Shells, Shakes and Snow - Afghanistan (March 2023)

The gun was being twirled around the T-ban intelligence operatives finger at head level - clearly making a statement. My buddy Nabil had been taking a photo of me and local women were in the background. The T-ban were not happy. I, as a women, did not exist but as Nabil had taken the photo on his phone (and not mine), he was in big trouble. His phone was taken from him and searched and the T-ban were shouting at him in Dari. "Just stay calm and don't say anything". Ben (our tour leader) said over and over again. After a good 20 mins of ranting, the situation seemed to calm, the photos were deleted, the phone returned and we were allowed to continue. Lesson learned - always check what's in the background of your photo. There are always people hiding, trying to catch you out. We were in Ghanzi, our third city of the trip. The previous day, I had messaged my mum from Kandahar saying "this is the scariest place I'd ever been". I take that back - Ghanzi is the scariest place I've ever been.

I took the early morning flight from Dubai to Kabul. I was exhausted. Work (yes, I do have a job!) had been hectic recently and getting ready for two weeks leave suddenly meant that everyone had work for you to do. I did what I could without missing my flight.

I had gotten my visa in Dubai, a few weeks prior and being a woman had a very different experience to the guys. I went to the consulate, filled out my forms and got told it was very unlikely I’d get a visa. Nonetheless, I was sent upstairs for an interview - without my phone (annoyingly) and waited, and waited and waited... Three and a half hours later I got told my visa would be ready and to go downstairs and wait. “Aren’t I waiting for my interview?” I said to the man holding my passport. He replied “I did your interview for you!” How strange, I thought, I don’t even know you. Needless to say, my visa was then given to me and I could leave (USD300 poorer, but with the much needed visa!).

On landing in Kabul, I was surprised to find that women were allowed off the plane first having sat in an area separate to the majority of men on the flight. I was stamped into Afghanistan in less than 30 seconds, completed the ID card and was out in the city of Kabul within 15 minutes of landing. The whole experience was not at all what I was expecting.

We were met and taken to the hotel for a quick shower and breakfast and then we were off exploring. First stop was the British Cemetery (yes - a Christian cemetery in the heart of Kabul). Again not something I was expecting in one of the strictest Muslim Countries in the world. But here was this well maintained cemetery that was littered with cherry blossom trees and multiple graves for many different nationalities (despite the name). It was said that a leader of the T-ban could see into the cemetery from his hotel room and came down and spoke to the custodians saying “these are infidels, why do we have this here?” To which the custodian replied “they were infidels, but now they are dead so Allah will judge them”. The cemetery remains so the exchange between these two men has resulted in us being able to see this area. The cemetery also contains the tombstone of Billy Batman, the man, we were told who first brought hash to the US. He died in Kabul from a speed ball (mix of speed and heroin) and was buried in the cemetery.

We drove up to a view point above Kabul city with panoramic views of the city. The area was very tranquil with a large flag pole that previously had the Afghanistan flag that we associate with the country, now replaced with a T-ban flag. The was vast green areas for families to hang out, but there were very few people around. There was also a large swimming pool, with a multi-level diving board. We were advise that we couldn't climb up it, and that this was a place where the T-ban used to push people off the top diving board into an empty pool in order to kill them. We all then wanted to climb up to see how high it was, and for some reason, the local men doing construction work, let us (well not me, but I darted up so quickly, it would have been impossible for them to stop me) immediately regretting it once I got to the top - I'm scared of heights!!

Next we went to Babur's Gardens - this is an open mausoleum of the first Mughal Emporer of the region, who left the city upon a camel in order to die alone, but requested to be buried where the camel stopped after he died. The mausoleum is open to the elements so that he can feel the rain even after death. The gardens were beautiful, filled with cherry blossom trees in full bloom - I had considered a trip to Japan (that had recently opened up again post COVID) but couldn’t fit it in with my plans for early 2023, so this was a total bonus to be in the right place at the right time and see the beautiful blossoms, which were everywhere in Afghanistan - and there were no crowds of tourists getting in my photos!!. Our lovely local guide told us that in the past young couples used to sneak to the gardens to spend some time together, giggling and hiding from view. But since the T-ban took over, only a few small groups of men sitting in circles dotted the grassy area. Some came over to us in curiosity. None spoke to me - the only female in the group. Despite my pleasant greeting of “salam alaykum”. with my right hand placed on my heart, i was just ignored.

