Welcome back to our journey through the fascinating landscapes of Central Asia. Today, we're delving deeper into the heart of Afghanistan, exploring its rich cultural tapestry and indulging in its flavorful culinary traditions. If you've been following our adventures and haven't yet subscribed, be sure to hit that subscribe button now and give this video a thumbs up!

Featured Places You Don't want to Miss in this video:

Cities:
Kabul in the east, the capital city
Balkh an ancient city in the north, its history still palpable
Bamiyan The remains of the Buddhas. Once considered one of the wonders of the world, these tall stone carvings were destroyed by the Taliban in a notorious act of cultural vandalism...
Ghazni in the southeast, between Kabul and Kandahar
Herat in the west, gateway to Iran, has a strong Persian influence and several interesting historical sites
Jalalabad in the east, between Kabul and the Khyber Pass
Kandahar a Talibaninfluenced southern city, not safe for travel at this time , Claim as oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, ancient name is mundigak (3000 B.C)
Kunduz A major city in the northeast, and crossing point to Tajikistan
Mazare Sharif home to the impressively tiled Blue Mosque, and the staging point for trips into Uzbekistan

Other destinations
Bande Amir National Park 5 stunningly turquoise lakes in a remote and beautiful setting, not far from Bamiyan.
Gardez a beautiful major town in a mountain valley southeast of Kabul.
Khyber Pass is the Gateway to Pakistan, a historic route of invasion and trade.
Minaret of Jam is well off the beaten path but some say worth the journey possible as a roundtrip from Herat or when traversing the Central Route from Herat to Kabul.
Panjshir Valley a beautiful trekking area, leading to the famous Anjuman Pass.
Puli Khumri an ancient city in the heart of Afghanistan
Salang Pass is a high mountain pass and tunnel linking Kabul to the north.
Shamali Plain north of Kabul. Shamali, meaning 'windy' or 'northern,' is a green plain that produced a lot of the food for central Afghanistan. From Kabul it extends north through Charikar, Parwan province to Jabal os Saraj. The Taliban destroyed the irrigation systems and it is only just beginning to recover.

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