Attractions of Afghanistan

Ghazni

The modern town of Ghazni is just a pale shadow of its former glory. The city is only 150km (93mi) southwest of Kabul on the road to Kandahar, but poor roads mean the trip still takes most of the day. Ghazni today is known mainly for its fine bazaar, featuring goods from Afghanistan and surrounding countries.

The carefully restored tomb of Abdul Razzak and the museum within are of interest. There are also some very fine minarets, the excavations of the Palace of Masud and, most surprisingly, a recently discovered Buddhist stupa that has survived from long before the Arab invasion of the 7th century.

Attractions of Afghanistan

Herat

Herat was once a small, laze-about place that everyone seemed to like, an easy-going oasis after a lot of hassle and dry desert. In the 15th century, it became the lively Timurid centre of art, blending Persian, Central Asian and Afghan cultures to create one of Central Asia’s cultural highlights.

The Friday Mosque (Masjid-i-Jami), is Herat’s number one attraction and among the finest Islamic buildings in the world. It has some exquisite Timurid tilework to complement its graceful architecture. The covered bazaar in Charar Su is a complex of all sorts of shops and artisans’ workshops.

Attractions of Afghanistan

Kandahar

Kandahar is situated in the far south of the country, about midway between Kabul and Herat. It’s the second-largest city in Afghanistan and lies at an important crossroads, where the main thoroughfare from Kabul branches northwest to Herat and southeast to Quetta in Pakistan.

Kandahar lies very much in the Pashtun heartland and gained modern significance as the power base of the Taliban militia. Kandahar’s great treasure, a cloak that once belonged to the Prophet, is safely locked away from infidel eyes in the Mosque of the Sacred Cloak, known locally as Da Kherqa Sharif Ziarat. (more…)

Attractions of Afghanistan

Nuristan

Northeast of Kabul, Nuristan (Land of Light) is mountainous, remote, little-visited, of great ethnological interest and memorably described in Eric Newby’s hilarious book A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush.

Shahr-i-Zohak (The Red City) enshrines the remains of an ancient citadel which guarded Bamiyan, and is about 17km (11mi) before Bamiyan itself and 180km (112mi) northwest of Kabul. This was once the centre of the Ghorid kingdom.

Attractions of Afghanistan

Kabul

Once Afghanistan’s cosmopolitan centre and a stop on the old hippy trail to India, Kabul was ruined in the civil war. The Soviets left the city reasonably intact in 1989, but since then it has been virtually destroyed by bombardments, street battles, and many lost lives.

The Kabul Museum, which used to have one of the finest collections of antiquities in Asia, has had nearly three-quarters of its finest collections looted. It’s still possible to see the remaining artifacts - those without any significant monetary value - but museum hours are erratic. (more…)

Facts for the Traveler

Visas: Travellers don’t need to register with the authorities on arrival in Afghanistan. In towns not used to seeing foreigners, some hotels may ask you to register with the police before they allow you to check in (or they will summon the police to take your details). Visas for Afghanistan are easy to obtain. Tourist-visa applications do not require a letter of support, although bemused consular officials may occasionally ask applicants to explain why they want to holiday in Afghanistan. Those travelling for work purposes require a supporting letter from their office. In neighbouring countries, New Delhi, Peshawar, Tehran, Mashhad and Tashkent are good places to apply for an Afghan visa. One-month single-entry visas cost US$30 and are generally issued on the same day. Afghan visas are not issued on arrival at Kabul airport or at any land border. (more…)

Environment of Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s dramatic landscape encompasses a variety of biomes, from arid steppes to alpine fields. The seismically active mountains of the Hindu Kush, where most of the country’s water falls as snow, are home to many plants and animals that exist nowhere else on earth. The steppes and intermediary ecosystems are also of interest to the amateur biologist.

Land and water mismanagement led to the destruction of many of these unique natural habitats. While unruly Afghanistan was spared the worst of this trend - not even the Soviets wanted to risk a nuclear jihad - the constant, high-tech bloodshed of the last 20 years has left no environment undisturbed. (more…)

Politics of Afghanistan

Currently, Afghanistan is led by president Hamid Karzai, who was hand-picked by the Bush Administration to lead an interim government after the fall of the Taliban. He recently won a national election. His current cabinet includes members of the Northern Alliance, and a mix from other regional and ethnic groups formed from the transitional government by the Loya jirga. Former monarch Mohammed Zahir Shah returned to the country, but was not reinstated as king and only exercises limited ceremonial powers.

Under the Bonn Agreement the Afghan Constitution Commission was established to consult with the public and formulate a draft constitution. Scheduled to release a draft on September 1, 2003, the commission has asked for a delay in order to undertake further consultations. The meeting of a constitutional loya jirga (grand council) was held in December 2003 when a new constitution was adopted creating a presidential form of government with a bicameral legislature. (more…)

Military of Afghanistan

Military branches: NA; note - the military does not exist on a national basis; some elements of the former Army, Air and Air Defense Forces, National Guard, Border Guard Forces, National Police Force (Sarandoi), and tribal militias still exist but are factionalized among the various groups
Military manpower - military age: 22 years of age
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 6,645,023 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 3,561,957 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 252,869 (2001 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $NA
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: NA%

Transportation of Afghanistan

Landlocked Afghanistan has no functioning railways, but the Amu Darya (Oxus) River, which forms part of Afghanistan’s border with Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, has barge traffic. During their occupation of the country, the Soviets completed a bridge across the Amu Darya and built a motor vehicle and railroad bridge between Termez and Jeyretan.

Most road building occurred in the 1960s, funded by the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The Soviets built a road and tunnel through the Salang Pass in 1964, connecting northern and southern Afghanistan. A highway connecting the principal cities of Herat, Kandahar, Ghazni, and Kabul with links to highways in neighboring Pakistan formed the primary road system. (more…)