After a delicious lunch of Afghan quesadillas, we headed to the OMAR Landmine Museum. Again despite my pleasant greeting I was ignored by the men running the museum. This however, changed when I showed genuine interest and asked multiple questions and the old man opened many of the cabinets and took out the grenades, landmines, magnet bombs and other items so we could view them up close. We got to sit in a plane and a helicopter, have photos with the artillery and see close up some of the surface to air missiles. Overall, this was a very informative afternoon and I was pleased it followed my recent trip to Negorno Karabakh where we had seen the landmine detonation and felt the blast that shook your entire body. It gave a real sense of the devastation, destruction and damage that can be caused by these weapons of war and photos in the museum showed children with missing limbs, or blinded by the landlines. The museum does a lot to educate youngsters on the dangers of landlines and how to identify certain items which could cause them harm. We were given the same warnings regarding the markings of the clean and the danger areas. and we clearly saw these as we travelled around Afghanistan. White stones - clear. Red stones - DANGER.

Finally at the end of a great first day we went to the bird market. This was winding streets with market stalls, the majority with cages upon cages of birds! Big birds, small birds, chickens, fluffy birds and then suddenly a cage full of baby tortoises. Then another one…. How random and how much I hated seeing these beautiful creatures, caged in this small area. I suddenly hear Ben j saying “Hayley, let’s move on” and the tone suggested danger. Apparently I was getting too much attention. But wait, of course - we hadn’t seen another woman wandering freely through the market. We eventually stopped at a few stalls and the guys bought hats and local clothes that they would wear for the rest of the trip and we headed for dinner.

Meal times were always interesting. I had been told repeatedly how wonderful it was to have a woman in the group becuase then we could all sit in the family area (the nicer part of the restaurants) and this evening we got to sit in a beautiful garden with an owl watching over us. There was much debate over whether the owl was real or robotic, but I was convinced it was real!

The next day we got a chance to walk around parts of Kabul. This was fab as we got to mingle with the locals and do a bit of shopping. I’m not usually a shopper but there was something about getting souvenirs in Afghanistan that felt a little exciting. We went to Chicken Street which had historically been where poultry was sold, but now was full of local products and services. I bought a small T-ban flag and the older Afghanistan flag used since 2001 until the T-ban took control in 2021 and most excitingly bought a book about the bookseller of Kabul from the bookstore that was owned by the bookseller of Kabul. The original bookseller whom the book had been written about had left, but I was still glad to have the book. We also saw lots of carpets - I’m definitely not a carpet buyer as I barely have a home with all the travel I do, but these rugs were fascinating. One was dedicated to 9/11. Others to drone strikes but all just openly on sale in stores for anyone to buy. The locals took a great deal of interest in us, either coming to talk to us (not me!), trying to give us gifts or just stare at us like they had never seen a foreigner before. But then again maybe they hadn’t?! I don’t know?

Chicken street ran into Flower Street and the products changed to flowers! Beautiful bouquets and vases of red roses and other flowers lined the street and the inside of shops and the guys started singing (quietly) "Flowers" by Miley Cyrus - which quickly became our trip song! Remember music is banned in Afghanistan, as is fun. At the end of Flower Street we saw where the only Jewish synagogue in Afghanistan had formerly been. The only signs that this had been anything other than a regular building was the four small Star of David’s in the metal work of the gate which I guess were harder to be removed than other symbols. The last Jewish man who was the protector of the synagogue left Afghanistan a few months after the T-ban took control and now resides in Israel.

Our last stop before lunch was the Sakhi Shrine. This was quite a small but incredible beautiful mosque from the outside. It was predominantly teal coloured with so many domes. It is named after Sakhi Shah-e-Mardan - who is said to have been a companion of the Prophet Muhammad and This was a Shia mosque so no non Muslims were allowed in, however the intricately decorated structure believed to be from the 18th Century, was well worth a visit and is one of the beautiful historical landmarks dotted across Kabul. Outside the mosque there was a cemetery where the local men were chilling out and sitting on the graves - this to us in our western culture seemed very disrespectful but that’s not the case in Afghan culture. But inside the mosque complex, mainly women were sitting in groups chatting or with their children and often only one gentleman was with them - the chaperone to make sure there was no misbehaving. I had seven chaperones with me. Macca - the only other Brit in the group, was my "cousin" and therefore I always had to be within a few metres of him or one of the other guys or I would be in trouble!! Outside the mosque was a little play area. There were some local women on a small ferris wheel and I asked if I could join them. I was told yes, the guys were told no, but they could take photos of me only. Needless to say they got a picture of the whole ferris wheel but weren’t allowed on while local women were there:(. After I’d been on, the guys went on the roundabout that was empty so they could also have a go!!

