Introduction: how do you recognize the Taliban. They carry guns.
Over a lifetime, how many misguided turns does a person make to reach Afghanistan. Momentary lapse of reason, lapse in judgment, more money than common sense.
Did I compete for the Darwin Awards. Did I fall from the wrong side of the decision tree. Did I run out of good countries to visit. Or simply curious, in a world of fickle and volatile geopolitics, did not want to waste this unique opportunity.
How to breach the imperceptibly thin veneer of safety. If 200 countries are normally distributed, how do I break into half the world without the experience breaking me.
US State Department, LEVEL 4 – DO NOT TRAVEL, due to civil unrest, crime, terrorism, wrongful detention, and kidnapping. What is the state of tourism in Afghanistan – or – how I spent seven days with the Taliban. Poison or cure, but the size of the dose.
Why did the chicken cross the road: to get to the other side. How does a person travel from Pakistan to Uzbekistan: through Afghanistan. Hang on to your keffiyeh.
Nothing happens to anyone which s/he is not fitted by nature to endure (Aurelius)
Pakistan: India and Pakistan were partitioned, and gained independence in 1947, as Britain struggled against Germany during World War II. Borders were hastily re-drawn using outdated maps and census, along Hindu and Muslim majorities. Fifteen million people migrated across the new borders, and one-million people were killed.
Kashmir remains disputed to this day, contested among India, Pakistan, and China. Border dispute yields grave tension between India and Pakistan, both armed with nuclear weapons, with protracted war in 1947, 1965, and 1999. Another example of failed colonialism; France (Lebanon and Syria), and Britain (Israel and Palestine).
One year ago, travel to Pakistan without controversy, but no longer. Border skirmish hostilities with Afghanistan erupted in February, followed by war in Iran, and Pakistani protests at US Embassy in Islamabad, and US Consulates in Lahore and Karachi.
Wanted to travel to Quetta, to travel the infamous Bolan Mail train, but requires no objection certificate (NOC) due to violence in Balochistan province, with more than six suicide bombings by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) during the past year.
SAT 30 MAY: wanted to cross land border from India to Pakistan; Attari-Wagah border closed since November. The two countries are mortal enemies, no direct flights.
Tourist must apply for eVisa on-line prior to travel. Application must include lodging and transportation details, and proof of onward travel. Letter of Invitation (LOI) recommended but not required. Coordinated LOI with Adventure Planners Pakistan ($50 USD), and believe that it streamlined eVisa approval and airport immigration.
Connecting flight from New Delhi to Karachi via Dubai, without missile or drone attack. Thirty-minute moto taxi ($2 USD) from airport to Clifton Beach AirBnB. Pakistan appears less dirty, less crowded. Pass motorbike with family of five (husband, wife, three children). There is spray-painted graffiti, “Death to America” and see posters of Mojtaba Khamenei, the newly installed supreme leader of Iran.
Sidewalks are stained red, Pakistani men chew betel nut (paan), stimulant and intoxicant. Rotten teeth stained red, betel induces oral cancer. Visit the public market, there is a snake charmer. Snake is having none of it, appears mostly dead, not moving; when it does move, it only tries to slowly, slither away.
AirBnB is underwhelming; move to a hotel closer to Karachi Cantt Railway Station. Neighborhood is more interesting; traffic is chaotic, but a less likely vehicular target.
WED 03 JUNE: fragile cease fire, Iran fired drone at Kuwait Airport, one person killed, 63 people wounded. It does not take much to disrupt commercial airspace.
Foreign tourists cannot make on-line train reservations; state identification card required and foreign credit card not accepted. Coordinated train tickets with Zehan Tahir at GOVAC Travels in Karachi. Coordinated via email, WhatsApp, and PayPal.
Marriott Hotel close to the train station, and spend quiet afternoon at the hotel café with AirCon and WiFi. At sunset, proceeded to Karachi Cantt station.
On the train platform, I am subject to intense staring. Local citizen approached to say hello, and soon, surrounded by a dozen men. They intend no harm, there are simply curious; smiles and handshakes all around. Shy and introverted, I am often uncomfortable to be the center of attention.
Greenline Express (5UP) overnight train to Lahore. Train is grubby and tired, understand why people choose to fly. Four passengers in the compartment. One gentleman wears more toilet water than a French whore; apologies to the whore.
Eighteen-hour journey is tedious and tiring, but, an opportunity to observe life in Pakistan; an alternating patchwork of farm land and brick kilns. Simple breakfast and lunch are served, better than going hungry.
Train terminates at Lahore Junction, but slows down at Lahore Cantt station; many of us step off the train while it is still moving. It is a short walk to private AirBnB.
