Things to Do in Afghanistan in April

Afghanistan's first national park sits on the central plateau of Bamiyan Province, 75 km (47 miles) west of Bamiyan town, at roughly 2,900 m (9,500 ft). The six crater lakes, Band-e-Haibat, Band-e-Qambar, Band-e-Pudina, Band-e-Panir, Band-e-Gholaman, Band-e-Zulfiqar, are separated by natural travertine dams that the water has built up over centuries, and in April the whole system runs full with snowmelt. The color is hard to describe without sounding like you're exaggerating: a cobalt blue that shifts toward turquoise at the shallows and deepens to near-black at the center, set against red cliffs and sky. Walking the circuit between the upper lakes takes three to four hours. You will feel the thin air at 2,900 m (9,500 ft) in your chest within the first 20 minutes. April is probably the right month to see the park with wildflowers at the water's edge and before the domestic tourist traffic, Kabul families making weekend trips, arrives in force from June onward.

The two giant niches cut into the sandstone cliffs above Bamiyan, where the 55 m (180 ft) and 38 m (125 ft) Buddhas stood before 2001, are still there, and the scale of what was removed is somehow clearer in person than in any photograph. The cliff face runs for roughly 1.5 km (just under 1 mile) and is honeycombed with several hundred monastic caves, some with fifth-century frescoes still visible on the ceilings if you bring a proper headlamp. April's angled afternoon light catches the red sandstone in a way that makes the whole escarpment glow copper. The valley floor below is being excavated, archaeologists have uncovered a reclining Buddha and monastic complex extending the site significantly beyond the two famous colossi. Walking from Shahr-e-Ghulghula, the 13th-century citadel razed by Genghis Khan, to the eastern niche takes roughly two hours at a comfortable pace across terrain that is dry and walkable in April before summer dust arrives.

The Shrine of Hazrat Ali, the Blue Mosque, is one of the most striking buildings in Central Asia, and in April it is at peak intensity because the 40-day Nowruz flag ceremony runs from March 21 through late April. The exterior is covered in blue, white, and turquoise tiles on every surface. Standing in the courtyard at dawn when the light is cool and flat, the smell of rosewater rising from the marble and the sound of prayers in the air, is hard to put into words. Thousands of white doves have lived on the grounds for generations, fed by worshippers, they circle the minarets at dusk in a coordinated flock that locals see as a blessing. Non-Muslim visitors can usually enter the outer and main courtyards during this period. Dress modestly, move quietly, and let your local guide explain the protocol before you approach the inner areas.

The Minaret of Jam is a UNESCO World Heritage site that few people know about, so standing in front of it feels almost unreal. It rises 65 m (213 ft) where the Hari and Jam rivers meet in a narrow gorge in Ghor Province, built in the 1190s by the Ghurid sultan Ghiyath al-Din, detailed terracotta brickwork and turquoise tiles, Kufic calligraphy winding up the shaft, and no facilities for visitors at all. Reaching it means roughly 180 km (112 miles) of driving from Herat, the last 100 km (62 miles) on dirt tracks that April snowmelt turns into something requiring a strong 4x4 and a driver who knows the route personally. The drive cuts through river gorges with walls of layered ochre and grey rock. April is probably the only workable month, before summer heat makes the journey brutal, after winter snow makes it impossible. The minaret stands in complete silence except for the river. There is no fence, no sign, no center. You walk up and touch a building that has been standing for 830 years.

The Panjshir River runs loud and cold with snowmelt in April, fast enough that you have to raise your voice where it narrows through the gorge about 80 km (50 miles) north of Kabul. The valley carries a heavy place in Afghan history, it held off Soviet forces nine times and later became Ahmad Shah Massoud's stronghold, and that history is still visible: abandoned Soviet armored vehicles rust on the valley floor beside the road threading between them. In April it is mainly a scenery trip: terraced fields being plowed by ox teams, walnut and mulberry trees leafing out, the air smelling of cold water and fresh earth. The drive from Kabul takes about two hours in decent conditions, climbing through rocky hills before dropping into the valley. Day trips are doable. Overnight stays in simple guesthouses can be arranged in advance through a fixer.

The old city lanes south of the Kabul River, between Pul-e-Khishti Mosque and the Bala Hissar fortress, follow their own rules. The covered Mandawi market runs on credit and handshakes that go back generations. In April the stalls around the spice district are loaded with dried mulberries and first-season pistachios, the smell of cardamom and saffron cutting through the diesel and dust of the lanes outside. The Murad Khani quarter, a 200-year-old residential area partly restored in the 2000s, has courtyard houses with carved wooden balconies and painted plaster interiors, some now used as small cultural spaces, that show what 19th-century Kabul looked like before the wars broke it down. The late afternoon light on the mud-brick walls here is striking. This area is best walked with a local guide who is known in the neighborhood. Wandering alone is not recommended.