Lunch followed shortly after and we went to this beautiful garden with swings and a calm atmosphere just hidden away off the Main Street and ordered food. Well tried to - everything we tried to order they didn’t have. In the end we gave up and moved on. The new restaurant had fabulous food but no ladies toilets. I had to use the mens bathroom, checking that no man was in there so I could get some privacy to pee.

We moved on to the theme park which I was really looking forward to. From the outside it looked bright and colourful, in contrast to a lot of Kabul. We joined the queue and before long an older man with a local hat was pointing at me and saying something to our local guide. I immediately knew there was a “woman problem” here and sure enough a few minutes later I was told I wasn’t allowed in. Only men. This was a real bummer, not just for me, but for the guys (who I said should still go in - no point in us all missing out), but they said it put a real dampener on things as they knew how much I wanted to go in. They went on one ride, and then came out. All I got was a photo outside the park with a few local teenagers who wanted to practise their English!!

Never mind - next we went to a European style mosque where within about 30 seconds of leaving the car I was in trouble again. This time with the Vice and Virtue Police (VVP). In those 30 seconds our local guide was telling me how, a few days before a Polish girl he was guiding kept letting her hijab fall down off her head and when she did wear it, it was so far back there was almost no point. The VVP insisted she where the hijab properly, but not that she covered her face. The whole group had been detained for hours because of this girls actions. Earlier in the day, our lovely local guide had suggested to me that I buy a longer hijab. The two I had brought on the trip were more curtesy headscarf’s to show respect but where the Muslim populations knew we weren’t Muslims but appreciated the effort to respect their culture. However it did often show a gap between my hijab and my top and often I was having to wear my hoodie and put the hood up over the headscarf to ensure no skin was on show except my hands and face. So I felt comfortable knowing I was fully covered and started to take photos of the mosque. Next thing I know despite my large hijab and being fully covered our guide was being pulled aside because my face wasn’t covered - there really is a drive to ensure no woman is out and about on the streets in Afghanistan. I tucked my hijab into my sunglasses so only my hands were uncovered and we continued somewhat uncomfortably to take photos of this beautiful building before quickly departing to the monument in memory of a young girl.

The story goes that the Iman of the mosque was running a cash for favours scheme. People could go to the mosque and pray and pay him some money for their prayers to come to fruition earlier. The girl had paid for good grades. When she got her results (that weren't what was promised) she went back to the mosque to complain and get her money back. The Iman declared to the people that she had committed blasphemy and she was dragged between the mosque and where the monument now stands, all the way being stoned. The monument was built on the place she died.

Having had to cut short the theme park we had a bit of extra time so we wandered to the top of hill (Teppe Maranjan) where the mausoleum of King Mohammed Nadir Shah was beautifully positioned overlooking East Kabul, built in imposing black and white marble with striking columns, with a metal dome on top. We walked around this tranquil location, enjoying the views and the architecture, however, being a blind person, there were lots of holes around the outside of the structure and I was terrified that I was going to fall into one of these holes! :) and with my eye sight, it was quite a realistic prospect!! The holes were also perfectly sized for an uncoordinated person like me to fall into!

Next stop was Kandahar, a place that few travellers had been to in recent years. Kandahar was founded and named after Alexander the Great and had swapped hands many times before it became part of what is now Afghanistan. It previously held the title of the "Kidnap Capital of the World" as if you spent more than 24hours in Kandahar the likelihood was that you would be kidnapped or assassinated. In 1993, when the T-ban took over, they used Kandahar as their capital, this was then overthrown in 2001, by the militia supporting Hamid Karzai, the first president after the T-ban rule of Mullah Mohammed Omar. The population of Kandahar is predominantly ethnically Pashtun sunni muslims.