Friday, metrobus towards Lahore Junction train station. Bus is crushed with people, it is a miserable experience. Exit the bus and walk to the station, and confirm onward train ticket. Wanted to visit historic walled city, but do not have the energy. Severe head cold, likely exacerbated by air pollution during the past three months.
MON 08 JUNE: at Zen Center, it was often suggested (by those who know) that meditation is good for nothing. It may also be suggested (by those who know) that travel is good for nothing. Journey approaches its nadir, inevitable for a journey this long. There is no other choice, ignore the sensation, and keep moving forward.
On-line train status not available; travel local bus to train station to inquire about status of Khyber Mail (1UP) overnight train from Lahore to Peshawar (peh · shaa · wuh).
Food in Pakistan is meat heavy, to find anything veg-friendly is a challenge. Often, there is no menu, and if there is a menu, it is often written in Perso-Arabic script. Most often: egg and paratha, or paratha and egg; egg and roti, or roti and egg.
Depart four-hours late (1am), and arrive six-hours late (mid-day). Due to the conflict with Afghanistan, there is a pronounced anti-terrorism police presence. Indeed, Torkham border is less than 50-kilometers away.
Hotels have better reviews than AirBnB, but stay at AirBnB. Hotel reviews suggest that tourists are not allowed to leave the hotel without police escort. AirBnB, travel under the radar, and explore the city on my own. Stopped more than once for passport inspection. Passport not scanned, eVisa not reviewed, not asked for sponsor. However, the guards are friendly, they speak English quite well, and seem to enjoy talking.
There is a great deal of barbed wire in Pakistan, it informs a person where (not) to go. Only place that I have traveled with more barbed wire is Beirut Lebanon. Hoped to travel along the historic Khyber Pass (Ali Masjid Mosque, Ali Masjid Fort, Sphola Stupa, and Landi Kotal), but not allowed due to security threat, even with police escort. There are too many disappointments in life to get disappointed.
FRI 12 JUNE: Pakistan train service is mostly unreliable. Instead, Daewoo Express Bus to Rawalpindi, and AirBnB adjacent to Islamabad Airport. Stand on a small balcony. The afternoon is strangely overcast. There is an empty field across the street. From a distance, there is no sound, as if, a television on mute. Watch adults play cricket. They play with joy and abandon. Somehow, the experience is mesmerizing and soothing.
SAT 13 JUNE: morning flight from Islamabad to Skardu. The two daily flights require visual flight rules (VFR) due to the mountainous terrain, and subject to cancellation due to low-hanging clouds, heavy precipitation, or low visibility. Airbus A320-200 flight operated without incident. Same may not be said for the turbo-prop flight from Islamabad to (nearby) Gilgit; these two daily flights cancelled almost every day.
Intention is to walk from airport to Skardu, stopped by two military guards at the airport gate. It seems that most (normal) people take a taxi. The guards speak the King’s English, and invite me to join them for breakfast: chai tea and paratha. They are polite and delightful company, before they allow me to proceed under foot.
Skardu is underwhelming, and hotel is even more underwhelming. Considered finding alternative lodging, instead, decide to depart Gilgit one day early.
SUN 14 JUNE: awake twenty hours before I collapse into bed. Do not stir during the night; when I wake up, for a brief moment, do not know where I am. Yes, Skardu.
There is no electricity at the hotel, no DC inverter, no emergency lights. Outdoors, there is enough ambient light to insert contact lens using the reflection of a window pane. There is an Indian (squat) toilet; my stomach is not well, and in the early-morning darkness, decide to remove my pants rather than risk shitting myself.
125-mile journey along Baltistan Highway takes four hours, and intersects three mountain ranges: Karakoram, Himalaya, and Hindu Kush. Narrow ribbon of asphalt traces the steep cliff face above, and the Indus River below. Road conditions are better than expected, but, a losing battle with mother nature: avalanche and rock slides block the road surface, and flooding washes away the remaining road surface.
When I go to bed, wonder if someone knows how the following day will unfold, like, someone knows – certainly not me – that tomorrow will go completely sideways.
THU 18 JUNE: present bus ticket at the station, seized immediately by the agent. Informed that there are protests in Chilas; all commercial transport, jingle trucks and bus ($20 USD), are cancelled over the Karakoram Highway, the infamous Silk Road.
Travel long enough, there is almost no problem that money cannot solve; it helps to be stubborn, do not wish to be stranded in Gilgit. Ask around the parking lot until I find someone motivated by money, and find a share taxi ($55 USD).
