Khost

Khost is the capital of Khost province and one of the largest cities in Afghanistan's south-east. It lies at about 1,200 metres in the middle of the Khost basin, roughly 230 km by road from Kabul and a short distance from the Pakistani border, and its warm climate, green surroundings and busy streets make it feel quite different from the highland towns of the interior. The city has grown quickly in recent decades. Its centre is a dense network of bazaars, where shops sell everything from fresh produce and pine nuts to electronics, fabrics and goods brought in from Pakistan and the Gulf. Around the centre spread residential districts of walled family compounds, many of them newly built, alongside mosques, schools, hospitals and the campus of Shaikh Zayed University. Khost is a commercial and educational centre for the whole region, and its people are known for their hospitality and their love of cricket. There are few historic monuments, but the city offers a vivid picture of modern provincial life in the south-east, and it is the base for exploring the basin and its surrounding hills.

Little is recorded about Khost's early history as a town. For centuries the basin was a farming area organised around tribal villages, and its main settlement grew as a market and administrative centre where people from the surrounding districts came to trade. In the 20th century the town became an important government post on the eastern frontier. It was cut off by fighting for long periods in the 1980s, and much of it has been rebuilt since. When Khost became a separate province in the 1990s, the town became its capital. Since the early 2000s the city has expanded rapidly, with new roads, markets and a university, and money sent home by relatives working in the Gulf states has paid for much new building.

Khost is a Pashto-speaking city, and its culture reflects the traditions of the tribes of the basin. Men often gather in the hujra or the tea house to discuss news and business, and hospitality towards guests is a point of pride. Most people are Sunni Muslims, and the city's mosques are busy at Friday prayers and during Ramadan. Cricket is the city's great passion. Matches are played everywhere from back streets to proper grounds, and the success of the national team has made cricketers local heroes. Football and volleyball are also popular. Weddings bring the dhol and the attan into residential neighbourhoods, and Pashto music, poetry and television dramas are part of everyday life. The university and many schools give the city a large student population.

The city sits on the flat floor of the Khost basin, surrounded by fields of wheat and maize, orchards and vegetable gardens watered by irrigation channels. On clear days the ridges and mountains that enclose the basin are visible in every direction, with darker forest on the higher slopes. The climate is warmer and more humid than in most Afghan cities. Summer brings heat and monsoon storms that turn the countryside a deep green, while winter is mild, with cool nights and sunny days. Short drives from the city lead into the foothills, where pine and oak woods and mazri-covered slopes offer a contrast with the busy streets of the centre.

Khost's restaurants are known locally for their meat. Tikka, chapli kebab and lamb chops are grilled over charcoal in the bazaars, and karahi, meat cooked in a wok-like pan with tomatoes, chillies and spices, reflects the cooking shared by both sides of the border. Qabuli palaw and shorwa are served with fresh naan. In autumn and winter the markets sell roasted chilgoza pine nuts from the province's forests, and fruit and vegetables from the basin are on sale through much of the year. Sweet shops prepare jalebi and other sweets for Ramadan and the Eids, and tea is served everywhere, green or black with milk.

Khost's bazaars are trading centres more than craft centres, selling clothing, fabrics and household goods from Pakistan and the Gulf alongside local products. Among the local goods are mats, baskets and prayer mats woven from mazri palm, embroidered caps and waistcoats, and women's embroidered dresses and shawls. Tailors throughout the bazaar make shalwar kameez and waistcoats to order, and cap sellers stock the embroidered caps worn across the south-east. Carpenters and metalworkers produce furniture, doors and household items for the growing city.

The most comfortable time to visit Khost city is from October to April. Days are warm and sunny, nights are cool, and in winter the city is spared the snow and severe cold of Kabul and Gardez, though the mountain road from Gardez can be snowy. From May the heat builds, and June to August are hot and humid, with monsoon rains and thunderstorms in July and August that can flood streets and rural roads. Autumn brings fresh pine nuts to the bazaars, and spring brings green fields and blossom in the gardens around the city.

Khost city is about 230 km from Kabul by road, through Logar and Gardez and then over the mountains on the Khost–Gardez road; the drive usually takes five hours or more. Shared taxis and minibuses run on the route. Khost airport lies near the city, and domestic flights from Kabul have served it. The Ghulam Khan border crossing with Pakistan lies to the south-east of the city, and roads also run south-west into Paktika. Road conditions and local circumstances change, so travellers should check current conditions before setting out.

Khost city has a reasonable choice of accommodation for a provincial capital, with hotels and guesthouses ranging from simple rooms to more comfortable modern buildings. Most are in the city centre, near the main bazaars, and along the main roads leading out of town. Many hotels have their own restaurants. Standards of heating, cooling and hot water vary, so it is worth asking, especially in the summer heat, when air-conditioning or fans matter. Families visiting from abroad often stay with relatives, and visitors with local contacts may be offered hospitality in a family home.

Rickshaws are everywhere in Khost and are the usual way to make short trips around the city. Taxis can be hailed on the main streets, and many people get around by motorcycle. The central bazaars are best explored on foot. Shared taxis and minibuses leave from stands around the city for Gardez, Kabul, the district centres and the border, departing when full. For excursions into the hills or to several places in one day, a hired car with a driver is the most practical choice.