The drive to Kandahar was long, and although we stopped for many toilet breaks/cigarette stops along the road on the 14 hour journey, we were constantly told "guys go pee, Hayley wait in the car!" Finally after about 11 hours, I really, really, really had to go pee. We were driving through a wide open valley - no trees or bushes, and stopped the car. Ben went for a walk and came back a few minutes later to say he'd found somewhere I could relieve myself - a little ravine, that would be hidden from the road. I wandered over and managed to slide down the side and into the depressed area that hid me from the road. When I was done, I reliased I had to climb out. Not so easy in a long skirt, head scarf (still not properly put on) and flip flops. This would take some real determination, and there was no way I was calling out for help, the one time I had gotten a few minutes to myself! After a few minutes, I worked out a way back up the rocks, straightened my skirt and walked back to the car. "You've been gone a while?!" one of the guys said - I scowled at him. "I couldn't get out the ravine!" to which there was a lot of laughter (and a little, but not much) sympathy!

Kandahar was full of beautiful sites and we enjoyed more than 24 hours in the city without being kidnapped. I had been pre-warned that in Kandahar I would have to have my face fully covered. This in theory is fine, but how on earth do you get the headscarf firstly to wrap around your head properly (still had not mastered this), and then, how do you get it to cover your face and stay in place? This was one huge mystery for me - still unsolved. But being the practical person I am, I found the COVID mask I was still carrying in my bag, put that on, and tucked the headscarf into it. I still do not look anywhere close to as glamorous as my Omani female colleagues, but I felt I was suitably dressed to wander the streets of Kandahar (with my seven chaperones!!) We first visited the Tomb of Ahmed Shah Durrani. This one, non muslims weren't allowed to enter, however, there was a lot going on, outside, while we waited for Nabil, who had gone inside to pray. We watched the locals playing a game where they were seeing who could throw a large rock the furthest. A bit of a macho show and obviously I wasn't allowed to join in, but two of the guys had a go! The guys also got to take pictures with the local men. These same locals refused to have a photo with me. I was a little frustrated as its always fun to have photos with the locals and having an interaction, so I decided that in order to just get one good photo of local people I would have to be a little sneaky.

I tried to surreptitiously take photos whilst we were standing chatting. One of the locations boys must have noticed as he starts waving his finger at me and then goes to speak to one of the local men. I must admit, I was terrified of being "informed" on. I stopped taking photos and moved all the photos into my deleted file and hoped no-one would come over and ask to search my phone.

We then visited the beautiful Kherqa-ye Sharif, which is where, in 1996, Mullah Omar showed his followers the Cloak of the Prophet Muhammed. This is the only relic from the Prophets ascension into the skies. This shrine, was not the largest, but inside was decorated very differently to mosques and shrines, I had previously been lucky enough to see. Nabil went to pray and asked me to take some photos of him. Luckily, while our T-ban guard was watching, he handed me his phone and a little reluctantly, given I was being watched closely, I took some photos for him and quickly returned the phone.

After Kherqa-ye Sharifwe went to the red mosque. This is a large beautiful building with red domes. I wondered why I’d worn my pink headscarf today which clearly clashed with the roof! Clearly my fashion sense is not up to standard! The significance of the building from a tourist perspective is that it’s the mosque that Mullah Omar preached at each Friday before he took power. After that we drove slightly out of town.

We were really in need of a sugary cold drink at this point and hoping for lunch, but instead we went to the Orange Palace, also called the citadel. I was expecting a grand building (not sure why as the palace dates back to an unknown time) but to my surprise, the palace was in fact a mud building where a significant part of the roof had fallen in. It was destroyed in 1738 but Nader Shah. We started to walk up the outer wall before being stopped quite abruptly. “No, you cannot go, there are women outside. We will announce from the mosque they must go inside.” This seemed a bit extreme to us, but in respecting their culture, we decided not to walk up. It turned out it was just men that could t walk up. When I discovered this I asked “so if it’s only men, that means I can go up, right?!” To which Ben replied, “yea of course - please do and take photos so we can all see what it’s like.” I was not going to miss my chance of doing something, just one thing the boys couldn’t do and the T-ban guard told the young girls in Dari to go with me. So they did. It was only a short walk and a flight of stairs but as soon as we’d turned the corner out of sight of the guard, I asked if we could take a picture. They were super excited and we took a few selfies on the stairs and at the top! It felt like a small victory in the otherwise repressive country where women had to be chaperoned, yet here I was with seven men waiting for me, taking pictures with local kids on top of a palace! I do wonder what our guard thought of all these men waiting for one women…

By then it really was lunchtime and we were all looking forward to the lamb kebabs which we’d had a few times now. We ordered and then began chatting whilst we waited. Suddenly one of the guys (who will remain nameless) said to Ben (our other guide whom was quite clearly gay) “Ben, you’ve been Maldives, romantic! Did you take your girlfriend?” Nabil and I could not stop laughing, the proper belly laughter when something is so funny. But khaaas, within 10 seconds of our laughing fit our local guide comes running back into the private dining room we had: “haram, haram shhhhh. No laughing, please keep quiet. Laughing not allowed.” Nabil and I covered our mouths to try and stifle the giggles, tears rolling down our cheeks. We couldn’t even look at each other or we would erupt into laughter again. No fun, no laughter, no music, Afghanistan was definitely the most culturally different country I had ever been to.

