Survival Guide: Kabul

Fancy a weekend in a city that is definitely off the beaten track and has almost zero tourists? How about Kabul as your next destination?

“Yeah, there is a reason why no tourist wants to visit Kabul!” you might say. And you’re right. Although Kabul is fascinating and has some interesting things to offer, regular suicide bombings and kidnappings don’t make the normal traveler put Kabul on his bucket list. Fortunately (or not), there are not only normal travelers. And here are the good news for these people (like myself): it is absolutely possible to visit Kabul! Just keep in mind that traveling to Kabul entails certain risks. I’m not talking about watching your belongings on Las Ramblas in Barcelona…

The three main risks in Kabul are getting blown up by a bomb, getting shot during a mass shooting and – the most realistic threat – being kidnapped (and maybe killed afterwards). Either by a Taliban, a criminal or one of the many heroin junkies, who would do anything for their next fix. “What about ISIS?” you may ask. ISIS, IS or whatever they want to be called are also in Afghanistan but not in Kabul. As a side note, ISIS and the Taliban don’t work together but fight against each other.

This article is all about the safety situation in Kabul and how to travel to Kabul with keeping the risks as low as possible. Going to Kabul is never a completely risk-free adventure though. Wrong place and wrong time can be the sad end for everyone in this city. On the other hand, Kabul might not be what you imagine. It is not an anarchic and chaotic war-zone and as a matter of fact, most of the 5-7 million inhabitants of Kabul live their everyday life without ever witnessing a dangerous situation.

All in all, the security situation has become worse in the past two years. While Kabul had two or three terror attacks a year in 2015 or 2016, the city now has one or two incidents every month. That wasn’t a reason for me to stay clear of this city though. As I said, Kabul is a huge city, and chances are good that you won’t even notice something when a violent incident happens during your stay.

What is Kabul like?

Kabul is actually a typical Middle East-city. It’s a bit sandy and dusty, the houses are light brown or grey, you can see markets, stray animals and crazy traffic. Is Kabul a beautiful city? It’s hard to tell. Kabul is certainly no Seville or Lisbon, it’s dirty to a certain extent, infrastructure is bad and you won’t see many architectural masterpieces. In my humble opinion, Kabul is still beautiful. The city is surrounded by hills, what makes Kabul different from other capital cities in the region. There are also sights and attractions. You can visit Babur’s Garden, Qargha Lake, Tepe Maranjan, Bibi Mahru Hill, markets, mosques etc.

So, people who go to Kabul have to follow a few rules to stay safe. People who follow these seven rules should be fine.

#1: you need local contacts

This is the most important rule. Traveling to Kabul without knowing someone is simply stupid. Locals know the psychology of the city and they therefore know whether a situation is dangerous or not. There are several tour agencies, which offer trips through Afghanistan. I booked a private tour with Young Pioneer Tours, which is likely the cheapest tour operator. Why are they so cheap? Because they keep everything very basic. I will come back to that when I describe rule #2.

Another option would be couchsurfing. There are many hosts in Kabul, however, you never know if they will have time to show you around during your stay. And keep in mind that they might ask you to come to their apartment directly from the airport (couchsurfing hosts usually don’t pick you up at the airport), or in the worst case, they cancel your stay in the last minute. They can, as they are not obliged to offer you a room or a bed. Although I’m sure that 99% of the couchsurfing experiences in Kabul are great, I personally didn’t want to do it.

Also keep in mind that English is not widespread in Kabul. You might need help at some point, which can be difficult if you randomly have to ask someone on the streets. “The Taliban don’t live in Kabul, but we have a lot of Taliban-mentality here,” my guide explained to me. What happens if you’re alone and meet someone with “Taliban-mentality”?

#2: keep a low profile

As I said, there are different tour operators in Afghanistan. They all have a different approach. Some operators offer tours through Afghanistan with soldiers accompanying you and you will be in armored cars of course. I truly believe that this makes everything much more dangerous for the traveler, as you will draw all the attention to you. Keeping a low profile is the key to experience Afghanistan in a more or less safe way in my opinion. Neither Young Pioneer Tours or Untamed Borders work with soldiers. I just had a guide and a driver. The car was old but it looked like all the other cars on the streets.

