2021-01-10, 09:32 PM
I look forward to reading about your trip to Afghanistan! You'll go over the Salang pass between Kabul and Mazar - there was much fighting there over the years. The mosque/tomb in the center of Mazar is beautiful. I bet you'll go to nearby Balk, which was one of the cities on the Silk Road and, I think, much more history. Mostly just some ruins now, though in the day much hashish was sold there (not that I would have partaken, ahem).
The first time I went up to Mazar I'd been traveling only 10 months or so. On the way (by bus of course) we passed through Kholm/Tashkurgaon (Kholm is the new name). Wherever the bus stopped, there were mostly these mud brick buildings with beehive - like (as in the skeps we see on Utah state highway signs) roofs. I was feeling a bit nervous, as in "I hope this is not Mazar yet, I was hoping for something looking a bit more like a city". Next time I went through it was years later, and I almost got off the bus to explore there instead. Just had learned a bit more and felt a bit more comfortable.
The first time I went up to Mazar I'd been traveling only 10 months or so. On the way (by bus of course) we passed through Kholm/Tashkurgaon (Kholm is the new name). Wherever the bus stopped, there were mostly these mud brick buildings with beehive - like (as in the skeps we see on Utah state highway signs) roofs. I was feeling a bit nervous, as in "I hope this is not Mazar yet, I was hoping for something looking a bit more like a city". Next time I went through it was years later, and I almost got off the bus to explore there instead. Just had learned a bit more and felt a bit more comfortable.