That afternoon we drove to Ghazni which is Afghanistan’s third largest city and really is the most scary place I have ever been to. Everything started normally - we went to a mosque and watched an Iman perform a prayer with the local men.

Then we went to the famous minarets of Ghazni. They were impressive but a short walk from each other that I wasn’t expecting. But along the way we walked past a tank graveyard and random tanks this added to the fun as we got some history and some tank photos all at once! The problem started once we were heading back to the car and suddenly the T-ban were coming out of nowhere to stop Nabil taking photos of me.

After the situation calmed down, we were allowed to move on and we continued up the hill to the fort. There were a number of tanks in and around the fort as well. We took some great photos and then Ben J asked me to take a picture of him hanging off the tanks gun. I obliged and asked for the same in return. Problem was, I wasn’t tall enough to get the same photo, so Ben had to time it right so I looked like I was hanging off rather than at the top of my jump! First world problems!

We were enjoying wandering the fort and the tanks when suddenly we spotted the same T-ban intelligence officers that had been involved in the photo/gun incident at the minarets. We were being followed - and not surreptitiously. This felt quite threatening. I was glad Nabil had stayed behind as I was nervous and starting to feel concerned and he’d been freaked out from the previous incident. Ben turned round to us and ushered us to move on quickly and we went around a corner and decided it was time to leave. We were meant to be staying in Ghazni that evening but everyone was quite nervous. Our local guide told us if we stayed we would have visitors in the night and as we’d registered, they knew where we were staying. We were even more concerned. We quickly unanimously voted to drive to Kabul that evening. It was already 6pm but the thought of a 4 hour drive back to Kabul and the safety of the guest house did not deter anyone. We got in the van and I asked Nabil “are you okay?”. He was very shaken (as I would have been). “We’re going straight to Kabul” I said. His face relaxed and he smiled. “Really?” He said. “Yep, we’re fleeing!!” I winked as I said it. He relaxed. “Can I go pee before we leave” asked one of the guys. “Sure” said Ben. “Great, can I get out and pee, please?”. “No!” said Ben. The hardships of being a woman in Afghanistan!!! 4 hours later, when we got to the guesthouse - I got to pee!

I never imagined Kabul being the place I would feel safest in Afghanistan. But we all felt a sense of relief on arriving back at the beautiful guesthouse and our take away being there already.

There was snow on the streets of Kabul when we left the next morning. Today due to the internal flights having been cancelled (we knew this on day 1) we were going to drive to Mazar-e-sharif. This was the town with the beautiful Blue Mosque and probably the most famous site in Afghanistan. But first we had to pass through the Salang Tunnel. This was a 7km tunnel, that now only permitted trucks and lorries to pass through in one direction and this changed every other day - this was due to a bad accident involving trucks tin the past, which resulted in an explosion and significant damage to the tunnel. Today we would be going with the trucks and lorries (rather than against). We all thought this was positive until we joined the queue - a very long queue of trucks and lorries that had been waiting since the previous day to go through. This was not going to be a quick journey. We had been told if we were an Samangan by 3pm we would stop and see the Buddhist stupa. If not we would carry on to Mazar and do Samagan on our return.

We had several stops before we reached the entrance to the tunnel - beautiful scenery passed us on our journey. Icy rivers, incredible valleys and snow capped mountains. Afghanistan was truly a beautiful country. Eventually it was our turn to enter the tunnel. The floor of the tunnel was very bumpy, there was little ventilation and on occasions no light except the vans headlights. We moved slowly, windows up to give us a little protection from the fumes that build up in the tunnel due to the lack of ventilation. The tunnel is in several phases so you do get a short break and get to breathe fresh air. But then before long you are back in, covering your face and hoping you get out the other side quickly and the windows can be opened again. A truly unique experience.

