Ride through Central Afghanistan. Sep 2025.
Finally dream came true. After months of prep, obstacles
like political situation, conflicts at border etc, and finally my wrist
fracture and surgery 3 months before the planned trip date We finally rode across Central Afghanistan
from Kabul to Herat via Bamiyan, Band-E-Amir, Minerat-E-Jam, Herat. I would
like to extend my sincere thanks to Tariq, Hijrat, Bilal, Saboor and team from
ATE (Afghanistan Travel Experience) for helping us out with LOI, Permits and
most important the rental motorcycles. I will never forget the long WhatsApp
chats and discussions with Tariq on which bike would be suitable for the ride
and also what extra fitments would be needed like saddle stay, charger, spares,
tools etc. See links below:
https://www.facebook.com/AfghanistanTravelExperience
https://www.facebook.com/ATE.RIDES
https://www.facebook.com/tariq.sarfaraz
https://www.facebook.com/hijratullah.sahak.510142
Also a very big thanks to Haren Khatau for a very detailed
writeup on the Central route which made our initial planning very easy. See
links below for details.
https://www.facebook.com/harenkhatau
https://www.facebook.com/groups/783223123431653
http://www.facebook.com/share/p/2E2R2eDLREcsSG7p/?mibextid=wwXIfr
We reach Kabul on 27 Sep (Accomodation: Afghania Guest
House), meet up with ATE gang and over next 2 days we prep for the ride, SIM
Card, money exchange, petrol cans, checking the bikes etc. The challenge was
not over yet for me. I was down with severe viral fever from Mumbai airport
itself and it took me 6 whole days to recover to really enjoy the ride.
Short trailer - https://www.facebook.com/share/v/15QGrRE5tjR/
Photos - https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AaHYKsc81/
Reel - https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1CqvHNvYsh/
Bamiyan.
Still slowly recovering from my viral fever, we finally
decided to start the ride and push to Bamiyan. The cleaner air there might aid
my recovery. We reached late evening to Roof of Bamiyan hotel a bit away from
the main town. And what a coincidence, we met Gaurav (wanderda) who was also on
his ride to Afghanistan starting all the way from Almaty – Kazakhstan. We spent
3 days together relaxing, chatting about our travel stories, sightseeing to
Shehar-E-Ghoghola (City of Screams) and general shopping around the bazaar with
some sumptuous meals. Thanks brother, it was your positive attitude and let’s
take one day at a time attitude, gave me that extra push to continue with
Central Route even though my health was not 100%.
Finally one of the highlights of this trip, early morning we
went to see the remains of the Buddha’s of Bamiyan which were destroyed in 2001.
What a sight it was to see it live with the massive carving in the mountain
face with intricate network of caves and the scenic valley and green fields.
Next to come Band-E-Amir lake.
Photos - https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1HBQFQ9QzA/
Reel - https://www.facebook.com/share/r/17r4WQFrD5/
Reel - https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1FyGwfiYca/
Band-E-Amir.
Nothing much to say about the amazingly turquoise blue
lakes, Band-E-Amir, in the heart of Afghanistan. Just enjoy the amazing colors
and calm of the lakes. A short ride from Bamiyan, this place is not to be
missed. We walked around the lake and also did a boat ride.
Last comfortable stop before we start the actual central
route which will be full offroad for 600 km till Herat, near Iran border.
Photos - https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19S1QDNbCx/
Reel - https://www.facebook.com/share/r/17NJwmzojG/
Reel - https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1AHsp3PEwc/
Band-E-Amir to Kirman.
Finaly we leave the comfort of Tar roads and into the unknown
Central route which will be almost 700km of offroad till we reach Herat, a nice
city near Iran border.
The road now turns dusty and rough with steep climbs and
descent, less traffic. The views were amazing, small villages surrounded by
green farms. The road now gets monotonous and you gotta stay sharp due to the
sudden obstacles or ditch on the road without any road signs. If planning to
ride Central route, you should plan max 100 – 150 km per day post reaching
Yakawlang due to the bad road conditions.
Finally we were very tired and decided to stop for the night
at a chaykhana (these are basic night accommodations in Afghanistan where you
sleep in common area and they provide food too), in a small road side village
Kirman. It is a good way to interact with the locals and get to know their way
of life. The security guard cleaning his AK-47 with the barrel pointing at
Ameya was the highlight 😊
The night got very cold with snowfall too.
Photos - https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1LBqVR23pS/
Reel - https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1JioqfTHet/
Kirman to Chagcharan.
Finaly we leave the comfort of Tar roads and into the
unknown Central route which will be almost 700km of offroad till we reach
Herat, a nice city near Iran border.
The ride till Kirman previous day was tiring and long, but
today we had something else in store. After a very cold night, the morning was
even more chilled with super clear skies from the snowfall last night. The
views were amazing with nice small villages and old forts by the road side.
