Afghanistan Vacations, Afghanistan Vacation Reviews, Tourism Guide
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Afghanistan Vacation Guide
Having spent decades in the news for all the wrong reasons, Afghanistan doesn’t look like stabilizing any time soon, and travel is generally ill advised. Visas are surprisingly easy to come by, though, and if you’re a true off-the-wall traveler, you’ll encounter a land of deserts and craggy peaks, relatively untouched natural sites and cities suffering sanitation problems and destruction of heritage.
Capital Kabul is the most accessible destination, perched at 1,800 meters and guarded by a hillside citadel that’s crumbled after decades of war. Kabul’s museum once housed many of Asia’s greatest treasures, but now hosts only the artifacts looters left behind. It’s not all gloom and doom though, with a colorful market scene, dozens of decorative mosques and the walled Gardens of Babur amongst Kabul’s surviving charms.
To the west, the turquoise lakes of Bande Amir are Afghanistan’s most infamous tourist attraction, and form the centre of an Afghan folk tale. The five eerily quiet mountainside pools – which sit under severe, flat-topped cliffs – are said to have been created when former leader Hazrat Ali built the damns that hold them up. Nearby Bamiyan, a tiny city sat under a huge dusty cliff side – was home to two huge stones Buddhas before they were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001, leaving only ‘footprints’, caves and a hilltop fortress to explore.
The notorious Khyber Pass to India is long closed to foreigners, and a serious death risk to attempt, but the beautiful Panjshir Valley does offer rugged hiking amongst snow-capped peaks. Newly accessible due to gemstone mining, yet sparse and littered with the simple traditional tombs of ethnic Tajiks, Panjshir makes a draw-dropping off-the-beaten-track hike.
As a volatile country rife with political difficulties and infrastructure problems, a visit to Afghanistan is not to be taken lightly (always check the latest safety updates). For travelers with an itch for the unusual and a taste for the wild, however, it might just satisfy the urge.
Capital Kabul is the most accessible destination, perched at 1,800 meters and guarded by a hillside citadel that’s crumbled after decades of war. Kabul’s museum once housed many of Asia’s greatest treasures, but now hosts only the artifacts looters left behind. It’s not all gloom and doom though, with a colorful market scene, dozens of decorative mosques and the walled Gardens of Babur amongst Kabul’s surviving charms.
To the west, the turquoise lakes of Bande Amir are Afghanistan’s most infamous tourist attraction, and form the centre of an Afghan folk tale. The five eerily quiet mountainside pools – which sit under severe, flat-topped cliffs – are said to have been created when former leader Hazrat Ali built the damns that hold them up. Nearby Bamiyan, a tiny city sat under a huge dusty cliff side – was home to two huge stones Buddhas before they were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001, leaving only ‘footprints’, caves and a hilltop fortress to explore.
The notorious Khyber Pass to India is long closed to foreigners, and a serious death risk to attempt, but the beautiful Panjshir Valley does offer rugged hiking amongst snow-capped peaks. Newly accessible due to gemstone mining, yet sparse and littered with the simple traditional tombs of ethnic Tajiks, Panjshir makes a draw-dropping off-the-beaten-track hike.
As a volatile country rife with political difficulties and infrastructure problems, a visit to Afghanistan is not to be taken lightly (always check the latest safety updates). For travelers with an itch for the unusual and a taste for the wild, however, it might just satisfy the urge.