By the time we were over the mountains at the other end of the tunnel, we knew Samangan was out of the question today. It was past 3pm and we weren’t even close. We knuckled down for our second long drive day in a row, DJ Nabil pumping out the tunes (when we were outside of populated areas) and chatted away until it got dark. A few hours after dark, we still hadn’t arrived. We were suddenly redirected off the road and down a dirt path. The bridge was closed and cars could not cross here. This seemed ominous - the bridge was out (we later found out the construction had not finished on the bridge) and we were told a flash flood (that had literally just happened) had taken out the alternate route under the bridge and up the other side of the river. Our local guide got out the car to investigate. Somehow, and we could t work out how, we were the first car there after the flood came through. Our driver wasn’t confident we could get up the other side of the river so we just sat there and waited for others to give it a go! None of the locals made it and had to turn their cars around and come back. This could be an interesting night! Haha! Our guide came back and said we could get out the car “don’t speak” he said “we can’t trust anyone”. I decided to wait in the car. We made a decision that we would go back the way we had come and find another route. This was not so simple. Limited road signs provided no assurance and google maps wasn’t working! I guess we use local knowledge! We stopped many times to ask local men where we should go - We drove through what felt like kilometres and kilometres of fields of crops (although I was assured it was an actual road!). And about an hour and a half later we were back on the road we needed and on our way to Mazar - 14 hours after we’d left! We finally drove into Mazar, incredibly late and could literally see our hotel when we were stopped again by the T-ban at a checkpoint. It had been a long day and everyone was keen to sleep. But this guy had other ideas. He took instant dislike to use. Our passports came out and were checked (very slowly) and then he started reorganising the car. Nabil, was Muslim and had chosen to sit at the back. Both behind the other guys (infidels), me (a female infidel) and our guide (not the right type of Muslim). He made Nabil move to the front seat, and made our guide sit in the back with us. Everyone was embarrassed and feeling very uncomfortable as we all had free choice where we sat. We were allowed to proceed.

The next morning we really did get a lie in. 9am start and heading to Balkh, where Rumi (the famous Persian poet) had lived, and many other impressive sites. First was the Zoroastrian temple remains, beautifully decorated with intricate carvings into the columns and archways. The roof no longer remained but was protected with a covering for its preservation. I could have spent ages here looking at the artwork.

But it was time to move onto Rumi’s house. This was a large crumbling mud structure that boasted large high archways and thick walls. We walked around and got some photos. When we left the house, I was first out and thought I’d get a selfie of everyone walking behind as a nice group photo. Instead the only person I got in my photo was a T-ban guard. “Oh gosh!” I thought, “this means trouble”. I immediately apologised and said I could delete the photo if he wanted. All this being translated by our guide. The guard responded to my guide (as he couldn’t speak directly to me) “no worries - I walked into her photo”. We were all shocked by this response as clearly this was the polar opposite response to other times we’d had photo incidents. Phew!

We moved on heading towards a shrine (at the top of a hill) which used to have a hash cafe below it. We were fortunate enough to get the opportunity to interact with more local people and get to go on the swings. I was very sternly warned "be careful of your skirt," Have you ever tried to go on a swing whilst holding a maxi skirt between your feet - its very difficult to look like you know what you're doing!! One of the local boys was kind enough to give me a push and get quite a bit of height but the fear of revealing my legs got me off the swing fairly swiftly, for others in the group to have a go!

At the shrine we found out the hash cafe has now gone, due to the current leadership regime, but the shrine remains. We climbed to the top of the hill, and marvelled at the views from the top, when we got down, one of the T-ban guards was on a horse. The guys got pictures with him, when it was my turn, he got off the horse. :(

We went to a reconstructed fortress which had stunning views of the surrounding area. The fort was manned by T-ban guards, keeping an eye on the area and ensuring everyone knew of their presence.

After Balkh, it was finally time to head to Mazar and see the Blue Mosque. Lunch was quick and we were outside the Blue Mosque waiting to enter. “Women only, until 3.30pm” our guide informed us. This was the eve before Ramadan started so apparently different rules were in place. Our guide advised we’d wander the market before coming back later. I asked him “are you sure women will be allowed in at 3.30pm”. He advised me they would. I was nervous. I desperately wanted to see the “highlight of Afghanistan.” I didn’t have a choice but to listen…. We walked the market which was bustling, so much food and clothes and people going about their business. We drew quite a lot of attention and eventually retreated to an ice cream shop to chill out. Again, no ladies toilets - the lovely guide had to take me round to various places before I was allowed to use the men’s (after all the men had come out) and he guarded the door to prevent any men coming in!

