Afghanistan is a wild and dangerous exotic. This is a country that attracts with its primeval beauty, where high mountain peaks on the horizon side by side with high-altitude deserts, shimmering in the sun with countless shades of red. Here is the birthplace of Zarathustra, ancient fortresses and citadels, priceless from a historical point of view. Unfortunately, not all of them have survived the 30 years of the civil war, as a result of which many cities and villages lie in ruins.
Only the most desperate go to Afghanistan. This is reckless and unsafe, although there are fewer dangers for a European foreigner here than for a representative of neighboring Pakistan. It will not be possible to get into this country just like that, since a visa is required. Moreover, there is no such thing as a “tourist visa”. People go there on business, on business trips or as members of humanitarian missions.
If by the will of fate a traveler finds himself in Afghanistan, then he will be slightly shocked by the unreal contrasts of this country. Local millionaires with heavily armed guards, living in houses with helicopter pads, side by side with people who huddle in dugouts with whole families. Kabul hotels with machine guns mounted on the roofs stand next to guest houses, where the traveler is invited to sleep in a common room in a sleeping bag. The tall peaks of the Hindu Kush and The Vakhan ridge is interspersed with the purest blue lakes and rivers.