Lashkar Gah

Lashkar Gah is the capital of Helmand province in southern Afghanistan. It lies at about 770 m beside the Helmand River, close to its confluence with the Arghandab, in the irrigated heart of the Helmand valley. The fields and canals around it give the city a greener setting than much of the south. The modern town was laid out in the 1950s as the headquarters of a large irrigation and development scheme, and its grid of broad streets, tree-lined avenues and planned residential districts still reflects that origin. Around this core the city has grown well beyond its original plan, with busy bazaars, mosques, schools, hospitals and new housing spreading along the roads. The city's name recalls Lashkari Bazar, the vast Ghaznavid palace complex whose eroded mud-brick ruins line the riverbank close to the town, and nearby, near the confluence, stands the great arch of Qala-e Bost, a monument widely known across Afghanistan. With these sites on its doorstep and a lively commercial life, the city is the natural centre for anyone exploring the province.

Lashkar Gah lies within one of the most important historic landscapes in southern Afghanistan. The citadel of Bost, at the meeting of the Helmand and the Arghandab, guarded a city that flourished from at least the early Islamic period and became one of the main seats of the Ghaznavid sultans in the 11th century. Along the river they built the palaces and gardens of Lashkari Bazar, a sprawling complex of courtyards and halls whose walls were decorated with paintings, including figures of the sultan's guards. Around 1150 the Ghurid ruler Ala al-Din Husayn burned Bost and the palaces, and the city never regained its former importance. The arch of Qala-e Bost, generally dated to the Ghaznavid or Ghurid period, survived and remains the area's best-known landmark. The modern town was built in the 1950s for the Helmand valley development scheme, and because of the American engineers and advisers who lived and worked there it came to be known as Little America. The city has grown greatly since.

Pashto is the everyday language of Lashkar Gah, with Dari widely understood and Baluchi heard among people from the south of the province. The city draws residents and traders from every part of Helmand, and its bazaars, tea houses and mosques are where news from the districts is exchanged. Pashtun customs of hospitality are strongly felt, and visitors are usually offered tea and food before any business is discussed. Friday prayers fill the city's mosques, and the two Eids are the year's great festivals, with families visiting one another and the bazaars busy in the days before. On holidays and summer evenings, people gather in gardens and along the riverbank and canals, and Pashto music with rubab and tabla is played at weddings.

Lashkar Gah sits where two rivers meet. The Helmand, broad and braided, flows past the city, and the Arghandab, coming from the direction of Kandahar, joins it nearby; their banks are lined with trees, reed beds and fields. Canals built during the development scheme of the 1950s and 1960s carry water through the town and out across the surrounding farmland. Beyond the irrigated area, the land rises gently onto barren desert terraces, with the gravel expanse of the Dasht-e Margo to the west across the river. The riverbanks and canal sides attract herons and other water birds, and they are among the few shady places in the city during the long, hot summer.

The bazaars of Lashkar Gah are full of the produce of the Helmand valley. Melons and watermelons pile up in summer, followed by grapes and pomegranates in autumn, and fresh vegetables are sold all year. Bread from the city's tandoor bakeries is sold hot several times a day. Small restaurants and stalls serve kebab grilled over charcoal, rice with lamb, qabuli palaw and shorwa, with yoghurt and salad on the side. Tea houses serve green tea with sweets throughout the day, and in the summer heat sellers offer cold drinks, ice cream and fresh fruit juices. Breakfast is often bread with cream or eggs and sweet tea, taken early before the day grows hot.

Lashkar Gah is a commercial rather than a craft centre, and its bazaars mainly sell everyday goods: fabrics, ready-made clothing, sandals, household goods, farm tools, electronics and food, much of it brought in through Kandahar. Among the more traditional items for sale are embroidered caps and clothing, prayer mats, and Baluch rugs and kilims from the south of the province. Tailors make the long shirts and loose trousers worn by men and women from cloth chosen in the bazaar, often within a day or two. Visitors interested in handmade pieces can ask among the cloth and carpet traders, who know where village work is sold.

Lashkar Gah is most comfortable between November and March, when days are mild and sunny and the evenings cool enough for a jacket; nights in December and January can be close to freezing. Light winter rain falls occasionally. Spring arrives early, and by April the heat is building. From May to September the city is very hot, often above 40°C at midday, and life shifts to the early morning and the evening, with many people resting through the afternoon. The riverbanks and gardens are busiest on summer evenings. October brings relief and the last of the autumn fruit, and is a good month for visiting the ruins of Bost.

Bost Airport (BST), on the edge of the city, has been served by domestic flights from Kabul, a flight of a little over an hour. By road, Lashkar Gah lies about 150 km west of Kandahar, reached by the main highway towards Girishk and then a branch road south; the drive usually takes around three hours. Kabul is about 640 km away by road through Kandahar. Girishk, on the main highway, is about 40 km to the north, and the journey from Herat is about 480 km. Shared taxis and minibuses arrive at stands around the city's main bazaar. Road conditions and local circumstances change, so travellers should check current conditions before setting out.

Lashkar Gah has the widest choice of accommodation in Helmand, with a number of hotels and guesthouses, most of them modest, clustered in the city centre near the main bazaar and along the principal roads. They serve officials, traders and visiting families from the districts. Air conditioning, or at least a fan, matters in the hot months, and the electricity supply can be uneven. There are no international-standard hotels, and rooms are best confirmed in advance. Hospitality in private homes remains the customary way to receive guests, and visitors with local contacts are often invited to stay with families.

Motor rickshaws are the most common way to get around Lashkar Gah and can be flagged down on any main street; fares are agreed before the journey. Motorbikes are widely used, and taxis, usually saloon cars, wait near the bazaar and the main roundabouts. The centre is compact and its grid of streets makes walking straightforward in the cooler months, though the summer heat makes even short walks tiring at midday. To visit the arch of Qala-e Bost and the ruins of Lashkari Bazar, a taxi or a hired car with a driver is the simplest option, and the same applies to trips into the surrounding farmland.