Three adults crammed into the back seat of a Toyota Corolla. By the end of the 350-mile, 15-hour journey, my body is sore from getting slammed in every direction. It is a challenging day. One passenger chain smokes. There is no English, only Urdu. I try my best to act disarming; I am treated well by the driver and passengers, no deceit.
Instead of driving the N35 Highway, detour over Babusar Pass to bypass Chilas. At 14,000 feet, rain changed to snow; traffic crawled and then reached a full stop.
Summit descent was mostly death-defying. The driver dodges avalanche debris, and water obstacles; deep, fast-moving melt water. Crossing appeared impossible, if you did not watch the vehicle in front of you. There are no guardrails; surprised that we did not drive over a cliff, as we raced past slow-moving cars at high speed.
We are stopped at only one security checkpoint, and received a tongue-lashing for operating the taxi with a foreign tourist (me) along a restricted travel route. Apparently, the guards do not want to be stuck with me (either), and allow us to travel onward. Arrive in Islamabad past midnight, actually, I am surprised to be in Islamabad. There was no sleep to be had in the car. Find a hotel for a cold shower and some rest.
If you travel the Karakoram Highway through the Hunza Valley, be prepared for delays; anything that may go wrong, will go wrong. After I arrived in Islamabad, a landslide on the N35 Highway at Goner Farm (outside Chilas) closed the highway for three days.
Wednesday, AirBnB host allowed me to check-in mid-morning, self-contained, private apartment. Clothes resist going into the wash machine, as if a scene from the Exorcist. Wash machine cursed with forked tongue during the entire wash cycle.
Daylight fades into night, head begins to throb, migraine medication barely working. I go to bed, hoping that I need only sleep, and hope that I will not wake up in agony.
Lodging in Pakistan was underwhelming; transportation was unreliable. Travel through Pakistan was not difficult, but it was never easy; energy mostly drained. I do not regret travel through Pakistan. If nothing else, I was consistently treated with great kindness. In a world where people have so little, maybe all that remains is kindness. The poem with the same name, by Naomi Shihab Nye (b. 1952), burns in my consciousness.
Rationale: do not seek to change your mind, do not seek to convince you of my folly to visit Afghanistan. Cannot justify or explain the decision, may only rationalize the delusion. Reckless, stupid, foolish, calculated, or informed. Perhaps the decision makes no difference at all, in a world that is often indifferent.
Perhaps what brings me to Afghanistan, is the belief that I lived too safely, that I lived too cautiously, and find myself at an un-remarkable middle-age. Do not seek to be reckless, but, safe travel does not not transform. Person only grows by stretching beyond the zone of discomfort. There is pain that hurts, and pain that transforms.
Traveled long enough to recognize that absolute safety does not exist, but willing to admit that relative safety may exist. Does travel to Afghanistan pierce the veil of safe travel. Ill-planned, ill-conceived, ill-executed war in Iran reminded me that certainty is an illusion, there is no certainty in this world (except death). Let go, and let’s go.
Is Afghanistan dangerous; does Rose Kennedy own a black dress. Is Afghanistan any more dangerous than the rest of the world. ICE agents kill two citizens in Minneapolis. How many worshippers killed at synagogue. No-end to US school shootings. As Rick Steves often suggests, where I am going, is more safe than where you are staying.
There is little discomfort on board a commercial flight. Travel overland and bear witness to the world. Register Afghanistan journey with US State Department; receive an email strongly advising against travel. Difficult to read in its entirety; difficult to read without feeling grave fear; difficult to read without feeling like the village idiot. There is no embassy or consulate in Afghanistan to intervene if travel goes sideways.
Commodus: do you think that I am afraid
Maximus: I think that you have been afraid all your life (Gladiator, 2000)
Planning: followed discussion boards; 9,000 people traveled safely to Afghanistan last year. Afghanistan is not without challenges, but also, it is not entirely plagued with issues. Do not speak Farsi (Persian), there are Taliban security checkpoints, and tourists must obtain travel permits from each provincial Tourist Ministry.
Planned to visit Afghanistan more than a year ago. Said nothing to anyone … possible that the country gets locked down … possible that people try to convince me that travel to Afghanistan is dangerous, and that I should change my mind, as if there is something wrong with my mind. Obtained polio booster in the fall; virus is uncontained in Pakistan and Afghanistan. My vaccination record reads like a most wanted poster of noxious disease; vaccinated not once, but twice, for rabies.
Wanted to travel from Peshawar, cross Torkham border to Jalalabad, and onward to Kabul. However, border zone is unstable and the border is more closed than open. Border skirmish between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been on-going since February.
Wanted to visit Afghanistan for two weeks, but prohibited by cost of a guide, and inability to travel by bus (onward to Herat and Kandahar); travel by airplane is disingenuous; sandals on the ground, with all of its discomfort and dusty challenges.
