The No Man’s Land of Central Asia: Sight Seeing in a War Zone.

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DISCLAIMER: This is a guest post from one of our UK readers, Emily Buchanan. She is by no means recommending that ANYONE visit a war zone or a country that has embassy-imposed traveling restrictions. She is exploring the potential of one country to recover from its international reputation, with a view of it becoming an economically viable tourist destination in the future.

Hypnotised by the cobalt blue waters before me, I realized that I’d stumbled upon an oasis hidden at the top of a mountain. The air was sweet with the smell of warmed stone and the eerily vacant surroundings made me wonder if this was a mirage. I knew it was hot but hallucination hot? This was something else. As I knelt down to touch the liquid azure of the languidly shaped lake, I expected the scene to dissolve. But when the cool water trickled through my fingers and sent ripples across the surface, I was forced to believe the beauty before me. It was astonishing.

At that moment in time, I completely forgot that I was in Afghanistan.

Photo by james_gordon_losangeles via Flickr.

Band-e Amir is Afghanistan’s first national park and is currently being considered for UNESCO world heritage status. Here, there are no trees, no animals (unless they are being sacrificed – it is believed that the water has healing properties) and no lakeside apartments. This is a sacred place and somehow, even nature respects its power through absence. On first glance, it’s as if someone held a bright blue candle up to the sun and allowed it to drip molten wax all over the deserted terrain. The contrast of the barren landscape with the synthetic blue of the waters makes it easy to understand why Afghan’s cherish this place and why, for the first time in their history, they have devised an environmental policy that aims to preserve the eminence of Band-e Amir.

After all, Afghanistan is no stranger to the destruction of its landmarks. In 2001, the Taliban blew up two 6^th century Buddha statues that were said to be one of the most culturally significant surviving examples of Greco-Buddhist art. All that remains is two gaping wounds in the mountain side, serving as stark reminders of Afghanistan’s contemporary history and as symbols of the country’s destroyed archaeological heritage.

Photo by james_gordon_losangeles via Flickr.

Extreme associations

During wartime, it’s easy to forget that a country has any cultural significance at all. In particular, Afghanistan has suffered over four decades of conflict and, in the last six years alone, almost 13,000 civilians have lost their lives. When a constant stream of country-specific extremism is publicised in the world’s media, a nation’s international reputation is easily shattered. It is especially challenging for Afghanistan to recover its global standing when a majority of consumers have only ever been exposed to the country during warfare. Understandably, these negative associations are difficult to shift.

The question is: can a country ever fully “redeem” itself from the horrors of dictatorship, genocide or extremism? Will we, in decades to come, be taking holidays to Afghanistan? Will it ever become part of the backpacking trail or will that stretch of associated countries (Iraq, Iran, Syria) remain the no man’s land of central Asia?

Lest we forget, Afghanistan is a treasure trove of archaeological wonder.

Many will argue that I’m jumping the gun, that it’s impossible to predict the tourist potential of a country that’s still being ravaged by war and, in some ways, those naysayers are right. However, it’s important to recognize how the Afghan government is making a concerted effort to rebuild its social status, despite the terror of the Taliban. As (relatively speaking) moneyed travellers, it’s our job to support a damaged economy in its pursuit for peace and native pride. Lest we forget, Afghanistan is a treasure trove of archaeological wonder – and that’s not considering the ancient artworks that have yet to be discovered. Hiding in the many cavernous mountain-scapes of Afghanistan’s rugged terrain are the unexcavated secrets of humanity, where the heart of Asia maps the prehistoric movements of man and depicts a truly unique artistic influence – one that spans all four corners of the world’s largest continent. And whilst foreign visitors are a fledgling species in Afghanistan, the active preservation of Band-e Amir has reminded war weary Afghan’s that their homeland is worth preserving – an essential wartime comfort.

The testament of Cambodia

Mostapha Zaher, the head of Afghanistan’s environmental protection agency (and grandson of the former king), admits he’s been called “unrealistic” for his dreams of developing national parks in a war-torn country. But Zaher vows that the environmental programme will continue, mentioning plans for a second national park.

Zaher isn’t alone in his optimism. Michael Keating, the UN deputy envoy, says of Afghanistan’s regeneration process, “Twenty years ago who would have thought Cambodia could become a tourist destination?”

Photo by Adam Jones, Ph.D. – Global Photo Archive via Flickr.

Indeed, no one could have predicted the incredible recovery Cambodia would witness after the crippling impact of the Khmer Rouge Regime. Who can forget the infamous images of the stacked skulls of the Killing Fields? Or the fact that as many as 3 million innocent people were killed? One would think that those kinds of associations would stay blanched on the retina forever and yet, the Cambodian economy has grown enormously over the last ten years (an average of 6% year-on-year).

Whilst no one has forgotten about the horrors committed under Pol Pot’s governance, the human race is quick to forgive a people for acts they could not control and, as such, Cambodia has become a testament to humanities ability to adapt, rebuild and recover.

Political stability through democracy

But can Afghanistan become a commercially viable travel destination thanks to a few national parks?  Not yet, says travel expert Vicky Anscombe of Economy Car Hire, who recently visited Afghanistan on a research project. “The Afghan people are some of the warmest I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting,” she says, “All too often, national stereotypes hide the potential of a destination and its people. Don’t get me wrong, the country is still at war and in its current state, no one should visit, but the potential is there, certainly.”

Although abuses of power and corruption are a real concern, Afghanistan is a different nation from the crippled country it was 11 years ago (making this the longest war in the history of America). According to the latest figures, western investment has generated a 352,000-strong Afghan security force and increased access to electricity from 6% to 18%. Most importantly, 3.2 million girls are now in full time education. During the Taliban regime there were less than 5,000.

Ken Yamashita, mission director in Afghanistan for the US Agency for International Development,  highlights political corruption as the key concern, “In 2024, [when American troops will exit Afghanistan indefinitely]… we hope to see is an improving process of governance, an improving electoral process, and an improving accountability of Afghan political leadership to its people.” Political stability through democracy then – an ideology which echoes the mentality of the recent (and on-going) Arab Spring uprisings and one of the most significant global imperatives of contemporary society.

Evidently, those who travel to Afghanistan are taking a major risk and, as yet, the government can only prepare for a future tourist trade, though there’s no guarantee of its fruition. Be that as it may, Afghanistan must not be written off as a warzone. In order to improve, it is integral for the rest of the world to start thinking about Afghanistan differently, to start stimulating a positive dialogue of recovery and to start appreciating the cultural, historical and geological significance of this astonishingly misunderstood country.

Have you ever visited Afghanistan or a warzone? Please share your experiences below. 

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*Please remember all photos on this website, unless otherwise noted, are copyrighted and property of Beers and Beans Travel Website & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you do want to use one of them please contact me first. Thanks!

Sources For Article:

1) http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/aug/10/afghanistan-civilian-casualties-statistics

2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodia

3) http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2012/1030/What-will-the-Afghanistan-war-legacy-be