From Bamiyan we set off on an 18-hour drive along unmade roads through the centre of the country, mostly dry and rocky terrain, passing the occasional sheep, goats or donkeys with their accompanying herders but very few other vehicles. We finally got to the small town of Chagcharan where we spent the night, before continuing the drive along similar roads the next day. Roads that were not safe to travel on until the Taliban took over and imposd their strong rule over the country. We went through numerous checkpoints, in some cases just waved through, in others they insisted on seeing our passports and temporary local ID cards, as well as the permission documents carried by our guide. But eventually we made it to one of the highlights of the trip - the Minaret of Jam.
Built around 1190, probably to commemorate the victory of Mu'izz ad-Din (of the Ghorid Empire) over Prithviraj Chauhan, it is believed to be all that is left of the lost city of Turquoise Mountain, which was destroyed by the Mongols in 1222. It's a spectacular building in a spectacular setting, although sadly at risk of collapse (having been damaged by earthquakes over the years and suffering occasional damage from flooding of the adjacent river) and so included on UNESCO's list of World Heritage in Danger. The base has been shored up with bricks and the whole minaret tilts slightly. There has also been illegal excavation and looting of the hillsides around it.
But now it has a small contingent of Taliban members stationed there to guard it - and to guard and look after any visiting tourists. When we'd set up our tents, a couple of us went over with our local guide (acting as our translator) to chat with the Taliban guards. The main guy was very friendly, and said we could ask him anything we wished. So we asked him some basic questions and I learned that he was married with ine wfe and eight children, that he'd joined the Taliban aged 30 (with the support of his family), and that he was happy there was peace in the country now but was also ready to fight again if/when needed. Whilst I was able to take a few pictures (that on the right where they were greeted by one of our drivers, and another of the chief guard smiling at me), I was not allowed to take one of me sitting with him, that would be Haram (forbidden). & I noticed that the translations didn't always seem to be direct - that there seemed to be some conversation between him and our guide. I asked about this later, and the guide explained that he'd asked if I would repeat the Shahada for him (the Muslim confession of faith) which he would video and then share with his mates - proof, apparently, of his converting a Western woman to Islam - apparently he asked this a couple of times but our guide said it was inappropriate and so he would not relay the request to me!!
We had an early start the next day (departing at 5am) for another long drive on dirt roads, but part-way along the route we stopped to view the remains of the 12th century Ghurid dynasty dome at Chesht-e Sharif. Apparently this structure - photographed from the front and therefore looking more like a straightforward arch - is on the front cover of Rory Stewart's book about his two-year walk across Afghanistan.
I do worry as to whether the latest earthquakes (the first of them on the day I left the country) have caused any further damage to this ruin as well as to the Minaret of Jam. I know they caused a few bricks and tiles to fall from both the Citadel and the Friday Mosque in Herat, where we arrived at the end of our long drive from the minaret.
Herat is the second largest city in Afghanistan, and there is plenty to see. We started at the heavily restored Citadel but couldn't stay too long as we attracted such a large crowd of fascinated locals (some just staring, others asking for selfies with us). So we moved on to our next stop, the magnificent Friday Mosque. Thankfully women are allowed into the courtyard.
From there to the Gazar Gah, one of Afghanistan's holiest sites, a shrine dedicated to the 11th-century saint and poet Khoja Abdullah Ansari. It's a sufi shrine, and we could hear the intriguing sound of sufis chanting and making strange sounds in a ceremony in one of the side rooms, but were not allowed close enough to see what was going on. Later we visited another sufi spot in the city, Gholtan or the Rolling Shrine, where sufis lie down, cover their face and start rolling along the ground - the more times they roll, the better the outcome for them, apparently. Very strange... Finally we went to the Musalla Complex, a mausoleum with graves and minarets in the same style as the one at Jam, mostly in a worse state.
Then another long day on the road, to take us to Lashgar Gah, from where we were able the next morning to visit the ruins of the 3,000-year-old fortress of Qala-e-Bost, next to an 11th century decorated arch, apparently all that remains of a former mosque. We were accompanied on this visit by a camera crew from the Ministry of Information & Culture (which is perhaps why we weren't told during the visit - I found out from Wikipedia afterwards - that the fort ruins were used as shelter by hundreds of people who fled there from the Taliban in 2021); they interviewed a couple of members of our group, and took pictures of us all amongst the ruins, to post on their website, seemingly to show how the greater safety in the country under the Taliban is resulting in an increase in tourism.
However, when we were later given a link to the article, we were amused to see that not only had they got all the information about us wrong (eg our nationalities), but that they had covered over the faces of the two women shown in their picture. I'm the one to the left with the green scarf!
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