Evaluated several tour guides, selected UK-based, Untamed Borders. Untamed Borders does not go every place, but goes only to the challenging corners of the world. I will likely coordinate future journeys with Untamed Borders.
Tried to purchase airline ticket, Islamabad to Kabul. Chrome blocked Kam Air website even with VPN. Bank of America did not block the transaction, but Firefox would not authenticate credit card. Installed Kam Air iPhone app, successful purchase; go figure.
Purchased hazard travel insurance (required by Untamed Borders). Only one company (IMG) out of a dozen would insure the journey. G-Adventures also required travel insurance for journey to Antarctica (DEC 2024). Otherwise, I do not insure my travels.
Should we or should we not, follow the advice of the galactically stupid (1992)
Afghanistan: Kingdom of Afghanistan gained its short-lived independence in 1926, and has been plagued with coups, invasions, insurgencies, and civil war, since 1973.
Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, following the Afghan communist revolution of 1978. United States supported the Afghan mujahideen from 1979 to 1992, through a covert CIA operation that funneled weapons and money through Pakistan. Following mujahideen victory, Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989.
Afghanistan returned to civil war in 1992, and by 1996, the Taliban, comprised of several (CIA funded) mujahideen warlords, seized full control of the country.
United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001 to dismantle al-Qaeda and the Taliban. United States retreated from Afghanistan in 2021, the longest war in US history, and Afghanistan returned to Taliban control. 45-million Afghans are subject to a devastating sequence of events that they did not choose; the lottery of birth.
WED 24 JUNE: for any reason, city buses do not operate today, transportation consistently unreliable; 30-minute moto taxi to the airport.
Morning is controlled by gate keepers. People who may deny, deny, deny. All I may really do is breath into that (tight) space. There is nothing else that I may do.
Afghanistan eVisa is not accepted prima facie. It is barcode scanned and verified via phone call. Only then do I receive printed boarding pass to Kabul.
Clear Pakistan immigration. Pakistan eVisa and Afghanistan eVisa scanned and reviewed. Agent complains about multiple entry India visa. Again, just breath.
Four options to obtain Afghanistan tourist visa: in-person at the embassy in Dubai ($500), embassy in Islamabad ($200), consulate in Peshawar ($100), and recently introduced, eVisa on-line ($200), the method that I used.
Brief, afternoon flight, Kam Air, Islamabad to Kabul, operates on alternate days of the week. Boeing 737-300 aircraft is full. I board the aircraft. There is but one Caucasian tourist. I am not just the object of curiosity, I am a one-person freak show.
It is said that courage is not the absence of fear, but action in the face of fear. I do not feel brave or courageous. I feel anything, but. My heart is racing. I feel unsettled, anxious, nervous, uncomfortable. Perhaps I am a coward. Willing to admit that the mix of emotions that I feel is (unrecognized) fear.
Welcome to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the crossroads of Asia. Greeted by my guide, Rahmat, outside the airport. Dropped off at the hotel. Change into traditional clothing, tunban and perahan. Explore downtown Kabul on foot. If I did not know that I was in Afghanistan, I would not guess that I was in Afghanistan. Visit Wazir Akbar Khan Hill, which features a large Taliban flag and dramatic views of Kabul. Visit the British Cemetery, corner of green space in a city of eight-million people. Military dead from many countries: Australia, New Zealand, Germany, France, Canada, and United States.
Long day, return to hotel room, tired. There is WiFi, but it is painfully slow, just short of useless. Stand next to the wireless access point; iPhone backup takes one hour.
Thursday, wake up exhausted, perhaps simply, dehydrated at high altitude. Limited energy, no amount of coffee will fix. Visit Blue Mosque, Gardens of Babur, National Museum. In the evening, explore independently; not stopped by Taliban guards.
Friday, four-hour drive from Kabul to Bamiyan. Density of capital city gradually thins out, exit the highway for local roads. Rugged mountains, arid and dry, yet starkly beautiful. In contrast, along the valley, river irrigates apple, apricot, and cherry trees.
Break for lunch; explore the ancient walled cities of Shahr-e-Gholghola and Shahr-e Zuhak. Visit the Bamiyan Buddha, carved during the sixth century, and destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. Nothing remains, there is nothing to replace or repair. Gate, gate, pāragate, pārasaṃgate (gone, gone, gone beyond, gone utterly beyond).
Saturday, spend the day at Band-e-Amir National Park with its stunning azure lakes, set against a backdrop of taupe-colored, rugged mountains. During the evening, feel tremors from 6.1-magnitude earthquake in Jurm, northeast Afghanistan.
