Mazar-e Sharif

We finally made our trip to Mazar-e Sharif it was great, but crazy. I went with Mike, a trainee from Washington DC, who works here at Tolo TV. We were both desperate to get out of Kabul and see something of the country. So on Wednesday we decided and Friday we left. I think I have mentioned before, that it’s a 6 day working week here, and Friday is everyone’s day off.

Mike came to get me at 5am on Friday morning, but I was still asleep after a heave Thursday night. (Which was such a huge night. After being at the local bar, we went to this huge house party! It was crazy!) Anyway, Mike had to wake me as I slept through my alarm and a wake up call. And we were on the road about 20mins later. The drive was amazing. It was an 8 hour drive, and really, the driving was one of the highlights of the trip. I don’t even know where to start with describing it. This country is amazing.

Despite the expense, we hired a private driver to take us for the weekend. This was great, coz it meant that we were really independent and could stop whenever we liked.
The first major highlight was the Salang Pass. Built in the 64 by the Russians, it cuts through one of the tallest mountains (3363m) linking northern Afghanistan with southern Afghanistan. We rose up and up, passing many villages made of mud houses, perched on the sides of the rocky mountains. We went up and up until we were in the peaks that are still covered with snow.

The tunnel itself is about 20km long and is in complete darkness. In the past, at new year (Nawroz), when people from all around the country make a pilgrimage to Mazar, people have died in the tunnel because the traffic and the ventilation is so bad, that people get gassed in their own cars while they are waiting in the jam. But Nawroz is not for another 2 weeks and we had a pretty quite run.

When we came down from the peaks we drove through rocky mountains for some time, where there were no trees or vegetation whatsoever. We then passed into brilliant green rolling hills, where there was still no vegetation but a constant spattering of mud houses. As we continued we started to see a little more vegetation, particularly pomegranate trees and apple and cherry trees, which are now in bloom.
We passed heaps of burnt out tanks and other types of military type stuff. As well, we took special notice of the blue and white painted stones that lined some parts of the road marking areas that have been cleared of landmines. This made going to the loo particularly difficult, as in Australia, you would just jump into the nearest field and go behind a tree, but without many tree around, and not being able to wander too far from the road places serious limitations on your options.

After driving for around 6 hours, the mountains suddenly ended and we found ourselves racing across a flat, dust desert plain which lead us into Mazar-e Sharif.
In many ways, Mazar is similar to Kabul, but there are many differences as well. The city is a lot lighter, the streets are wider and the main streets are actually paved. Mazar escaped much of the fighting in recent wars, and is not as war torn as Kabul. Also, women there wear white burqas instead of the Kabul blue. Actually, women in generally cover up more, it was rare to see a woman without a burqa or full length hidjab. There were also way less foreigners. So we got a lot more stares and attention.

When we arrived we had lunch in an Afghan restaurant, where Mike had pilau, which is kind of like risotto with carrots, sultanas and meat. And I had Mantu, which is famous in the northern parts. They are big dumplings filled with meat.
After lunch we headed to the Tomb of Hazrat Ali, which is one of the most famous and beautiful Mosques in Afghanistan and one of the main reasons why we made the trip. Despite being destroyed a number of times, it is still well preserved. As with most places we went in Mazar, we attracted a big crowd of followers, which made us and our driver a little nervous. But most people were just curious. Particularly the women, when I am standing by myself, were eager to come closer to get a better look. At one stage I ound myself trying to convers with 4 women in burqas, which is no easy task, as a foreign language is difficult when you can’t see how people are expressing themselves.

Once we visited the mosque, we actually found that there wasn’t a lot to do in Mazar, especially since, once again, you can’t really just go exploring the streets. We had to stick close to the car. We had a look at a few tourist shops and what have you, But as I mentioned, we tended to attract a crowd of followers. I stopped to buy some bangles from a gypsy, and when I looked up there were about 30 people standing around me. So we eventually headed to a hotel to escape the dust and the stares.
The hotel was an interesting place. It was huge and not too shabby. For $30 a night it wasn’t too bad. We had a heater, and hot water and the room was quite large, so we weren’t complaining. We chilled in the saloon for a while where some of the workers were watching cable TV, and imagine our surprise when they flicked through a porn channel on cable!!!

We had dinner at Dali Dunbar, which is a chain of Indian restaurants. It was brilliant. The best Indian I’ve had outside of India. Actually, it could have been better than India. After dinner, as we were driving back to the hotel, we spotted a shisha café near the Mosque and decided to stop. They don’t do shishas here, like we do at home. Everyone gets their own individual shisha, with their choice of tobacco flavor. We had a great time, sitting outside smoking shisha and chatting away, while the café pumped Iranian dance music into the night.

The next morning we were up reasonably early heading to Balkh, which is a small town about 30mins from Mazar, but hosting a lot of ancient ruins. Armed with our guide books we managed to find most of the sights listed, despite some confusion amongst the locals as to where they were and whether they existed. And while they were not so impressive, the fact that we found them was, between us, our non-english speaking driver and crowds of local who gathered to discuss us and our quest. We climbed the city walls and found the Masjid-e Non Gomband, which is famous for having nine pillars. Unfortunately, these were nothing more than ruins, although they are now protected by a huge shed donated by the German government. But really it was the driving through the countryside, witnessing the scenery and the rural life, that made the trip amazing.

Late morning, we started on the long drive back to Kabul. The highlight on the way back, was stopping at a roadside restaurant to have lunch. These restaurants are like the MacDonalds of Afghanistan. They don’t have tables, but benches, where people remove their shoes and sit cross legged. They serve kebab and pilau and tea. And it’s the most fascinating place to observe people. It is not usually the type of place where a woman would eat, but being a westerner I can get away with it. We were there just long enough for people to start to bother us, and then were back on the road.


All in all it was an amazing trip. I really feel like I’m in Afghanistan now that I’ve seen some of the country. I was staggered by how beautiful it is but also by how under developed it is and how harsh life must be for those living beyond the limits of Kabul city.