Afghanistan

Getting In

Boy, if you hate crowded hiking trails and booked hotels, have we got a place for you. Although the U.S. State department says don’t go, the Talibs say don’t go and the north says don’t go, Afghanistan is number one with a bullet for people who want to visit dangerous places. There is no U.S. embassy at the moment (hell, there’s no anything at the moment), The NGOs keep their bags packed and no one quite knows who’s in charge at any one time. The Talibs are here to stay, but that doesn’t mean there is a long-term sense or logic regarding their entry policy for foreigners.

Journos and scribes are officially welcomed by the Taliban and then never given visas to enter. The Red Cross needs Talib approval for all journos before you can book a flight. Same goes for the UN. There are a number of restrictions, advance notice and permission requirements so contact:

Flight Operations UNOCHA/UNDP Islamabad
Tel: +92 (51) 211451-5
Fax: +92 (51) 211450
E-mail: unocha@undpafg.org.pk

Once inside journos have to comply with a two page list of do’s and don’ts, which oddly enough includes having your picture taken in a place where taking pictures of living things is forbidden. Being beaten every time you whip out a camera does put a damper on bringing in a Betacam crew. If you are sponsored by an NGO you must only cover the activities of that group. If you somehow get it just to look around, you must stay at the Intercontinental, hire a guide and a driver who maintains his lonely vigil in the lobby. Figure on doubling the rate when you go to the front lines. Strangely, if you are not a journalist there are no laws to restrict your movement. And techncially, once outside Kabul you are free to do what you like (other than photograph people or, as a male, interview women). In the north, you must register in Mazar and stay at the UN guesthouse, whereas journos are forbidden from staying with the UN in Kabul. You will find the Taliban both pleasurable, exasperating and sometimes brutal, depending on circumstances.

DP called the embassy to get the latest travel stats. Apparently, Afghanistan is where all the journos were headed to earn their spurs. When asked who is going to Afghanistan, our contact replied, "Lots of journalists." The embassy needs $60, a couple of photos and a letter from your company saying why you want to be Afghanistan bound. If you enter from Peshawar, don’t forget you need to arrange a double or multiple entry visa, a Khyber Pass permit and a gunman from the Khyber Tribal Agency office in Peshawar to get to Torkham. For some odd reason going back doesn’t require this. You also need an exit visa (which can eat up half a day) if you leave from Kabul.

Pleasure tourists may find their visa request turned down unless they are truly persuasive. Or bum a ride with an NGO car. The border crossings are as mercurial as they are dangerous. DP narrowly missed being caught up in a shootout at Torkham between slack-jawed Talib boy-guards and veddy British and veddy nervous Pakistani border guards. After the Talibs rocketed the top of the Pakistani post and shot through a demining vehicle, calm was restored and the Talibs went back to whipping urchins with their steel cables.

The Taliban-friendly U.S. embassy (locked in their usual time warp) told us that Massoud was getting support from "Russia and the Soviet Union" and when pressed for advice on how to stay safe, they came up with "Don’t steal anything." Any other advice? "Well, you might have to grow a beard, or if you are a woman you might have to wear the chador, well no, now that I think of it, I guess Diane Sawyer didn’t have to." We assume he meant the chador not the beard.

The London Afghan Embassy is run by Massoud’s brother Wali. He can get you a journo visa for the north but can’t do much about arranging a flight in. Tajikistan and Pakistan are your only safe bets for getting into the north. But just getting into and out of Tajikistan is its own nightmare (see the "Tajikistan" chapter).

All border crossings except Termez in Uzbekistan are technically open, but the embassy recommends that travelers use the crossings from Pakistan, Iran and Tajikistan only. The best way into the north and the south is from Pakistan. The intrepid can stroll into Afghanistan over the many mountain trails that connect the two countries in the north and along the Khyber Pass. Since these are usually drug smuggling routes, all travelers will be suspect. A few years ago the DEA (via the Pakistani antidrug agency) was actually offering tribesmen a bounty on any gringos caught buying drugs, so shop for souvenirs with caution.

