A view of Afghanistan

A view of Afghanistan

I visited Afghanistan in September for two weeks, spending many days walking the streets of Kabul. I also visited the north and the Western city of Herat.

Only an hour after I landed in Kabul I went to the street, walking for more two hours in one of the busiest areas of Kabul. The street of Kabul are bustling with activity and life, that's until "Iftar" or sunset when Muslims break fast.

These are some of the photos I took from Kabul, Panjshir, Istalif and Herat

I met this trader in Ka Faroshi market

Sewage water is running in neighborhood in Kabul, this is one of the poorer neighborhoods but place like Wazir Akbar Khan where the rich and expats is very different

Shah-Do Shamshira Mosque was built in the 1920s with a unique European style. The most sits next to Kabul river, was empty at the time. The mosque underwent major restoration in 2002.

The streets of Kabul are busy and bustling all day until sunset. Most people stay home at night because there is no lighting in the streets but there is activity in some parts of the city where there is streets lights

I met this woman in a shrine opposite Shah-Do Shamshira Mosque. One of Prophet Mohamed's companions is said to buried there, and Afghans visit the shrine to pray.

In shopping mall in the Western city of Herat.

Street seller in Jade Maiwand, one of the busiest streets of Kabul

This is one of the villages to the north of Kabul.  I was heading to Istalif, an stunning town that's famous for its pottery.

Panjshir valley is one of the beautiful places in Afghanistan but it's also famous for the resistance of the Mujahedeen against the Russian invasion.

The portraits of Ahmed Shah Masoud, also known as the "Lion of Panjshir", is everywhere you look. On the 9th of September, Afghanistan celebrated "the day of the martyr" and the "hero of Afghanistan". But he was part of the civil war in the early 1990s that divided Afghans along ethnic lines, and because of that many Afghans do not see him as national hero.

These boys in the city of Herat were coming from school, the city had enjoyed relative peace for many years. Many children, boys and girls, go to schools but many others work from a very young age so the family can eat.

Praying in Khoja Ansari shrine in the Western city of Herat. The shrines is several centuries old and hundreds of Afghans visit it every day to pray.