Eganistan

So, um, I added another Stan to my itinerary. This all started when I was eyeing up Termez and trying to decide whether it was a worth a visit. Termez is a mid-sized city situated on a bend in the Amu Darya (aka Oxus) river, which, at that point in its trajectory, defines the border between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. The main reason to visit Termez is a number of ancient Buddhist sites in the nearby countryside. The sites are pretty ruined so there was a question of whether I wanted to take a night train from Samarkand just to see them. But then looking on a map, I saw that Mazar-i-Sharif, and its famous Blue Mosque, was just an hour’s drive across the Afghan border from Termez. This might sound strange under the circumstances, but I’m fairly risk averse. I like adventure but I don’t like danger and I don’t enjoy adventures where I feel I’m in danger. I wouldn’t have gone to Afghanistan if it felt risky.   Assuring myself that it wasn’t risky involved a fair bit of research. First...