Afghanistan
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.svg){kind=small} Afghanistan | |
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| Information | |
| Language: | Dari (Persian) and Pashto |
| Capital: | Kabul |
| Population: | 31,889,923 |
| Currency: | Afghani (AFN) |
| Hitchability: | from  (senseless) to  (average)
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| Meet fellow hitchhikers on Trustroots | |
| <map lat='34.05' lng='67.1' zoom='5' view='0' height='300' country='Afghanistan' /> | |
Afghanistan is a country in Asia. Part of the Silk road and formerly part of the so-called Hippie trail, it has since been invaded by the Soviets, ruled by the Taliban and attacked by the United States.
Little people speak English or Russian, and there is an anti-Western feeling throughout the country.
According to Lonely Planet, hitchhiking equals taking a taxi in Afghanistan, as people use to flag cars down that go in there direction, and are taken against a fee. Some Afghans might let you hitch a ride out of curiosity, though. In some regions resp. seasons, hitching on trucks is the only way to travel. Most NGOs are banned from picking up hitchhikers (but still it's mainly NGOs picking up).
Afghanistan has the lower rate of cars per inhabitant in the world. Travelling by public transport or staying in hotels is rather expensive compared to Central Asia.
Safety
It's probably quite an unsafe country to travel to let alone to hitchhike even though Muslim hospitality might make up for that. Be aware that land mines are widespread in the country. Known landfields are marked with cobblestones painted red (towards the field) and white (safer zone). They are identified MF (Mine Field) and LM (Land Mines).
In 2006, a Russian hitchhiker traveling in Afghanistan went missing. For more information, read here.
Border crossing
Hitchhikers have crossed to Afghanistan:
- from Iran via Eslam Qal`eh. Advice given by locals is to reach Kabul using the ring road via Kandahar in the South since it is a main road used by international peace keeping forces.
- from Pakistan. The trip from Peshawar to Kabul takes about 7 hours.
- from Tajikistan, via Panji Poyon.
- Some people allegedly tried to cross from Uzbekistan, via Termez on the Afghanistan–Uzbekistan Friendship Bridge, but were refused
Links
- A recent road map of Afghanistan (2004)
- Pashtunistan, Moses, and the Lizard... Hitchhiking Pakistan with Juan Villarino - a travel story about hitchhiking Afghanistan.
- Across Afghanistan by Thumb, by Juan Villarino
- Ludovic Hubler's entry on Pakistan/Afghanistan
- Afghanistan on Wikitravel
