The idea of traveling to Afghanistan popped up for the first time while I was wandering around the Pakistani mountains, in April 2021. The country was not safe back then due to the war, so it remained just as a thought. But after the recent takeover by the Talibans, the fights within the country were over and Afghanistan started to appear safer.
Following an extensive research about the independent travel in the country, and since I had been in contact with some solo women who had already been there, I decided to start planning my own 1 month trip, for last November-December 2023. The original plan was to roam around the country for about 25 days, and visit as many provinces as I could, including the main cities of Kabul, Mazar-i-Sharif, Herat, Kandahar, Ghazni and Bamyan.
How to go:
Entry points are quite limited.
By air: departing from Istanbul, Dubai, Islamabad and Iran to Kabul airport only, having issued the visa in advance, by the respective Taliban Embassies
Land entry is possible only from 3 countries that border Afghanistan and their specific borders: Iran at Islam Qala, Pakistan at Torkham and Tajikistan at Shir Khan
Considering each available option, I came to the conclusion that the border of Tajikistan (Shir Khan bandar) was the most convenient for me, as it is the only border where VOA (visa on arrival) can be issued, while the other two countries issue only via embassies. I would also have the opportunity to visit Tajikistan, a new country on my list, since no visa is required for Greek travelers, while for Iran and Pakistan (which I had already visited) I would have to pay for extra visas.
That’s exactly what I did! I booked a flight with AirAstana, from Istanbul to Tajikistan via Almaty Kazakhstan, and landed in the capital Dushanbe, where I stayed for 2 days. On the third day I departed early in the morning and around 2 hours later by shared taxi, I reached the border of Tajikistan.
Sakhovat bazaar
several shared taxis are waiting outside the Sakhovat bazaar
How to go from Dushanbe to Shir Khan bandar:
Sakhovat bazaar is a local market a few kilometers outside the city center, where the station of the shared taxis that reach directly the border with Afghanistan is located. Although there are countless taxis parked outside the bazaar, you should start early in the morning, to have time for the border process, as you need to wait as long as it takes for them to be full and depart. The drivers approach the passengers themselves, offering a fairly expensive initial price, but since you share the taxi with 3 or 4 people more, you can bargain up to 100 tjs (Tajikistan somoni) = about €8.50. The journey is easy and takes 2 – 2.30 hours, depending on the possible stops on the way, and the terminal is right outside the border area.
The second option is the local bus, departing from the city center of Dushanbe, but since the terminal is a town away from the border, you need to take an extra taxi. I opted for the shared taxi from the bazaar, which was more convenient for me.
The process of exiting Tajikistan was very easy. The officers were friendly to me and after the necessary passport and luggage control, in less than half an hour I said goodbye to Tajikistan and proceeded to Afghanistan. Unfortunately, several travelers have reported their negative experience at that outpost, regarding a few officers asking for bribes and having bad attitude. Fortunately, my own experience was very positive both times.
The two countries are separated by the Panj River and connected by a bridge. The whole area is considered a military zone and photos are prohibited from the moment you enter the Tajikistan border as far as exiting the Afghanistan one. The bridge is not very long, and there is an option to cross it either on foot (as I did the first day just to enjoy the view), or by a shuttle bus, paying 10 tjs /person (which I used on my way back). Just before I reached the end of the bridge where the Afghan officers were standing, I immediately put on my headscarf, as it is compulsory for all women to cover their hair everywhere, throughout the country.
And that was the first time in my life I came in contact with the strict Talibans, who, unexpectedly, welcomed me with smiles!
The border was full of armed men and I was not only the only woman but also the only foreigner. They took me to the main customs area, which was a ground floor building with 2 rooms, and started checking my passport. Since there was no detector to scan the visitors, a local woman had undertaken the body control of the female visitors in another room, behind a curtain. Getting inside, she started touching me all over my body, she opened my backpack, my luggage, my wallet, everything! The body search was quite annoying, but I couldn’t avoid it. When this awkward process was over, I was led back into the main room with the armed Talibans. Only one of them was speaking English and although they all seemed strict and distant, they were kind to me and caused me no problem.
I was told that I had to proceed to another office a few meters outside that check point, so as to issue my visa, while I had to leave my luggage there and take it back later, together with the entry stamp.
The procedure of issuing the visa at the Shir Khan border is usually very simple:
4 passport photos are needed and 2-3 photocopies of the passport (in case they ask for), while the application is filled out by the authorities on the spot. The fee is proportional to each nationality and the payment must be done at a bank in the next village, in the local currency. At the same place they exchange both euros and dollars to afghanis. When the staff at the border office receive the bank receipt, they issue the visa, which is a sticker covering the whole page of the passport.
I paid 6,000 afghani (about €76) as a Greek passport holder.
The border is open Saturday – Thursday, since Friday is a bank holiday for Muslims. The opening hours are not fixed, they open around 08.00-08.30am., and close around 16.00 pm, having a short a break for lunch and prayer. On Thursdays they close earlier, around 14.00 pm
** DO NOT ISSUE A VISA IN DUSHANBE: the staff at the Afghan embassy of Dushanbe still issue a visa, but since they do not cooperate with the Taliban regime, this visa is not accepted at the Shir Khan bandar
As expected, the visa office was also full of armed guards, and besides some Pakistanis waiting for their visas, there was no other tourist but ME! Entering the main room, they immediately asked for my mobile phone, as it is forbidden taking pictures in a military area, and put it on a desk without checking it. However, later they had to give it back to me, in order to use it as my translator.