Afghans are quite hospitable and will offer food and whatever lodging they have. You are expected to reciprocate with some type of gift or remembrance. Photos of your family are great icebreakers and gifts like flashlights, medicine or even clothes are received well. Make sure you pick the right guide, one on good terms with the tribes who control the regions you will be passing through. You will probably be the only tourist in Afghanistan. Camels can be rented to carry heavy gear for US$10 dollars a day, and guides go for about US$20 a day, plus baksheesh (a tip). Travelers would be ill-advised to go gem hunting or arms collecting in the hills at this time due to the prevalence of land mines — still the number-one killer and maimer of humans and other living things — and the propensity of Afghans to kidnap foreigners for a few quick dollars.

Most of the country is in the hands of the Taliban, who also control the entry and movement of all outsiders. The northwest is in the hands of the Tajiks and the Wahkan corridor is a no-man’s-land under any condition due to the mountainous terrain and drug smuggling. Those who want to meet the Taliban can also contact them in Pakistan.

Getting Around

Afghanistan is sort of an Adventureland notch for journos — a place where you can take a cab to the front lines and be home in time to shop for carpets on Chicken street. The Talibs view most journos with a jaundiced eye since the rash of gender junkets trashed their ideas on women’s fashion and law and order. Although they told me that DP was the first North American the Taliban had talked to long ago, I am sure the thrill has long worn off as everyone from National Geographic to Dateline does their prerequisite Afghan Taliban adventure story. Areas under Talib control are safe but expect major league hassles from Talibs who want to know what your business is. Try taking pictures of them and you may end up walking like a chicken. The north is still wild and wooly and the last time I tried to get around on a fuel convoy I was told that I might be stopped by brigands and "teased" like one of their drivers was a while back. I learned later that this is a polite way of saying sodomized. Soooeii.

The favored modes of travel are by minibus (cheap and available in all small towns), private car (not as available) and pack animals, which are slow and a great way to see what land mines can do. There is no law inside Afghanistan other than the Taliban’s industrial-strength version of sharia, usually mixed in with a little local tribal law and whatever the local commander feels like doing with you that night. If he wants you to watch a Ned Beatty movie with him decline, politely. (no more Deliverance jokes from here on in.)

It is helpful if Westerners understand Afghan culture and have a basic understanding of the Pakhtun (Pathan) language. Most important is knowledge of the customs of Islam. Despite what you read in the press most Afghans (and not just the Taliban) are devout Muslims and adopt traditional dress and customs. Currently, there is little animosity toward Westerners, but you will be lectured continuously on Islam and considered an oddity for not embracing what is essentially the only religion in Afghanistan. Any major affront to Islam could result in severe punishment or a sound beating. Travel only with the permission of each local commander and be prepared to drink a lot of tea.

Abdul Hakeem Mujahid is your man if you want to get into Talib-held areas. The Taliban’s ambassador in Pakistan now works out of a small office in a third-floor walkup in Queens, New York.

Embassy Locations
Because there is no U.S. embassy in Afghanistan and no country represents U.S. interests here, the U.S. government is unable to provide normal protective services to U.S. citizens in Afghanistan (as if they would even if they had an embassy). The nearest U.S. embassies and consulates are in Pakistan and Tajikistan. The telephone number for the (very helpful if you want reasons to stay out of Afghanistan) but under siege U.S. embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, is: [92] (51) 826-161/179. There is little they can do for you once you are in Afghanistan.
U.S. Consulate in Peshawar, Pakistan
Tel: [92] (521) 279-801/2/3
U.S. Embassy in Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Tel: [7] (3712) 771-407/771-081
U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe, Tajikistan
Tel: [7] (3772) 21-0356/-0360/-0457
U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India
Tel: [91] (11) 600-651

Getting Out

The bus system still operates, taxis are cheap (DP paid $25 to go the 200 miles from Torkham to Kabul) and depending on how many crashes Ariana has there are airliners flying in and out of the southern cities. Last time we checked the one-way fare from Kabul to Dubai was $175. Ariana, which was once run by Pan Am, now has three Boeing 727s, three Antonov 24s and is buying a wide-bodied Boeing 747 from Kuwait Airlines. The airport at Kabul is blown to bits but open. Ariana flies a lot of unknown cargo to Dubai, so it’s hard for foreigners to buy tickets. Most journos drive in or fly on the Peshawar-based Red Cross and Islamabad-based UN flights.

Ariana Airlines
3rd Floor, Dudley House,
169 Piccadilly
London W1V9DD, UK
Tel.:+44-171-4931411
Fax:+44-171-6291611
Web site: http://fly.to/ariana
E-mail: arianaaf@brain.net.pk