The videos document my pilgrimage from Indonesia to the African continent by land (no airplane!). The route: 1.) Indonesia: Traveling through Sumatran Mountains and Prehistoric Sites 2.) Malaysia: Meeting with the Aborigines of the Malay Peninsula 3.) Thailand: Tracing the Southeast Asian Ancient Empires 4.) Laos: Experiencing the Lao-China Railway 5.) China: Backpacking the Tibetan Plateau to the Edge of the Silk Road 6.) Kazakhstan: First Contact with the Central Asians 7.) Uzbekistan: Pilgrimage in the Land of the Timurids 8.) Tajikistan: Lost in the Fenn Mountains 9.) Afghanistan: Visiting Afghanistan after the Taliban Takeover 10.) Iran: Surrounded by the Ancient Civilization of Persia 11.) UAE: Short Transit in Futuristic Cities 12.) Saudi Arabia: Pilgrimage in the Holy Land of the Muslims 13.) Jordan: Catching a Glimpse of Jerusalem 14.) Egypt: Ending in the Land of Pharaohs
Curated by: Bang Jago (174 videos)
On the 140th day I finally had to say goodbye to my two friends who had accompanied me for several days in Afghanistan. As I would travel more independently, I needed to prepare myself better for an Afghanistan adventure. First is money. Afghans still rely on cash and I only brought a small amount from Tajikistan. Luckily in Mazar-i-Sharif there is Afghanistan International Bank. It's ATM can be used to withdraw cash with a visa card,. The fee is 5%. Then I stopped at Afghan Wireless to buy a SIM card. It only costs 80 Afghani ($1), plus a 6 Gb data pack for 450 Afghani. On the way, I saw the sun shining perfectly on the Blue Mosque of Mazar-i-Sharif so I decided to make a stop at Imam Ali's Shrine and took some photos. In contrast to the Timurid style of Central Asia which relies on azure blue and turquoise, this mosque architecture also uses a little green, yellow and white tiling makes it look brighter. Exiting the Hazrat Ali Complex, I was confronted with the Monument to Rumi, the great writer who hailed from this city. One of the quotes says, "As you start to walk on the way, the way appears." This is what I experienced when I entered Afghanistan. There is a bazar around the complex and I met my friends at the fabric shop. I bought cloth that was sewn directly into traditional Afghan clothing according to my body measurements. The cost of this tailor-made clothes was 1200 Afghani. Next to it was a burkha shop which sold blue burqas. It turned out that this was one of the places of origin of the Mazar-i-Sharif blue burkha. I finally parted ways with Mark who continued hitchhiking to Herat. Then I also parted ways with Andrew who wanted to stay one more night in Mazar-i-Sharif. Duke and I continued to Kabul Terminal and took the night bus to Kabul. The ticket price was 1200 Afghani. Tomorrow, I would arrive in Kabul and applied for permits to travel around Afghanistan. ___ Stage 1 Route - Sumatra (DONE!): Jakarta - Bandar Lampung - Baturaja - Lahat - Pagar Alam - Bengkulu - Lebong Tandai - Kerinci - Jambi - Kuala Tungkal - Batam - Johor Bahru Stage 2 Route - ASEAN Mainland (DONE!): Johor Bahru - Kuala Tahan - Kota Bharu - Su-Ngai Kolok - Nakhon Si Thammarat - Chaiya - Nakhon Pathom - Bangkok - Nakhon Ratchasima - Phimai - Nong Khai - Vientiane - Vang Vieng - Luang Prabang - Chiang Rai - Chiang Mai - Pai - Chiang Mai - Chiang Rai - Boten - Kunming, China Stage 3 Route - China (DONE!): Kunming - Dali - Lijiang - Shangri-La - Shambala - Litang - Chengdu - Leshan - Chengdu - Xi'an - Zhangye - Jiayuguan - Dunhuang - Turpan - Urumqi - Almaty, Kazakhstan Stage 4 Route - Central Asia (DONE!): Almaty - Shymkent - Tashkent - Nukus - Muynak - Turtkul - Khiva - Bukhara - Samarkand - Tashkent - Khujand - Fann Mountains - Dushanbe - Kunduz, Afghanistan Stage 5 Route - Afghanistan: Kunduz - Samangan - Mazar-i-Sharif - Balkh - Kabul - Bamiyan - Band-e Amir - Yakawlang - Lal - Chagcharan - Herat - Mashhad, Iran *Follow my Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/obeysianipar/) for direct messages **Message me for sponsorship --- Music Credits: And Awaken - Stings by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.