Wearing local clothes is another precautionary measure although a controversial one. Most of the people in Kabul don’t wear Western-style but traditional Afghan clothes. However, you can also see locals wearing jeans and shirts. The consul at the embassy suggested me to wear normal clothes, as a foreigner wearing local clothes looks even more suspicious. I decided to do what my tour guide suggested and chose the local clothes.

“I am blonde and my skin is white, I will stand out anyway,” you could say. Afghanistan is a multi-ethnic country and you will also see blonde and white-skinned people (mostly Tajiks). As long as you have a “normal” haircut (for Afghan standards) you will blend in, even if you’re blonde. To be honest, I never had the impression that the Afghans took notice that I’m a foreigner.

#3: don’t take pictures of women and military people

Taking pictures of women is a no-go (although you won’t see their faces under their burkas). Don’t forget that when you’re taking pictures of a crowd. Press the button only when there is no women in front of you. The same goes for military people. You can take pictures of military personnel, however, you need a permit in advance to do that. Organizing these documents isn’t worth it in my opinion. Just don’t do it.

Generally, I suggest taking pictures with your cell phone only. Most of my pictures were quick snaps I took on the streets. Try not to take pictures too obviously by looking half a minute into your screen. Keep the profile low.

#4: stay away from targets!

The terror attacks in Kabul follow a certain pattern. They don’t happen randomly. Suicide bombers usually blow themselves up near or in an institution of the state or civil society. Police, army, hospitals and universities are all targets. So are embassies. Stay well clear of these buildings.

Good tour operators sometimes take a detour to avoid places that are typical targets. They don’t want to be near these targets and they even avoid streets that lead to them sometimes. As a consequence, it takes longer to get from one point to another but I think it’s worth it.

Another target are gatherings. Be it a religious meeting or a wrestling show. As soon as many people meet somewhere, the chances of a terror attack increase drastically. I would neither go to Chicken Street – Kabul’s main shopping street – in the morning when it’s at the busiest. In January 2018, more than 100 people got killed just at the corner of that street.

#5: stay away from international hotels

All the international hotels (or let’s say “Western” accommodation) are heavily secured. Does that make them safer? Au contraire. Hotels are one of the Taliban’s main targets. There are frequent attacks against hotels and most of them result in many fatalities.

I slept in a hotel that didn’t have a hotel sign on it. It’s not a place where you can just knock on the door and get a room. This hotel works with tour companies such as Young Pioneer Tours or NGOs together and is for selected customers only.

The hotel was still secured with soldiers but you cannot see them from the outside. Although I am sure that the Taliban could easily get into that hotel, I still felt safe during my stay. Particularly because you couldn’t see from the outside that it was a hotel.

#6: do what your host says

Don’t argue with your host. My tour guide said that he has travelers sometimes who think they know everything better. Your host is responsible for your safety and he knows Kabul. If he tells you not to go somewhere, then don’t do it. He will not tell you that to annoy you. He actually cares about your safety.

The same applies if your host asks you to behave differently. You can ask him later about the reason, but don’t do it in the middle of the market or wherever. There must be a reason why he told you that, but there is no time to discuss it immediately. He will explain it to you later.

#7: don’t leave the city

Some parts of Afghanistan are safe, some parts are not. However, they are not separated from each other by hundreds of kilometers. Some unsafe areas are just 10km outside of Kabul. While it’s absolutely possible to visit Qargha Lake, a lake which is a 45 minute ride from Kabul, it’s better to spend your time in the city. Or again, do what your host says. If he feels comfortable to leave the city, then go for it.

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And now, as a conclusion, let me tell you one thing. Even if you don’t follow these seven rules, you will most likely have no problem. I don’t write that to encourage people to do whatever they want in Kabul, but I just want to show that the dangers in Kabul are not as big as many think.

Honestly, going to Kabul wasn’t an easy decision for me, and I needed a lot of time to thing about it before I booked the flights. In the end, what convinced me the most was the fact that Kabul is a huge city and if you just look at the numbers (frequency of terror attacks and number of fatalities), you will realize that you must have real bad luck if something happens to you. Another thing that helped me was chatting with other travelers who have been to Kabul, as they will gave me a better understanding of the situation there.

In hindsight, I’m glad that I did this trip. Kabul is a fascinating city in a fascinating country. I cannot wait to see other parts of Afghanistan, such as Mazar-i-Sharif, Herat, Bamiyan etc. It won’t happen next year, but I’ll definitely be back.

You can find my travel report about country #77 – Afghanistan here.