Afghanistan

Guide in Afganistan

Hello, friends.
My name is Andrew Sobolev.
I'm from St. Petersburg, Russia.
In April 2010 I'm going to visit Afghanistan.
Specifically around the city of Asadabad (Marawara). The purpose is to honor the memory of my brother and friends who died there April 21, 1985.
I do not speak Pashto and Dari. And I know about the difficult situation in those places.
So I very much want to find a guide who speaks English or Russian, who will be able to accompany me on a trip from Kabul to Jalalabad and Asadabad.
I would be very grateful if you could help me in this matter.

Afghan Flights

I will be travelling this May/June to Iran - Afghanistan - Uzbekistan.
I will cross from Iran to Herat.
I would like info on one way flights:

Herat - Kabul
Kabul - Mazar-e Sharif

• then overland to enter Uzbekistan.

Afghanistan with your own car.

I just completed an east to west crossing of Afghanistan in my own car, safely, and wanted to share some info. I am a traveller with no professional / governmental links in Afghanistan. I never got much positive information from people on this site, so I'd like to put something up in case there's anyone else who wants to do this.

I don't want to encourage people to do this, but there's a lot of overly-negative material on the net regarding travelling in Afghanistan. It is a wonderful country with timeless villages, warm, dignified and hugely generous people who are amongst the nicest I've ever met, stunning natural scenery, and a clutch of fantastic old cities (Herat, Balkh) and monuments. The cliched media images of wrecked tanks, beggars, amputees, destruction, squalour and misery are all true to a small and decreasing extent, but are far from the overriding experience of this co... more »

Herat to Kabul

Does anyone have an update on travel from Herat to Kabul? Most of the route still seems doable but I see that there's been problems around Chaghcheran in the last few months. Are those easing or are they likely to get worse in the next few months?

Insh'allah in mid-2010 I will be coming out of Turkmenistan into Afghanistan, stopping at Herat to assess the situation. If all looks OK, I will head to Jam and then try to continue to Bamiyan and Kabul, before heading up to Mazar-i-Sharif and on into Tajikistan at Nizhiy Panj. I can fly over the trouble spot if necessary but that would mean missing a spectacular part of the route (albeit also possibly missing a spectacular demise).

Mahboba's Promise - any comments?

There were some negative comments about the charity 'Mahboba's Promise' last year and that the funds that were being made available to Mahboba’s uncle were assisting education of young men who were being indoctrinated into the Taliban. Can anybody advise how the charity is running ‘on the ground’ – are there sustainable results?

Global Circumnavigation

Hello,

We are planning a circumnavigation - trip around the world by road with a 4wd. So I have a question concerning the route we will follow. After Africa, we will head to Tehran (Iran) then Afghanistan from Zaranj - Nimroz Province - to Bamyan then Kabul and Jalalabad to end in Pakistan.

I'm aware of all kinds of risks ...

But does someone ever take the road between Zaranj - Nimroz province - and Chaghchatan - Ghor Province. On the road map from 2004 I have, the road is mentionned as a "track", so what kind of road conditions will I face ?

Thanks for your answers !

PS : Support Akis and Vula's circumnavigation : http://www.theworldoffroad.com/theworldoffroad/en/index.php

Visa & the suitable route for Afghanistan?

Hi to all, I'm new to this forum. I have been reading it for a while & read many threads of foreigners asking about going to Afghanistan but I couldn't find a thread about a Pakistani national asking about going to Afghanistan maybe I missed it, in that case just post me the link please. So here's my question:-

I'm Pakistani & I intend go to Kabul in 1 month or so. I asked some Afghans & Pakistani Pashtuns regarding this issue, many have advised me not to get the visa for Afghanistan since they say you can enter Afghanistan without a visa (of course by moving around the crowd on border cross point) & most of them have advised me to take the Khyber Pass route but since I heard that there's trouble going on there, is it still possible for a local to go there from Peshawar? If yes then how much will this whole trip cost from Peshawar to Kabul? I don't know much Pashto just few words ... more »

Indians a target in Afghanistan?

I am toying with the idea of going to Afghanistan in mid-December, if my application for a Turkmenistan transit visa doesnt come through (which, given that it is Turkmenistan, is not unlikely!). My plan would be to go to Mazar from Uzbekistan, take Salang Pass to Kabul, fly to Herat and cross into Iran.

I am an Australian citizen but of Sri Lankan descent. Of course, in Central Asia everyone initially assumes im Indian. Sri Lanka is too small!

I notice that the Taliban seem to have an affinity for Indian targets, like the Embassy in Kabul. Are Indian-related places or even people targets for the Taliban, and why?

But more importantly: as someone who simply looks Indian, will I be in even more danger in Afghanistan? Will I be more easily noticeable, attract attention, or even attract hostility? Of course I will wear local clothes to blend in as much as I can, but that can only... more »