Afghanistan

Central Asia is often described as the crossroads of Asia, but nowhere is this truer than in Afghanistan. Kabul is the starting point of the trade route from Central Asia towards India and Pakistan, and was the seat of the first Mughal Emperor of India, Babur. Today it serves as a base for the US army, as well as home for the many aid workers, diplomats and journalists covering the country which once again is at the centre of geo-politics.

North of Kabul is the Hindu Kush Mountain Range (‘Killer of Hindus’). In its foothills is Bamiyan, the ancient Buddhist Kingdom whose enormous standing Buddhas were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. This beautiful valley is littered with cities and castles destroyed over the centuries by invaders (most famously Genghis Khan) who used this long-standing trade route as a road for conquest.

Across the Hindu Kush, one reaches the beginning of the Central Asian steppe. Outside Mazer-e Sharif is the city of Balkh, known as the Mother of Cities on account of its age. It was already ancient when Alexander the Great married Roxana there in 327 BC. Nearby the No Gombud (“Nine Domes”) Mosque is the oldest in Afghanistan, dating from the early ninth century, although now almost totally neglected in favour of the huge Shrine of Hazrat Ali in Mazar-e Sharif. Originally built in 1136, it was destroyed by Genghis Khan but later rebuilt by the Timurids in 1481, and its dazzling tiles are modern.

Travelling to the East takes one up into Badakhshan and the mountains of the Pamirs; to the West, one comes across Turkmen communities renowned for their carpet making. In the far West is Heart, a culturally Persian City (although often fought over with the Pashtuns) with magnificent buildings dating from its time as the ‘Pearl of Khorasan’.

These photographs were taken in August and September 2007.