Day 3 of the adventure involved a long drive from Kabul to Wardak region which took 10 hours but on arrival to our homestay it was time to setup camp and get ready for our dinner which was a sheep (which was to be slaughtered for us & the locals). While dinner was being prepared, it was time for the first of many visits we would get when in a new region in Afghan. The local Taliban leader came to visit us and offer us his best wishes and if there was anything he could do for us while in Wardak, after reading horror stories and seen footage of what these people are known for it was a fucking surreal moment to be sitting across from a man who may or not may have being involved in hideous acts along with his "minder" who had his AK47 sitting on his lap like it was a toy gun.
Once the meet & greet was over it was time for dinner which was alive about 30 mins before hand but was now being made in kebab, soup, curries and whatever else they could make from the body. The great thing about being in the open wilderness is the the stars are so visible that when you take a moment you realise that life is fucking beautiful when you slow down and look up!
An early morning wake up call on Day 4 from our resident german Rob meant it was time to hike and see sunrise over the local villages, after what felt like an eternity we had reached the top and then it was time to enjoy being the only 6 people who seemed to be awake for miles around, pictures and video will not do this view justice!
Time to get on the road and visit a place I can honestly say I never thought I would see, Band-e-Amir National Park. After numerous security stops for passport checks and general nosey security, we had arrived. For those who may not know but when the Taliban took back control of Afghanistan in 2021, many of the Taliban arrived from the mountains and one pic has become famous - https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/photos-of-taliban-fighters-pedalling-boats-go-viral-this-is-the-reason-101632067765230.html. After having a go on the pedalos with the onlooking Taliban & Morality Police keeping an eye closey on us, it was decided that enough fun was had & time to move onto Bamiyan.
Day 5 was time to learn about the Bamiyan Buddhas and Gholghola City. Walking around the remains of the statues (remains = not very much) it was hard not to feel like the world is missing out on something beautiful all because the Taliban labeled them un-Islamic, then the group brought the statues down using heavy explosives, which is fucked up as they now charge tourists to come visit the big holes in the wall which they destroyed. While roaming the grounds of this once beautiful place of worship, the local Taliban who by now were shadowing on most days became more welcome to photos and were looking to share numbers for pictures. The City of Screams & The Red City was next on the list for this long day, First up was The Red City which was one of the best locations for all on this trip I believe and learning the history from our guide it really felt like all of us on this trip were really in a place of major world history.
Onto the City of Screams and along with our new Taliban minder it was time to climb to the top and view Bamiyan in all its glory. After another amazing history lesson, it was time to put the camera away and climb back down to our minivan and get back to safety of our hotel.
I thought this be best left to last, mainly cause telling my family I was going here would have caused uproar but this location was recently the point of an attack on tourists - https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9wzvlz40wpo
Anyway, we survived :-)
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