Kabul

Kabul Province is the small, mountain-ringed province that surrounds the national capital in east-central Afghanistan. Outside the city it is a country of valleys and foothills: the Paghman range rises to the west, the orchard country of the Koh-e Daman stretches north along the foot of the mountains towards the Shomali plain, and the Kabul River leaves the basin to the east through the gorges on the road to Jalalabad. The province borders Parwan and Kapisa to the north, Laghman and Nangarhar to the east, Logar to the south and Maidan Wardak to the west. More than a dozen districts surround the city. Paghman, Shakardara, Istalif, Guldara, Farza, Kalakan, Mir Bacha Kot and Qarabagh form a green belt of orchards and vineyards along the northern and western foothills, while Deh Sabz, Bagrami, Chahar Asyab, Musayi, Khak-e Jabbar and Surobi spread east and south towards the mountains. For most visitors the province is a series of day trips from Kabul city. Paghman's gardens and its memorial arch, the reservoir at Qargha, the pottery workshops of Istalif and the orchards of Shakardara are all within an hour or two's drive, and on Fridays and holidays they fill with families escaping the city. Further east, the road through the Mahipar gorge towards Surobi winds between steep, rocky walls high above the river.

The valleys around Kabul have been farmed and settled since antiquity. In the early centuries CE the region lay within the Kushan world, and Buddhist monasteries and stupas were built on the surrounding hillsides; the remains of several still stand in the hills to the south and east of the city. Babur, the founder of the Mughal dynasty, took Kabul in 1504, and in his memoirs he wrote with great affection of the gardens of the Koh-e Daman and of Istalif in particular. Later rulers kept up the tradition of country retreats: in the early 20th century Paghman became the royal summer resort, and the Taq-e Zafar arch there commemorates Afghanistan's independence in 1919. Many villages around the capital were damaged during the wars of the late 20th century, and many orchards have since been replanted.

Dari and Pashto are both widely spoken across the province, and many people use both. Most inhabitants are Muslim, and village life turns on the mosque, the local shrine and the farming calendar. The districts around the city also absorb much of Kabul's weekend life: on Fridays and public holidays families travel out to picnic in the gardens of Paghman, beside the reservoir at Qargha and in the orchards of Shakardara and Istalif. Nowruz, the new year, which falls around 21 March, is celebrated with outdoor gatherings as the orchards come into blossom, and the Eid holidays bring a similar exodus from the city. Buzkashi, the horseback game in which riders compete to carry a goat carcass to a goal, is staged on open ground near the capital in winter and early spring, drawing riders and spectators from the surrounding villages.

The province lies in a high basin at around 1,800 metres, enclosed by mountains. To the west the Paghman range, a spur of the Hindu Kush, holds snow well into spring and feeds the streams that water Paghman, Qargha and the Koh-e Daman. North of the city the land opens into a long belt of vineyards, mulberry and apricot orchards and walled gardens that continues into Parwan. The Kabul River and its tributaries, including the Logar River from the south, drain the basin eastwards. Below the city the river cuts through narrow gorges at Mahipar and Tang-e Gharu before reaching the reservoirs behind the Naghlu and Surobi dams, where the country becomes lower and warmer. Away from the irrigated valleys the hills are bare and rocky, green only briefly after the spring rains.

The orchard districts north and west of the city supply much of Kabul's fruit. Grapes, mulberries, apricots, cherries, apples and walnuts come from the villages of Shakardara, Istalif, Paghman and the Koh-e Daman, and in summer roadside stalls sell them by the crate. Mulberries are spread on rooftops to dry for the winter. A day out from the city usually means food cooked or eaten in the open: kebabs grilled over charcoal, qabuli palaw brought from home in large pots, and green tea poured at the tea houses that line the picnic spots. Fried fish is a speciality beside the reservoir at Qargha and at the roadside eating places on the way to Surobi, served with bread, green chutney and sliced onions.

Istalif is the province's best-known craft centre. Its potters have long worked in a distinctive glazed earthenware, usually turquoise or deep green, and the village bazaar sells bowls, plates, jugs and lamps straight from the workshops, where visitors can often watch the wheel and the kilns at work. Elsewhere in the province crafts are mostly domestic: woven baskets and mats, simple kilims, and embroidered caps and cloth made in village homes. Most of the carpets, jewellery, lapis lazuli and antiques sold to visitors are found in Kabul city itself, where goods from every region of the country are brought to market.

Spring, from late March to May, is the favourite season: the orchards of Istalif, Shakardara and Paghman blossom, the hills turn briefly green, and Nowruz picnics fill the gardens. Early summer brings the first cherries and mulberries, and June and July are warm and dry, though the foothills stay noticeably cooler than the city. September and October are clear and mild, with the grape and apple harvests under way, and are good months for walking in the hills. From December to February the basin is cold, with frequent snow; the higher roads into Paghman and the side valleys can be blocked for days, while the eastern districts around Surobi, lower down, are the mildest part of the province in winter.

Every part of the province is reached from Kabul city, whose international airport (KBL) is the arrival point for most visitors and has been served by both international and domestic flights. Qargha lies on the western edge of the city, about 15 km from the centre, and Paghman a little beyond it, about 25 km and under an hour's drive away. The main highway north towards Charikar and the Salang runs through the Koh-e Daman, with turnings west to Shakardara and Istalif; Istalif is about 50 km from the city, around an hour and a half's drive. The highway east to Jalalabad climbs out of the basin and drops through the Mahipar gorge to Surobi, about 70 km and around two hours from the city. Roads also run south towards Logar and west along the Kandahar highway into Maidan Wardak. Road conditions and local circumstances change, so travellers should check current conditions before setting out.

Most visitors stay in Kabul city and treat the rest of the province as a series of day trips, since nowhere is much more than two hours' drive from the centre. Outside the city, accommodation is limited. The picnic areas at Qargha and Paghman are geared to daytime visitors, with garden restaurants and tea houses rather than hotels. In villages such as Istalif and the orchard settlements of the Koh-e Daman there are no formal hotels to speak of; a traveller staying overnight would usually do so as a guest of a local family, with arrangements made in advance through a host in Kabul. Options in the eastern districts towards Surobi are similarly basic and few.

Shared taxis and minibuses run from terminals on the edges of Kabul city to the district centres: west towards Paghman, north along the Charikar road through the Koh-e Daman, and east towards Surobi. They leave when full and are inexpensive but slow, with frequent stops. For day trips, most visitors hire a private car with a driver, which makes it easy to combine several stops, such as Qargha and Paghman, or Istalif and Shakardara. Auto-rickshaws work the larger district towns, and in the orchard villages people walk the lanes between the gardens. In the higher valleys donkeys still carry fruit, firewood and fodder along tracks that no vehicle uses.