Sunday is a long travel day, 425-kilometers, 12-hours, Bamiyan to Mazari Sharif. Drive through Hindu Kush mountains, and Salang Tunnel. Two-mile long tunnel, at 11,000 feet elevation, was built by the Soviet Union (1958-1964). It is one of the few Central Asia, north-south transit routes open year-round. As we approach Mazari, we drive through the narrow Tang-i-Tash Gorge, subject to earthquake, avalanche debris.
Arid, mountain landscape lies in stark relief to the green valleys below. Afghanistan is supported by agriculture, including: pomegranate, apricot, almond, pistachio, and saffron (which replaced opium). Afghanistan appears to respect its land much better than India or Pakistan, there is some debris in places, but the country is quite clean. Certainly, the country is much smaller, and I share its population level by key dates: 1925: 5m | 1979: 13m | 1989: 11m | 1996: 17m | 2001: 20m | 2021: 40m.
Monday, explore the ancient, walled city of Balkh. Nearby is the family home of Rumi (before the family moved to Turkey). His poems are quite special, my favorite: you only truly possess that which you may not lose in a shipwreck. In the afternoon, we visit the Shrine of Ali, and share a wonderful, savory rice dish of plov (pulaw) for lunch.
TUE 30 JUNE: grateful for the opportunity to experience Afghanistan. Country is starkly beautiful. Treated with only kindness by its people. Taliban guards (armed with AK-47 or M4 rifles) were professional and respectful. Understand that the Taliban would like to expand tourism. Travel (for me) is to not sit on the beach, but to challenge beliefs and assumptions. My experience in Afghanistan was more safe, less dangerous, than other countries to which I have traveled. What I experience in person does not match the news cycle. Perhaps it is true, the only thing to fear, is fear itself.
There is more to discover, and would like to return to Afghanistan; next time that I am in the region, onward travel towards Herat and Kandahar. If possible, would prefer independent travel (hotel, transportation), and use guide for day trips (tours).
Cross the border between Hairatan Afghanistan and Termez Uzbekistan, Friendship Bridge over the Amu River. I am on my own now, and have to find a way from the border to the city center. Do not feel any better, do not feel any more safe. Feel isolated, feel like I stand upon unsteady, unstable ground. Breath by breath, one moment at a time, that is all (that exists).
July may also be challenging month of travel: Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, commercial flight over Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Turkey. From Azerbaijan, onward trains toward Lisbon Portugal, before return flight to the United States, October 1st.
Cost: cumulative travel costs, during past 186-days.
Lodging: $3,601 total | $19 day (private room: 118 days | 63%)
Transport: $5,573 total | $30 day (plane | train | bus | ferry | taxi)
– – Philippine Airline ($1100 JFK – MNL, 18-hour non-stop, $61 flight hour)
– – Four flights ($300 Bangkok, Myanmar, Bangkok, Chiang Mai)
– – Six flights ($1,600 India, Maldives, Sri Lanka, India, Bhutan, Nepal)
– – Seven flights ($1,000 inter-India on IndiGo; and Karachi Pakistan)
– – Two flights ($300 Islamabad to Skardu; and Kabul Afghanistan)
Food: $589 total | $3 day
Other: $4,783 total | $26 day (FX | ATM | visa | tourism | RV & motorbike)
– – Bhutan ($1,375 five-day, four-night | travel prohibited without guide)
– – Afghanistan ($2,500 seven-day, six-night | Untamed Borders)
Total: $14,547 total | $78 day | $28,500 annualized
– – Cash burn: $774 | $4 day (when credit card not accepted)
Pakistan is cash-based economy, some credit card; Afghanistan, currency only.
Currency: Philippine Peso (PHP), Myanmar Kyat (MMK), Thailand Baht (THB), Laos Kip (LAK), Cambodia Riel (KHR), Vietnamese Dong (VND), Maldivian Rufiyaa (MVR), Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR), Bhutanese Ngultrum (BTN), Nepalese Rupee (NPR), Indian Rupee (INR), Bangladeshi Taka (BDT), Pakistani Rupee (PKR), Afghan Afghani (AFN).
Conclusion: travel the world, to seek truth, to seek that which is true. Perhaps, find truth within myself. Who would ever look inside. Do I recognize truth. Do I understand truth. Do I believe anything that is true. In a world of lies, deceit, and deception, may anyone recognize the truth. Does truth matter, does truth (even) make a difference.
It is said, sometimes we find ourselves in the middle of nowhere, and sometimes, in the middle of nowhere we find ourselves. I find nothing; will I be forever lost.
Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life (Mary Oliver)
garthmonroe 