I hope the names thrill you, evoking ancient civilisations, caravanserai and conflict. As you may not have a chance to soak in the atmosphere of the souks or the panoramas in the Pamirs I will take you.
My news is not up to the minute – the BBC provides that – it’s from my June 2008 diary – but interesting as a description of territory dominated then by northern war lords and now the Taliban.
Monday 2nd June, 2008.
Arrive at the Aria guesthouse, Faizabad, in time for a shower and a late lunch – remarkable for being chicken as well as ubiquitous lamb kebabs. (It was a long drive, we had left Kunduz at 5.00 am.) After a snooze re-group at 5.00 pm for a trip to the Pamir Club. It is perched on a promontory above the Kokcha river and Lonely Planet says it has the finest views of any hotel in Afghanistan; it wins no marks otherwise. It looks as advertised except there’s a man with a gun on the terrace and our way up the steps is barred by four armed men who refuse us entry. They are bodyguards working for a warlord coming to stay for an important buzkhasi game at Shewa tomorrow.
We saw them earlier when they swept past in a convoy with darkened windows and men with rocket propelled grenade launchers in the escort of pick-up trucks. Disappointment at missing the view is overwhelmed by excitement at the prospect of perhaps seeing this Central Asian game.
We go to the bazaar to shop for our trek. I am relieved to find some metal beakers; I’d forgotten to bring mine and P was not pleased. I also forgot to pack Angostura bitters but no amount of asking in Kabul had been able to rectify this. D and I buy cotton scarves; P finds almonds, pistachios and chick peas.
Tuesday 3rd June, 2008.
This morning we have two Toyotas so yesterday’s squash is avoided. We drive west out of Faizabad up a stone wall lined track following the river into the mountains. We stop for tea at a Chaikhana with an attractive lawn looking over the river and a powerful torrent spilling down beside us.
By 11.00 am we are on a plain where the buzkhasi game will be played later. After a picnic Mobin (our guide from Kabul) says we cannot stay to watch as we must press on to hire ponies; extremely disappointing. we drive up to lake Shewa over difficult terrain, have two punctures and overtake a UN vehicle with one. The passenger is German, on his way to build a police station – what a way to spend Aid money in such a poor province of Afghanistan.
We come to the NW arm of the lake and elect to spend the night in a hut with a stove and leave the camping for later. As it transpired there were about twenty of us squashed in when nomadic shepherds turned up for a kip.
I wonder what has really changed since 2008? The warlords were capricious and cruel. I now realise our guide would not let us watch the buzkhasi because it wasn’t safe for three Europeans. Foreign policy in the Middle East in the last fifty years has been largely dictated by the US with the UK poodling along in support. It has failed so many times. In Afghanistan we have tried to impose British rule for almost two centuries. Now it’s time to see how Taliban rule will work. (A shopkeeper in Chicken Street in Kabul told me in 2008 he had been happy when the Taliban were in charge – he didn’t have to lock up his shop. “Chop chop”, as P is fond of saying.)