Although it felt quite strange having so many guns around, I was really excited to finally be in the country! I just had to wait a few more minutes (or hours) to hold my precious visa in my hands and start my great adventure!
What happened next though turned into a very unpleasant surprise…
When I proceeded to the main office for my application and the higher officer (Mullah) found out I was traveling alone, he denied my visa! He told me that women were not allowed to enter the country without a male companion, although I was well aware that there were women traveling alone around the country at that moment, having crossed the borders of both Iran and Pakistan. I tried to change his mind by telling him that I had already contacted male friends to accompany me in places I would be visiting, but he didn’t accept it, insisting that I had to hire an official tour guide.
Since I usually travel alone and I am totally against of hiring guides (unless I need a driver in places I can’t drive myself), I couldn’t even imagine that I would have to be the whole time with another person, completely useless to me, moreover paying for his fee and expenses (accommodation, food, transportation). That was also out of my budget, but unfortunately I had no other choice, even though I tried for hours to convince the authorities. So, I had to decide whether to hire a guide or return to Tajikistan.
Either way, my trip was already ruined, just like my mood, so I decided to hire someone and reduce my Afghanistan days from 25 to 10.
The guide I hired was a very kind young man Abdul Basit Hamidzada, I had met in a travel group about Afghanistan. I had already planned to meet him for a walk around his town of Kunduz anyway, but as I urgently needed a guide, he was my best option. However, the process of hiring him and issuing my visa would take longer than expected, and since I was running out of time, I would have to leave and come back again the next day. The border would be closed soon, and there was no place around to spend the night, nor could I enter the country without a visa. My only option was to go back to Tajikistan, which I refused, and that’s when a police officer offered to host me! At first, I was asked if I would be afraid to spend the night with a Taliban family (the couple and 2 kids), but as I was feeling completely safe, I accepted the offer without a second thought!
So we left the border and walked up to his house, in a nearby settlement. In the courtyard I met the local woman who had checked me at the customs earlier, and to my great surprise, she was his wife! She suddenly hugged me calling my name, while she looked very happy having me there! In no time, the house was full with neighbors and relatives who came to meet the tourist-guest of the family, and left just before the dinner!
Their house was an old ground building with 3 rooms, the largest of which was used as a living room, kitchen and bedroom.
The lady put a big cloth on the floor and served our dinner to each of us separately, a very thin pie-like bread, a plate with boiled meat and chickpeas, and tea. It was really fun spending the evening all together laughing so hard, as our conversation was a mixture of gestures, English, Greek, Pashto and Dari (the two official languages of Afghanistan), with a little help of the google translator. Hoping of showing some gratitude for their hospitality, I thought of offering a few things I didn’t need that much, such as soaps, hand cream, combs and a pair of old shoes and sunglasses. The lady, who had already rummaged through my stuff in the morning, couldn’t stop laughing with everything I was giving her. We all slept together in the same room, on mattresses we placed on the floor, covered with several blankets, since there was no heating and the temperature had already dropped a lot. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to take pictures of the wife and daughter, as it is forbidden to take pictures of women in general, so my only shots of that night were of the policeman, his son and the henna tatoo.
The next morning I woke up with the first glimpse of the sun, watching my hostess making the bread. The room was incredibly cold and the toilet was an open space outside the house. I didn’t even want to get out of my warm blankets, but breakfast would be ready shortly and I had to go back to the border for the visa process.
It was time to say goodbye to my kind hosts, while getting ready to start my main trip to this amazing country. Even though I had visited nothing more than the Shirkhan border and the settlement in those 2 days, staying with this poor but hospitable family was one of the highlights of my trip!
I spent the whole morning at the visa office waiting for my tour guide to finish the paperwork in the next town, Kunduz. This time, the armed Talibans were even friendlier than the previous day. Strolling around the small garden, some of them, out of curiosity, started asking about me, my country, my travels, wondering why I was there alone. Time passed by so fast and easy, I was already used to be surrounded by guns, without feeling uncomfortable, insecure or scared. On the contrary, it felt funny to me having a chitchat with the conservative Talibans, being aware of the strict restrictions and the hard treatment towards the local women!
Late in the afternoon I finally received my long-awaited visa sticker, after struggling for two days. In the meantime, a new problem came up, as the nearby bank had already closed and I coundn’t pay for my visa. However, the staff offered to help me by paying the fee to the bank themselves, early the next morning. I only had to leave them €100, as a deposit. In this way, I was allowed to enter the country with the visa in my passport and spend the night in Kunduz. So, the next day, after exchanging euros to afghani at the local market, my guide and I returned to the border for one, last time. The guys had actually paid my visa fee, so by giving them 6,000 afghani, they refunded my deposit and the procedure was finally over!
The time had come for me to explore more of Afghanistan, and Kunduz was my next stop!
A Muslim cemetery on the way to Kunduz