One of the craziest and friendliest places out there 🇵🇰
Lahore has it all - the best food, the culture, the history, the sights, the weather, the people and the Nightlife! Could easily spend weeks there and never get bored.
Peshawar is definitely a mad and unique place in all the best ways. Capital of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the Afghanistan border, the city is an example of Pashtun hospitality at its finest, with every person you meet inviting you for tea or for something to eat, from young workers in the side street weapons factories to stall owners in the city's bazaars. It is also the home of the famous colourful busses that have become icons for Pakistan. Peshawar gets a bad rep. with talk of its current safety situation but the reality is that it is fine to travel to the city and the province.
One of the oldest and most historically important cities in South Asia, with history from 1000 BC to the Silk Road, Alexander the Great and more. With UNESCO heritage sites, museums and more Taxila is definitely worth a visit when travelling in northern Pakistan.
Afghanistan is definitely an interesting and, at times, sad place to visit. Years of fighting among different ethnic and ideological groups, foreign invasions and civil wars have left its mark all over the country and although the current Taliban rulers have brought some peace, much of the country suffers from lack of infrastructure and foreign investment, no certainty for the future and poverty is extreme. Unfortunately women still have no place in public life in most parts of the country, and the only few women I saw were tourists. Some people would ask if there was any way to get them out of the country, enquiring about scholarships, jobs or any opportunity to leave. Most people I met had some horror stories from the years of troubles.
Despite all this, the people are all friendly and extremely hospitable. Young people with English were happy to chat, usually to talk about sport or life in Ireland. The landscape and weather are both extreme in different parts of the country, from extreme heat in Kabul to snow and frozen deserts in Bamyan and Band-e-Amir, and desert dust storms in Mazar-I-Sharif all within the space of a week.
Despite all the news about what's happening in the country, it always felt safe as a foreigner, and for some reason almost every car in the country is an old Toyota Corolla which is surely enough reason to go and visit.
Bamyan sits in a mountainous region in north-eastern Afghanistan, surrounded by mountains, sandstone cliffs and green valleys. The fields around the valley are somewhat similar to Ireland with lots of cattle and sheep and many root crops growing, and the local people eat a diet consisting of lots of meat, potatoes and dairy.
The summers are mild, and winters can be extreme with temperatures as low as -30c, with weather and a landscape completely different to southern parts of Afghanistan.
The region is probably most famous for being the main centre for the Hazara people, and for it's Buddhist statues, one as high as 55 metres, that were destroyed by Taliban in 2001.
Bamyan is a UNESCO heritage region and part of the old silk road, was a Buddhist centre until the 11th century and has extensive cave systems in the cliffs surrounding the valley where Buddhist monks and people used to live. Unfortunately due to a mixture of the poor economic situation and many families living in poverty, as well as internal displacement from years of war, some people have resorted to returning to live in caves around Bamyan, with no electricity or running water. As with most places, there are signs of Afghanistans troubled past with remains of American and Soviet tanks visible around Bamyan, and one farmer even using a disused tank as part of a farm wall.