At 3.30pm we were queuing to get in to the Blue Mosque. All the women were being turned away and only men were in the queue. I think the whole group was nervous. I was told to go first after the guide in case of problems, but there wasn’t one (not sure why every other woman had been turned away) and we proceeded after the men were searched to register our presence here. No photos were allowed until we’d registered. The process took a long time and the sun was moving into a beautiful position for sunset photos in the beautiful environment.

Legend goes, that a Middle Eastern Mullah dreamt that Ali bin Abi Talib - a relation of the Prophet Muhammad had his bones resting in Northwestern Afghanistan. Mesmerised by this story, Ahmed Sanjar, Sultan of the Seljuk Empire (1118-1157), built the Shrine of Ali and a city surrounding the mosque called Mazar-e-sharif. This was then destroyed by Genghis Khan. However in 1481, Sultan Husain Mizra, rebuilt the Shrine of Ali in a much grander style and this is the present day Blue Mosque.

We wandered around the outside (non Muslims again weren’t allowed inside) and marvelled in the beauty of the blue colours with the setting sun. The atmosphere was tranquil and serene and hard to believe this mosque was situated right next to the bustling market we had wandered around a few hours before. But before long it was 5.30pm and all women (me, plus maybe two other ladies) had to leave. No women allowed in after 5.30pm.

Our group departed and went to the black rock (that's not really black). Legend has it any bird that lands on the rock would be turned white. Indeed there were no birds that weren’t white resting on the rock but I did feel like potentially a target for the “lucky” receiver of a present from a bird if I stayed there too long so moved away quickly and was rewarded by remaining clean!!

The mosque at sunset was truly beautiful, tranquil and a place you felt like you wanted to stay in for as long as possible. I was so pleased I got to see this fabulous mosque and at sunset made it super special. Our day ended with dinner and sleep before our last stop on our drive back to Kabul tomorrow - Samangan.

We departed at 8am, so we could be at the hunting lodge (on the way to Samangan) by 9am - when it opened. However the T-ban had other ideas. We were stopped leaving Mazar and made to follow them to one of their offices. Where we had to sit and answer questions. I sat in the far corner with my face covered and as expected was ignored. Apparently they were just curious but they kept us for a long while making the guys repeat answers to the questions we were asked over and over again so they could film our answers. Eventually we were free to go. We were keen to leave and we moved quickly down several flights of stairs, missing our floor and ending up on the floor the prison was on! Never have I seen some of my group move so fast! Haha

The hunting lodge (and without trying to cause offence to anyone) immediately reminded me of Saddam’s Palace in Iraq at Babylon. The large palace was being restored but still had areas where it was dilapidated with a large (empty) swimming pool outside. We got to explore and go up to the roof where the spectacular views were impressive. The guys got pictures with the T-ban guards and I snuck into one of them.

We continued onto to Samangan, a place I must admit I knew nothing about and had never heard of before this trip. But first we had the bridge issue to contend with. This time a solutions had been made for the bridge. We couldn’t cross by car but there was now a route across for cars that went under the bridge- the water had receded. We all had to get out and walk over the bridge (taking photos of the route below) as we went and the van followed the cars across. We were reunited on the other side to start the journey to the tunnel.

Samangan had previously been home to a lot of Buddhists whom had carved into the rock and formed a Buddhist stupa. On arriving and seeing this incredible structure I likened it to the rock churches in Lalibela, Ethiopia, I’d visited last year. Interesting how cultures that lived so far from each other and practised different religions could come up with the same idea (and implement it) so long ago! The stupa was spectacular! And furthermore there were caves and other areas to explore. Unfortunately again there was another issue. “Ramadan had started. No women allowed” our guide advised us. Having already handed over money to pay for entry the guide has requested my money back. The T-ban refused. I guess I’m as going in then.

We attracted quite a crowd. We asked our guide to ask the children why they were so interested in us and following us around. The response was that they hadn’t seen foreigners before. Some of these kids were just pre-teen. I was quite shocked. We wandered round, with quite a large entourage, into the various caves and caverns. The crowd building and building. The T-ban threw stones at the children to try and get them to go away, but they just kept coming. Some even stopped flying their kites to come and follow us! Outside and just before we were leaving they started a game of target practise with a children’s gun that did shoot pellets out. I wanted a go! Ben quickly stepped in and asked the guys if I could go first “just in case there is a problem” - they was not! We each had a go - I believe I was the only one, not to hit the target! No surprise there!!

