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Information provided here reflects observations and research from May 2003 and may no longer be accurate. Is it safe? Visas? Getting In Getting Around Lodging Things to bring Things to know Should you go? Toilets and showers Background reading Is it safe? Not really, but then again neither is driving a car. Safety . . . → Read More: Practical matters for visiting Afghanistan Rebuilding from rubble Reaching the outskirts of Kabul from the east, my first introduction to the city was of the various international military bases that line the road. This was soon replaced by endless rows of damaged buildings, mostly apartment blocks. It was not at all uncommon to see a building . . . → Read More: Kabul Afghanistan Sacred shrines – Ancient settlements [Photo right: Shrine of Hazrat Ali, one of the Islamic world’s most sacred buildings and Mazar-e-Sharif’s number one attraction.] Mazar-e-Sharif, in the north of Afghanistan and some 400 kilometers northwest of Kabul, is the nation’s second largest city and is in better shape than much of . . . → Read More: Mazar-e-Sharif Afghanistan Where giant Buddhas once stood After Kabul, Bamiyan is probably Afghanistan’s most accessible and most secure destination. Though it’s an horrific road that takes eight to ten hours to cover what is only one hundred and eighty kilometers, the scenery along the way is worth the price of the ride and . . . → Read More: Bamiyan Afghanistan In planning my trip to Afghanistan I was frequently asked the simple but thought provoking question, “Why? Why Afghanistan?” As evidence of my exhaustive pre-departure research my initial reply was a well rehearsed, “Why not?” So I’d be asked the same question a second time to which I’d give a modified . . . → Read More: Introduction – over the Khyber Mataram After coming across Timor, Flores and Sumbawa, Mataram is your first taste of a ‘real town’ and a hint of the heavy traffic to come as you move further west across Indonesia. Upon arriving in Mataram via Tiara Mas bus you are dropped at the Mandalika terminal which is about 5km from the . . . → Read More: Lombok Indonesia Kupang is the transport hub for West Timor and is basically a good place to spend a couple of days knocking off a good book while you wait for a ferry to turn up. Accommodation Accommodation in Kupang is reasonably expensive by Indonesian standards, considering what you get. By repute (from locals, expats and . . . → Read More: Kupang Yogyakarta is a smallish city (by Indonesian standards) of some 500,000 odd people. Dubbed the ‘City of Tolerance ‘ it is a plesant place to check out arts and crats (Batik and leatherwork are good here IF you know what you are looking for and don’t mind haggling over prices). Accommodation The major . . . → Read More: Yogyakarta |
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