Mountain Unity International

Mountain Unity International is a social enterprise set up to promote economic development in north east Afghanistan, with a focus on mountain tourism. The majestic Hindu Kush mountains have kept the local people safe from invasion since the days before Alexander the Great. The Wakhan Corridor offers a unique opportunity for climbers, trekkers and other mountain environment enthusiasts to safely visit the Afghan Hindu Kush and Pamir mountains.

Afghanistan Tourism Videos

Afghanistan Steps up Tourism Development o Afghanistan: An unlikely tourist destination o Welcome to the Other Afghanistan o Afghanistan Tourism o Vacationing in Afghanistan o Kabul (not exactly as advertised) o Faces of Wakhan, Afghanistan o

Afghan Logistics & Tours

An Afghan tour company offering a wide variety of travel experiences. Website.

A Tourist’s Afghanistan

World Hum Article; 10Dec09. Cullen Thomas recounts an independent traveler's time in the war-torn country.

Tourism in Afghanistan?

New American Article; 24Jul09. With the completion of a new Tourist Information Center in the isolated Bamiyan Valley, local officials, residents, foreign donors, and a handful of international aid agencies are hoping to attract visitors and their money to the area. The central province has long been considered one of the safest in Afghanistan, but the eight-hour drive over dirt roads and the land mines — not to mention the fighting currently ravishing the nation — could likely deter all but the most intrepid explorers.

Afghanistan Launches Offensive...for Tourism

AP Article, 07Jul09. BAMIYAN, Afghanistan — There's a new building in town, and it isn't a military barracks or a hospital. It's a Tourist Information Center. Even as troops fight militants in the south, government officials and donors in Afghanistan's central Bamiyan valley are training tour guides and teaching restaurateurs about customer service. It's an attempt to draw tourism and return one small part of Afghanistan to normalcy.

A Tale of Two Countries: Tourism in Afghanistan

Pulitzer Center Article, 08Sep08. A visit to the country makes it clear that today, there are two Afghanistans: one at war, particularly in the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar, and another at peace, with levels of stability that vary from the jittery and paranoid Kabul to the carefree city of Mazar-i-Sharif in the north.

Afghanistan tourism promotes its virgin peaks to climbers

Sunday Herald Article, 10 Apr 05. Despite the landmines and bandits, mountaineers are eager to conquer the Hindu Kush. Soon the mountains will be subject to a new, and this time peaceful, invasion: from mountaineers in search of adventure among the world’s last unclimbed peaks. The formidable spine of towering ranges that make up the Hindu Kush across the country’s centre and the icy Pamirs in the far north represent the last frontier for climbers bored with the Alps or the Himalayas and craving new challenges. Afghanistan -- Mountains of our Minds hardcover book by Bob McKerrow.

Afghanistan's Bamiyan province struggles to build tourism

CNN Article & Video. 28Aug09. Story Highlights: Bamiyan is one of the safest parts of Afghanistan; Since the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001, hotels have opened in the region; Colossal Buddha statues destroyed by the Taliban once towered over the valley; Stunning terrain and a cave network of monasteries draw tourists.

Interactive map

Interactive Map

Places to visit

Afghan Embassy Travel Website. Afghanistan’s location at the crossroads of great civilizations in history has created a stunning diversity in food, arts, languages, and traditions. This diversity is demonstrated in each city of Afghanistan.

From Ruins of Afghan Buddhas, a History Grows

NY Times Article; 06Dec06. The empty niches that once held Bamiyan’s colossal Buddhas now gape in the rock face — a silent cry at the terrible destruction wrought on this fabled valley and its 1,500-year-old treasures, once the largest standing Buddha statues in the world. Excellent photos. Video.

Afghanistan seeks to revive tourism industry

Gulf News Article; 4May09. After decades of war, Afghanistan makes another step towards normality and looks to revive its tourism industry. With the help of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Afghanistan's first national park Band-e-Amir was opened in Bamyan province last week. According to the USAID office in Kabul, the agency spent about $1 million (Dh3.67 million) to establish the park which is situated on a vast plateau in the Hindu Kush mountains, comprising six deep-blue lakes and a picturesque landscape dotted by snow-covered peaks. Photos.

Afghanistan's first national park has landmines

Telegraph Article; 31May08. It will undoubtedly be one of the most beautiful national parks in the world. But with would-be visitors facing the threat of terrorism, kidnapping and landmines – plus a gruelling off-road drive of at least 10 hours – Band-i-Amir in Afghanistan may struggle to pull in the tourists.

New Zealand to invest 41.7 million in Eco Tourism in Afghanistan

BLOG, 17May09. Former Prime Minister Helen Clark announced NZAID's investment in Bamyan increased by $1m in the past next financial year, with total funding of $1.7m over three years to support the eco-tourism project. Miss Clark said at the time that tourism - based around the ancient Bamyan Buddhas and the renowned Bandi-e Amir Lakes and the Bamyan Valley world heritage site - was an important avenue for development which complemented health, education, and other work in which New Zealand was already actively involved. By starting work on eco-tourism before international tourists returned, it could be made both environmentally and economically sustainable. USAID article.

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