Afghanistan hardly needs introduction, just the name is enough to have most politicians panicking, journalists packing and travellers salivating with expectation. News, time and again over the centuries, has focused on this most extraordinary arid and mountainous country in middle-Asia and, now as always, its place at the heart of world affairs is as poignant as ever.
Of course it is a land of stunning scenery and a hugely diverse culture but above all it is a place where you will encounter some of the most hospitable, interesting and proud people you are ever likely to meet.
Group Tours and Tailor-Made Holidays in Afghanistan and on the Silk Road.
Slowly down the Oxus, from the mountains and onto the plains, most of our group tours to Afghanistan follow in the footsteps of Marco Polo. Not only that but this area is archaeologically the richest in the country. This was the centre of the Greek Bactrian kingdom, founded by Alexander the Great, that flourished between 330BC and 148BC, when it fell to nomad invaders from the steppes. It has left its most spectacular trace at Ai Khanoum, the only Greek city to have been excavated in Central Asia. One can still see Corinthian column heads lying in the dust and the remains of a Greek theatre. We know from the remains of an enormous palace that the city was a royal one and almost certainly Alexandria-on-the-Oxus.
From Kabul to the foothills of the Hindu Kush, we visit the northern towns of Afghanistan in the middle-Oxus valley. In medieval times, this was part of the great Muslim civilisation of Central Asia . The northern towns are Kunduz, Taloqan, Mazar-i-Sharif and Balkh. These places are largely unspoiled by the twentieth century, where there are few cars and most transport is by horse or donkey.
