesn’t find what he wants. When I present him my permit from the Ministry of Tourism from Kabul, he reads it in full, thanks me kindly, returns the documents and wishes me a happy journey.

We arrive to Maymana at 10:00pm. Since I don’t have any idea of where to stay, I ask the driver to help me finding a place to spend the night. I end up in a restaurant that offers private dining rooms as sleeping chambers overnight.

A basic mattress, coverlet and pillow are adjoined by a set of kettles, tea cups, sugar and spices. A single toilet is shared with a group of other passengers from the Landcruiser, who settle down in the other room. I am neither hungry, nor worried about discomfort. Delicious green tea is accompanied by some dry fruits from my pocket.

Following a brief conversation with the waiter, I proceed to brush my teeth and fall asleep promptly.

The rest of the trip from Maymana to Mazar-I-Sharif is a piece of cake. I don’t repeat the mistake from the previous day of sharing a seat with another person. I immediately pay for two people to enjoy the comfort of a passenger seat in front of the Toyota Corolla by myself. Good asphalted road is leading through less hostile landscape.

Despite the simple houses made of mud, numerous electric poles with cables make it clear that life in this part is easier, rivers are waterier, the fields are larger and their cultivation is more developed. Fruit trees are slowly changing the landscape and we are crossing checkpoints one after another. Only on one occasion I am asked to show the documents, take a picture and exchange a few words.

The fourth largest city in Afghanistan is the regional hub of the northern region, located in close proximity to both Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, with a very dramatic recent history.

During the 1980s Soviet-Afghan War, Mazar-I-Sharif was a strategic base for the Soviet Army, as they used its airport to launch air strikes on mujahideen rebels. From 1992 to 1997 the city became the de-facto capital of a relatively stable and secular independent province in northern Afghanistan under the rule of a mayor army commander, Abdul Rashid Dostum.

The city remained peaceful and prosperous while rest of the nation disintegrated and was slowly taken over by fundamentalist Taliban forces until, in 1997, thousands of Taliban members were killed by slaughtering as a revenge for the 1995 death of ethnic Hazara politician and leader Abdul Ali Mazari.

The Taliban retaliated in 1998 attacking the city and killing an estimated 8,000 non-combatants in the most brutal form imaginable. Following the September 11 attacks in 2001, Mazar-I-Sharif was the first Afghan city to fall to the U.S. backed Northern Alliance.

The modern city of Mazar-I-Sharif is centered around The Blue Mosque, also known as The Shrine of Hazrat Ali, the fourth caliph of Islam and the son-in-law of Prophet Muhammad. The shrine holds great historical and religious significance for the Afghan people.

The architectural masterpiece with its majestic turquoise dome and intricate blue tile work, which gives it its famous name, was built in the 15^th century and has since become an important pilgrimage site for Muslims from around the world and rare tourists that visit the area.

“Are you a Muslim?” an old man sitting on the ground inside the mosque asks me in a polite way.

“If not, you are not allowed to visit the tomb of Hazrat Ali, but you can walk around the mosque freely.“

And that’s what I do. The colors, architectural details, the perfect maintenance and the mix of people that come to admire the mosque, take selfies, sit around, pray or stop by the tomb inside, completely impress me.

The Shrine of Hazrat Ali easily qualifies as one of the top 5 mosques that I have seen in the whole world.

In my opinion, the cuisine of Afghanistan surpasses that of neighboring Pakistan. I present this opinion from a vegetarian standpoint, which could be slightly biased considering the fact that most of Afghani cuisine is based on meat, mostly sheep and chicken.

Kebab sticks are always ready to be smoked on the BBQ. Pieces of meat are exhibited at markets, street stalls and special sections of restaurants, where butchers comfortably seat on the chairs and cut meat in a very professional way. It is not easy to get a meal without meat, but I often compensate it with delicious juices or shakes available for less than a dollar at numerous stands in any Afghan city or town.

I am disappointed with the small number of staples, at the expense of extremely popular flat bread that is offered in numerous bakeries at every corner, sometimes seasoned with nigella black seeds. Inexpensive, warm Noni Afghaniin in variety of sizes and shapes are practical for breakfast, lunch or dinner, but not the healthiest way to fill the stomach on a permanent basis. Rice can be found on rare occasions in upscale restaurants, corn is offered at vendor stalls, usually overcooked or overtoasted. Very popular french-fries are sold everywhere at any time, even early in the morning.

The national dish of Afghanistan is Qabili Palau, a rice dish cooked with raisins, carrots, nuts and lamb or beef. The ingredients are prepared in the morning and later slowly cooked in big bowls, that are especially popular in Herat.

The most important part of making delicious Qabili Palau is to keep the white rice from breaking, while it develops a deep rich brown color in the multi-step cooking process. Yes, even though the rice in the final meal is brown, as ingredient only white rice is used.

I only got in contact with Afghani men, who are friendly, helpful, honest, interested in my origins, but most of them hardly speak any English. Fortunately, there is always someone, who can bring out basic knowledge of foreign language, willing to help or find the solution.

Women move around covered in burkas, some of them completely disguising their faces with famous blue or turquoise chadors, inaccessible to male population, if not part of the family.

I have never felt unsafe, insecure or scared, even when traveling in remote areas, walking around the cities at night or approaching numerous checkpoints. I met two foreign backpackers; no other foreigners were noticed.

There are plenty of prohibitions or restrictions that would be considered violations of common human rights around the globe, but those are not easy to implement, even more complicated to supervise. Lack of music, education, women presence and general oppression cause not only demotivation, humiliation or dissatisfaction, but also poverty in the country which has been afflicted with so many calamities.

I haven’t seen many beggars, people starving or incapable of surviving. Actually, the situation is probably better than in some other third world countries, even though currently Afghanistan officially doesn’t receive any international support. Especially in the cities, people struggle through the day working, looking for income and pushing forward, rather than expecting help from international community.

The current government has a historic opportunity to lead the country to better future. It seems that there is no serious enemy that wants to fight against them. Even their current military forces of young guys have not been in a real war yet. Young soldiers prefer taking selfies, posing with guns and navigating social medias rather than hiding in shelters or fighting in inhospitable, harsh environments. Most of them are not educated, easily manipulated and guided to fulfill top leaders’ orders.

Keeping Afghan people scared, restricted, powerless, uneducated and unhappy is definitely not the way to implement a better future.

However, the situation can change quickly. It’s Afghanistan, you never know what it is going to happen.