We began the long drive back to Kabul and stopped to the beautiful canyon we’d passed through at dusk previously and got to take photos in the middle of the road, dodging cars before stopping for lunch at the same place we had two days before.

This was a fantastic restaurant where we could sit outside and each mutton kebabs. Only problem was it was cold today and there were no more mutton kebabs! Haha. We are our meal before leaving to take on the tunnel.

This time we were going against the traffic and it was the first day of fasting, we were a little concerned but there was no other option but to continue. This was actually far quicker than the last time. There was barely any traffic in the tunnel and any oncoming traffic. Everything was going well until someone (who I won’t name but they were also sitting next to the window) farted. A fart of the silent but deadly variety whilst in a tunnel where the fumes were so bad, we were told not to open the windows. It was so bad in the end we were shouting “open the window, dude, open the window”. It was so bad, we would rather smell the fumes, than the fart. He refused., the other window was opened but they were small windows! We were all covering our faces trying not to breathe, or smell, wishing the driver would go faster (he couldn’t for safety reasons). We got to a break in the tunnel and enjoyed the refreshing fresh air for a moment before the windows were closed. The same thing happened again, silent but deadly. This time someone reached over and forced the window open. I guess it’s kind of surprising it hadn’t happened before with seven guys in a car for 9 days. Man, it was bad.

Kabul couldn’t come soon enough. We decided to celebrate the end of the trip, we’d buy a few beers (of the non alcoholic variety) and sit in the hotel grounds and drink! We stopped at several supermarkets but none were open, it was the first day of Ramadan so everything had different opening hours. We eventually found one and went in. My first concern was chocolate. I would find the beer later. I went to the other end of the store to everyone else. They were still near the entrance. Suddenly this guy ran past me and flung the fire exit door open and ran out. In slow motion my brain considered if this was a thief taking his finds and legging in. Then others started running and I heard someone screaming “run, get out”. And then I felt it. The ground shook and I was out the door before it had closed from the “thief” bolting through it not even seconds before. We had been talking about earthquakes the day before at dinner and discussing if anyone had experienced one before. Some had and talked about locals running into the streets to avoid being crushed when building started to fall. Ben had been in one and had stood in a doorway. Others, like me hadn’t.

I came out the supermarket and ran down the side of the building in the middle of the road back to where we parked the van. I could hear shouting “she’s here!, she's ok”. Ben had gone back into find me, worried that because of my eye sight I may not have found the exit. I assured him I was out before the rest of them!!! We were all safe but a little freaked. The phone network temporarily stopped working so we couldn’t tell anyone we were safe. A while later we were allowed back in and we grabbed our beers and chocolates quickly, paid and left. Back at the guest house we were told to expect aftershocks and maybe to stay outside for a while just in case. We drank our beverages, are the chocolate, messaged our families to say we’d been in a big earthquake (nothing was reported in the UK news so people were surprised to receive our messages) and then it happened again. The same culprit let out the loudest fart ever. We all went to bed. He could sit outside by himself! 😂😂😂😂

Our last morning in Kabul we all agreed we wanted to return to Chicken Street and the art shop we had visited on the second day. I had asked the artist if he could paint me a picture (as Ben J had bought the one I really liked) and he’d agreed. I wasn’t sure if it would happen but sure enough, as we approached, he came out with the painting looking as amazing as I’d hoped and I paid him the USD10 he asked for it. Happy to have such a beautiful souvenir from an amazing trip.

When we got to Chicken Street we headed straight for the carpet shop. The rugs there were incredible:

• 9/11

• guns;

• drones

• Planes

These were just on sale for anyone to buy - between the group, I think ten rugs were purchased although the negotiation was painful, with some of the maths getting a little confusing. I stayed well out of it. After a final lunch we braved the airport. First stop was to hand in any guns (needless to say, we could wander past!), then multiple security checks, and more security checks, check in, handing back the ID card (sadly as I wanted to keep that), more security and then the gate. It was time to say good bye to this beautiful but culturally diffierent country. I wish the best for the people of Afghanistan and especially the women. What an incredible experience, but I was glad to return to a world where I felt valued as an equal and was able to make choices for myself because I am financially and societally empowered to be able to do so. Massive thank you to Saiga Tours for this epic experience - one I will not forget! See you soon, guys!!