Friendly, beautiful Afghanistan was once well known on the backpacking circuit as the place to stop for unparalleled hospitality, fantastic food, great hiking and...um...OK, we'll say it, that legenda
July 14, 2006 (Press Release) --
Friendly, beautiful Afghanistan was once well known on the backpacking circuit as the place to stop for unparalleled hospitality, fantastic food, great hiking and...um...OK, we'll say it, that legendary hashish. Things have changed.
More than 20 years of war have left the dramatic countryside peppered with landmines and reduced many of the finest monuments and minarets to rubble. The poverty left in war's wake has taken an impossible human toll and encouraged the theft and sale of priceless national treasures. What cultural artefacts remain are at the mercy of whichever disorganised group happens to patrol the local streets.
When the Taliban, an orthodox Muslim faction with harsh interpretations of Islamic law and conduct, had control of the country between 1996 and 2001, having fun was branded as evil, women were banned from school and work, forcibly veiled and brutally punished for 'crimes' such as going to market without a male relative in tow. Men didn't have it much easier, as everyone was kept under close watch by a skittish and heavily armed military theocracy that could not find legitimacy abroad. Devastating earthquakes in 1998 and 1999 didn't help the situation. Still, although a risky venture, it was possible to visit what many say is among the most beautiful places on Earth.
The Taliban, which allowed Afghanistan to become a haven for terrorists such as wealthy Saudi exile Osama bin Laden, became the focal point for the West's wrath because of suspected involvement in the September 11 attacks on the USA's World Trade Center and Pentagon. Five weeks of US bombing and logistical support helped the Northern Alliance, a confederation of militias and sometimes dubious warlords backing the UN-recognized government of President Burhanuddin Rabbani, to move into the capital, Kabul, on November 12. Women were allowed to work again and venture outside without their burquas, men could shave and both were able to dance to music - simple pleasures that have earned the wild-card Alliance some support as their military campaign moves forward.
On December 22 the UN appointed leaders of various ethnic groups to be part of an interim government that will theoretically hold power until June 2002. Though this government, headed by Pashtun leader Hamid Karzai, is seen as a positive step toward a peaceful Afghanistan, others (including Afghans) are less diplomatic, due to continued ethnic tensions. The dust has not yet settled, and nobody's burning their burquas just yet. So say a prayer to Allah (or the deity of your choice) for peace, and perhaps beleaguered Afghans will once again be able to welcome the backpacking masses.
Source: http://www.yahoo.com
More than 20 years of war have left the dramatic countryside peppered with landmines and reduced many of the finest monuments and minarets to rubble. The poverty left in war's wake has taken an impossible human toll and encouraged the theft and sale of priceless national treasures. What cultural artefacts remain are at the mercy of whichever disorganised group happens to patrol the local streets.
When the Taliban, an orthodox Muslim faction with harsh interpretations of Islamic law and conduct, had control of the country between 1996 and 2001, having fun was branded as evil, women were banned from school and work, forcibly veiled and brutally punished for 'crimes' such as going to market without a male relative in tow. Men didn't have it much easier, as everyone was kept under close watch by a skittish and heavily armed military theocracy that could not find legitimacy abroad. Devastating earthquakes in 1998 and 1999 didn't help the situation. Still, although a risky venture, it was possible to visit what many say is among the most beautiful places on Earth.
The Taliban, which allowed Afghanistan to become a haven for terrorists such as wealthy Saudi exile Osama bin Laden, became the focal point for the West's wrath because of suspected involvement in the September 11 attacks on the USA's World Trade Center and Pentagon. Five weeks of US bombing and logistical support helped the Northern Alliance, a confederation of militias and sometimes dubious warlords backing the UN-recognized government of President Burhanuddin Rabbani, to move into the capital, Kabul, on November 12. Women were allowed to work again and venture outside without their burquas, men could shave and both were able to dance to music - simple pleasures that have earned the wild-card Alliance some support as their military campaign moves forward.
On December 22 the UN appointed leaders of various ethnic groups to be part of an interim government that will theoretically hold power until June 2002. Though this government, headed by Pashtun leader Hamid Karzai, is seen as a positive step toward a peaceful Afghanistan, others (including Afghans) are less diplomatic, due to continued ethnic tensions. The dust has not yet settled, and nobody's burning their burquas just yet. So say a prayer to Allah (or the deity of your choice) for peace, and perhaps beleaguered Afghans will once again be able to welcome the backpacking masses.
Source: http://www.yahoo.com
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