Afghanistan: Sights

Panjshir Valley
The lush green of the Panjshir Valley is the spiritual home of the Northern Alliance. The valley stretches for 100km (62mi) to the Anjoman Pass and offers great potential for trekking. Ahmad Shah Massoud, the formidable mujaheddin leader, is buried here in a small green-domed mausoleum, which has stunning views over the valley.

In 2006, construction started on a ritzy new mausoleum for Massoud. His green shrouded tomb is already installed inside.

100km N of Kabul
Band-e-Amir
Lake of Jewels

The five lakes of Band-e-Amir (Dam of the King) are hidden in the Koh-e-Baba at an altitude of 2900m (9512ft). The deep-blue waters glitter like jewels, in stark contrast to the dusty mountains. The most accessible of the lakes is Band-e-Haibat – the suitably named Dam of Awe. The lakes’ high mineral content gives them their colour.

W of Bamiyan
Minaret of Jam

Ancient Mystery
Dating from the 12th century, this fabulous monument sits in the remote valleys of the Koh-e-Baba – its existence was only revealed to the outside world in the 1940s. Three tapering cylindrical shafts reach a dizzying height of 65m (213ft).

5km S of Jam village

Afghanistan: Currency
Afghanistan’s currency is the afghani (Afg). Paper notes come in denominations of one, two, five, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000. One, two and five afghani coins are slowly replacing the grubbiest small notes. When the afghani was relaunched in 2002 to encourage economic stability, there were around 10, 000Afg to the US dollar; since then the currency has consistently floated at around 45Afg to 50Afg to the dollar.

Changing money
It’s far easier to change money on the street than in a bank, and in our experience some tellers will actually advise you to do just the same. Only Kabul Bank seems to consistently change money, but in a country where much of the economy operates outside the banking system, almost everyone uses moneychangers.

Moneychangers tend to operate on the street, with small stands rather than formal shops. The main moneychanging areas are listed in the text – look out for men holding thick wedges of afghanis and clutches of US$100 bills. Afghan moneychangers are a pretty honest bunch as a whole, but always take your time to count out the bills, and don’t hand over your money until you’ve done so. Insist on smaller denominations if you’re handed everything in 1000Afg notes.

If you’re not happy to change money standing on the street, doing it from a taxi is an acceptable practice. Alternatively, most hotels and many shops (particularly those dealing with imported goods, or carpet shops) are usually willing to change money. When bringing currency to Afghanistan get new dollar bills; higher denominations are preferred. Euros and sterling can be easily changed in the cities, but other currencies can be problematic. Currencies from neighbouring countries are freely exchangeable, but you get better rates closer to the relevant border – eg Iranian rials in Herat, or Tajik somani in Kunduz.