Message from His Excellency Hamid Karzai President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

In the name of God, most gracious, most merciful

Few lands are as beautiful or as rich in tradition as Afghanistan. It has played host to some of the most famous names in world history: Alexander the Great, Ghangis Khan, Tamerlane, and the Emperor Babur. It was, in former times, a meeting point of East and West, the home of the greatest Kingdoms of the silk road, legendary for their wealth and their culture; later, it became the cradle of some of the most magnificent cities of Islamic civilisation, celebrated for their arts and architecture, philosophers and poets.

With the help of the international community, Afghanistan is emerging from the shadows of the last twenty years, and retaking its place as a member of the fellowship of nations. As peace returns with the establishment of democracy and the rule of law, visitors are beginning to re-discover the wonders of Afghanistan. Travellers are now returning to see the snow-capped mountains and fertile valleys of the Hindu Kush; the northern plains, the Amu Darya (Oxus) and Balkh, ‘Mother of all cities’; the wondrous scenery, the rivers and glaciers of the Wakhan Corridor and the ‘Roof of the World’. Others may come to see the Burial Gardens in Kabul of the Emperor Babur, or the Kabul Museum, which has survived with many of its wondrous treasures intact.

Whether you wish to learn more about the history, society and culture of Afghanistan, or if you intend to travel here as a visitor, you will find in this book a full introduction to Afghanistan’s natural beauty, rich heritage and cultural diversity, along with the practical information which a traveller might require.

I hope we will soon have the pleasure of welcoming you to Afghanistan; I can promise that the Afghan people will receive you with the heartfelt hospitality for which they have always been renowned.

Afghanistan. Security

The security situation in Afghanistan continues to improve. The Taliban seem now to be a spent force. Their threats to disrupt the 2004 presidential election did not materialise. There had been fears that they might be able to make good their threat to stop people in the south – their ethnic heartland – from participating in the election and then claim the result invalid. But this did not happen. There was a high turnout and the Pashtun president Karzai and his Tajik vice-president are in power with a democratic mandate.

The risk that Afghanistan might slip back into civil war now seems remote. Reconstruction is progressing and Afghans’ daily lives are improving. There has been a sense since 2001 that no-one wants to go back to the past. In addition, most of Afghanistan’s tourist attractions are in Persian-speaking the north of the country which has never been an area at which foreigners have been at risk, unlike the Pashtun-speaking southern provinces. Badakhshan, the area where two of our Expeditions go, has always been safe and never fell to the Taliban, remaining under the control of Ahmed Shah Massoud, leader of the Northern Alliance. I travelled there alone during the civil war in perfect safety.