Is Afghanistan Safe for Tourism?
This is a really difficult question to answer and I would honestly have to say yes and no. I would be very irresponsible and quite frankly a bit of an idiot to say that it is completely safe. Everyone knows that it isn’t. Yet, if you are with a tour guide that is aware of the security situation on the ground then he or she can help mitigate risks as much as possible.
During our tour, the guide wouldn’t let us stay in one place for very long, especially when there were large crowds. He would tell us when we could and couldn’t get out of the car and he warn me when I needed to “completely cover myself”. It was a little unnerving at times but I knew that it was completely necessary. You never know when a Taliban-sympathiser or just someone desperate for money would inform someone “bad” where you were and where you were going.
Can I travel in Afghanistan alone?
I am a hard-core indepedent traveller and only take guided tours when I absolutely have to (ie. North Korea and Iran) but I personally would NOT attempt to travel alone in Afghanistan. Although there are areas that are “safe”, this is all very relative and unless you speak Dari or Pashto and look like you can be from the subcontinent, there are simply too many risk factors. Also, keep in mind, if something DOES happen to you here, it isn’t just happening to you. You are putting other people who try to help you at risk. On top of that, it becomes an international incident and could unfairly impact the people here.
In saying that, there are reports of people traveling alone and I actually met a Polish couple who claimed to be travelling solo at the buzkashi games in Mazar. They had spent considerable amount of time in Iran and claimed to speak conversational Farsi. My guide said that he saw a guide drop them off and actually talked with their guide so this is still up for debate. Again, I don’t think it is worth the risk to travel alone. You may save some money but the stress that most likely will result is difficult to justify. If you can’t afford to go as part of a tour, then wait until you can.
Where should I go in Afghanistan?
Basically, you go wherever is safe. At the time of writing, we were able to travel to Herat, Bamiyan, Mazar, Balkh, Kabul, Panjir Valley, and Samangam region. Again, this is no time to be cavalier and show what a bad-ass traveler you are. You are not only putting yourself but other people at risk! Always check the most recent updates and speak to your guide about their safety recommendations.
How do you get around Afghanistan?
On our tour, we flew into Kabul and then flew from Kabul to Herat and back again. We then drove to Bamiyan and back and then flew to Mazar. From Mazar, we drove to the Uzbekistan border and crossed overland.All of the cars that we rode in were plain and kind of crappy in order to have a low profile. There is an option to have “secure” vehicles and an escort but I was told that that actually puts you more at risk. Better to blend in……
Where do you stay in Afghanistan?
We stayed in a discrete guest house in the center of Kabul, relatively large city center hotels in Mazar and Herat and in our own mountain “fortress” in Bamiyan. All hotels had secure entrances with several gates and armed guards 24/7.
What about going to Afghanistan as a woman?
For the two weeks that I was there, I didn’t feel any more at risk as a woman than I think I would as a “western” man. I couldn’t go up to men and ask them for photos like the British man I was traveling with could but I was normally treated with respect from every man that I met. It felt significantly more comfortable from that stand point than traveling in India or North Africa. I dressed in conservative clothing and wore a headscarf (this is basically mandatory) and had no problems. If anything, some people were more friendly to me simply because I am a woman. I was even able to chat with some local women which my co-traveller could not.
What should women wear while traveling in Afghanistan?
I went in the winter so my best advice is to wear layers. As mentioned, it is mandatory to wear hijab. Since I didn’t really have many “conservative” clothes, I ended up wearing my loose cotton pajama pants, a long sleeved shirt and an Indian kurta over it to cover my butt. It is as freezing so I would add layers as necessary but that was the general basis. In the summer, you will basically have to wear the same thing, just without so many layers underneath and on top. The one positive thing about wearing so many layers is that I didn’t have to wear a bra for two weeks!
What about getting money in Afghanistan?
This is actually the easy part! There are banks in Kabul and Mazar that take foreign credit cards. The ATM in Kabul even gave out US$ which was very fortunate as I paid my tour guide in cash! Keep in mind that the ATM charges a hefty fee of $5 per transaction and you can only take out $200 (or the Afghani equivalent) at one time and only two transactions per day.
Can you travel Afghanistan as a vegetarian?
Afghanistan cuisine is known to be veeeerrrryyy meat heavy and the huge amount of butcher shops with meat carcasses hanging outside is testimony to this. However, with a little bit of patience and a huge love for bread, you can definitely survive as a vegetarian here. Many of the restaurants that we went to offered vegetable pizza so I ate that at least once a day. In Herat, you could get falafe and in Bamiyan, the guest house made vegetables for me every lunch and dinner. The good news is that when Afghanis actually make vegetables, they are delicious!
