[at-l] Hiking in Afghanistan!

[dfaddleton@mindspring.com (dfaddleton@mindspring.com)]

There's a wonderful article in the recent Smithsonian by two American guys who've taken one silk route through the karakorums . . .

Sly, I'd travel with you through Afghanistan any day . . . we could go all the way to Ulaan Bataar and crash at my brother's place . . .

In the meantime, you'd better join me for some sag gost panir on MLK week-end . . . it'll send a cascade or proustian memories through your brain . . . you'll see . . .



Slyatpct@aol.com wrote:
> I'll be going back for a visit, once the dust settles.  After all they've 
been through, you have to love the Afghans' optimism.  For anyone that hasn't 
traveled overland across a foreign continent, it's something special......  

Afghan Minister Touting Tourism

By TED ANTHONY
.c The Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan (Jan. 9) - He suggests the breathtaking eastern mountains 
near Tora Bora. Or perhaps a hike to admire the plant life. Villages on the 
western plains are nice, too, brimming with cultures and handicrafts for a 
memorable vacation experience. 

Abdul Rehman, a new member of an infant government, oversees the Ministry of 
Civil Aviation. A more apt title might be Minister of Wishful Thinking. 

For this man, a doctor by training, is also responsible for accomplishing the 
unimaginable: bringing Afghanistan's tourism industry back to life. 

``I am an optimist,'' Rehman acknowledged Tuesday. And then: ``What are you 
interested in? You tell me, and we have it,'' 

While launching a tourism industry for a country that the Western world views 
as the font of 21st century peril may seem an absurd notion, Afghans are full 
of reasons why it makes good sense. 

Some say it's an expression of hope after five years of insularity encouraged 
by the now-deposed Taliban - a belief that a fresh government and a new era 
might bring a bit of modern society back to their long-neglected land. 

The presence of foreigners who aren't invading also offers a dual opportunity 
- an injection of good economic karma, always tourism's chief perk, and a 
chance to show a largely oblivious world the destruction wrought since the 
Soviets invaded in 1979. 

``Afghanistan was a very hot tourism spot. It was famous. Now it's famous all 
over again,'' says Shah Mohammed, a book dealer at Kabul's Inter-Continental 
Hotel, smiling wryly. 

He still sells a 1977 tourism booklet packed with maps, ads (a ``Turkman yurt 
hotel'' in Mazar-e-Sharif) and colorful photos of mosques, mountains and an 
orderly Kabul that belongs only to yesterday. 

``Afghanistan is a new travel destination,'' it enthuses. It also depicts 
Buddha statues, many of which were destroyed by the Taliban, who believed the 
figures insulted Islam. 

Today, beyond safety, the question is where tourists might go - and how. 

Even if air service to Afghanistan is restored, many Western travelers 
accustomed to package tours in air-conditioned comfort would blench at the 
destruction and deterioration evident in even Kabul's best neighborhoods. 

Pothole-rutted roads wreak havoc on the tailbone, and an entire swath of 
western Kabul is a moonscape of bombed-out buildings, legacies of factional 
fighting in 1992-96. 

Amid this devastation is a one-time prime attraction, the Kabul Museum, which 
might have been the cornerstone of a cultural tourism push. 

Today, emptied of objects, it sits in the sun, its windows long gone and roof 
damaged by rocket fire years ago. Tacked near the entrance is a poster 
identifying different varieties of land mines that passers-by should avoid. 

Foreign visitors are welcome. Doors open each morning at 8. 

``They could see the destruction, and maybe they could help. That would be a 
good use of tourism,'' said Jauma Khan, one of two guards patrolling the 
museum Tuesday. 

Not far away, at the ramshackle Kabul Zoo, Marjan the one-eyed lion held 
court over a menagerie of 20 animal breeds. This, too, could be an attraction 
again - with a cash infusion of, say, $2 million. Still, zookeeper Sheragha 
Omar, another optimist, says foreigners should return. 

``It's completely safe,'' he said, adding: ``If they stay in Kabul, there 
will be no problem.'' 

Tourism in other regions is a distant dream. Even when U.S. bombardment 
stops, many places are full of gun-toters with nothing to lose. And as other 
countries have discovered, one tourist murder can sink an industry for years. 

Rehman freely admits all this, yet he is undaunted. His plan is short on 
specifics but long on ambition, understandable for a man in office for two 
weeks and also responsible for resurrecting the aviation industry. 

He talks of placing ads in international magazines, of developing 
partnerships with other nations. Next week, his ministry is starting a course 
on tourism for new employees, who he hopes will be young, savvy and 
English-speaking. 

If only it were that easy. 

Indeed, the State Department has warned U.S. citizens against traveling to 
Afghanistan, citing that travel throughout Afghanistan, including the capital 
Kabul, is unsafe due to military operations and banditry. 

Some industry analysts in the United States are predicting that travel to the 
region will eventually pick up. 

``Within 12 months or so, if hostilities end, tourism may indeed, increase,'' 
said Arnie Weissmann, editor and chief of Travel Weekly. ``Though travel to 
Afghanistan after more years of war than most can remember, hasn't been good 
for a long time.'' 

New York representatives of Pakistan International Airlines said that many of 
the people on their international flights who are headed for Afghanistan are 
journalists or relief workers. 

``Still lots of people are flying home just to see how things are going,'' 
said Shafgat Durrani, a spokesman for PIA. ``Many are flying to Peshawar and 
many are flying to Lahore and most are using PIA because its the closest they 
can get to Afghanistan.'' 


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