Just after 30 km from Lal village Ameya’s bike chain came off while on a steep
incline. Then it was hectic 4 hours of I going back to Lal to get a mechanic,
and once he saw the chain he claimed it was unusable due to it bending. So
another 2 hours wasted where he went back to Lal to get new chain (advantage of
taking a local Afghan bike for rental). Once this was sorted it was 100 km and
almost 5 hours more to Chagcharan. We were tired but needed to push of due to
lack of any decent accommodation.
Finally we reached and checked into a Govt hotel with a nice
room. Tired but satisfied to have made it this far😊
Mechanic Celebration - 😊 https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1G1xovVcHx/
Photos - https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Fcy5QgWYw/
Reel - https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1MkiQPqTcy/
Reel - https://www.facebook.com/share/r/17cphLexeD/
Chagcharan – Minerat-E-Jam.
Finally the Minerat-E-Jam day arrives. Minerat-E-Jam is a
solitary tower (Minar) in the remote mountains of Central Afghanistan. There is
no easy way to reach it either from Kabul or Herat. The long distance and very
rough narrow road make it very difficult, to that extent very few locals have
visited it. This was my dream ever since I read the Lonely Planet guide book on
Afghanistan.
We had a late start post getting the permit done. No real
challenge on the initial route except that it was dusty. The scenery gets
wilder and traffic gets thin as we proceed. Endless green pastures with sheep
grazing and small villages and rolling hills remind us of the wild remote
routes in Ladakh which we did in 2007. Finally we reach the Minerat in pitch
dark and struggle to find any food and accommodation. We finally got to stay
with the Taliban police check-post by climbing a 15 feet almost vertical rock
to reach there.
Next morning, the Minerat came into full view. We cross the
Harirud river and get a closeup view of the Minerat and rest by the beautiful
garden chatting with the caretakers there. Finally I am at peace and the
journey continues towards Herat.
Minerat-E-Jam - Reel - https://www.facebook.com/share/r/17ey2b963n/
Photos - https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17txaDNaip/
Reel - https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1JvcsqnQG4/
Reel - https://www.facebook.com/share/r/16q4TQ4zfb/
Minerat-E-Jam to
Herat.
The 2 days from Minerat-E-Jam to Harat with night halt at
Chesht-E-Sharif, were very tough with landslides (had to pull of few stunts on
the bike to clear them quickly), under construction roads, very bumpy and dusty
road conditions with strong headwinds and opposing sunlight from late afternoon
hours. We just wanted our ride to end now 😊. The only saving grace was a nice and comfy
but basic accommodation at Chesht-E-Sharif and a sumptuous lunch of fried eggs
and French fries, very unlikely to be found in this part of the world.
Photos - https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1A8h75Fvq2/
Afghan style river crossing 😊 - https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1DcS4qufQc/
Reel - https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1GikqdLYox/
Herat sightseeing.
I always had very positive vibes about Herat and it did not
disappoint. Super luxurious Amiri Hotel with very good service, going out of
the way to make our stay comfortable after 10 days on the tough central route.
Visited a nice coffee shop “Afghan Coffee”, super vibes and
friendly owner, Grand Mosque and Citadel.
Photos - https://www.facebook.com/share/p/16pSNKneFF/
Reel - https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1Gqf7q3jrD/
Herat Kabul bus.
Our bikes were for off roading but not comfortable for
highway riding with top speed of 80 kmh with full on vibrations, riding the
1000km of Herat Kabul highway would have been very uncomfortable. So the backup
plan comes into action 
The 18 hour 1000 KM bus journey from Herat to Kabul was
overall comfortable but chaotic as usual with lot of headache to get the bikes
in the bus, and the bus sun-roof was kept open at night since AC was not
working which made it a very cold and uncomfortable night. An experience of the
quick night stops and eateries on the Kandahar highway will not be forgotten
ever 😊
Photos - https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17hPFZMLa4/
Reel - https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1GDedVFfH2/
Panjshir Valley.
We few more days in hand before our flight to Kabul so we
decided to go to Panjshir Valley. I was always amused by Ahmad Shah Masood, the
commander of the valley, who successfully defended by guerrilla warfare, the
region against the Soviet invasion and then Taliban until he was killed by a
camera bomb in 2001.
Getting the permit in Kabul was a struggle but we managed
it. We started early morning from Kabul with our guide and friend Hijrat from
ATE. Due to it being a sensitive region, there were lot of check points
enroute. The valley was beautiful with lot of old Government villa’s, small
villages with green farms and the Panjshir river always giving company. The
highlight was an amazing breakfast by a river side restaurant with nice seating
arrangement. The old Russian tanks by the roadside and Top Dara Stupa in Parwan
province and lastly having local Afghan ice-cream made it a long but a
satisfying day.
Russian Tanks - https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1DJSXeWLes/
Photos - https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AshFbvM2X/
Reel - https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1ARk5wCMGL/
Reel - https://www.facebook.com/share/r/16MRXJf9wS/
Kabul Rest and Flight.
Last 2 days in Kabul were spent taking nice walks in morning
and at night in the city lanes, trying out
various foods, and some local shopping before we finally board our
flights back home.
Photos - https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17duZXnBZL/
Reel - https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1C8M3CaZ18/
