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Bradt Kabul City Guide
Ref: BRA090
'The best and only guide to Kabul’s hot spots, monuments, historical buildings and – most important of all – good places to eat. The guide has put Kabul on the map for the first time in 20 years. This is a place to visit and enjoy now, and you can’t do it without a copy of the guide in your pocket. Kabul – the hottest city east of Suez'
--Ahmed Rashid, bestselling author of Taliban and Jihad
In the summer of 2002 the authors were having lunch in Kabul and realised there was no single source of information for all the new phone numbers in Kabul. Added to that there were thousands of international aid workers arriving and thousands of Afghans returning home. Their response was a 16-page leaflet, The Survival Guide to Kabul, which they distributed through Kabul’s street kids. The original 16 pages has been expanded to 160, adding personal stories from Afghans and aid-workers as well as bringing all the practical aspects of living and working in Kabul into one easy-to-use book.
Book Reviews
'Your splendid guide does two things admirably – it captures the spirit of the place and it whets the traveller’s appetite'
--Tim Neilson, BBC journalist
'Packed with the kind of useful practical info that can transform a trying experience in an unknown and somewhat alien capital into a comfortable and interesting stay. More than that, however, it helps you understand this city in the throes of recovery.'
--Brian Wood, Travelbag Adventures
'This is a guidebook that puts something back into the city it describes'
--Anthony Sattin, The Sunday Times
‘Excellent! Thanks for this – helpful and a good read. Sounds like at the very least there are at least a few more restaurant choices in lovely Kabul these days. I had nightmares about Kabuli pulau for weeks after getting back to the US.’
Joe Gleason, National Democratic Institute
‘Loved your guidebook. I hope you get a grant to create it, as it would be an excellent use of donor funds to educate all their newbies.’
Meg Gaydoisk, International media consultant
'So what are the new travel guides like? NEWSWEEK sneaked a peek and they're not half bad ….. the index reveals almost everything a foreigner might want to know about Kabul and its environs.'
Michelle Jana, Newsweek
"In the first of its new series of mini guides, Bradt has set an impressive precedent. …… the comprehensive Bradt Mini Guide to Kabul is a fascinating insight into Afghanistan's capital ….. a must-read £9.95."
Wanderlust
"Visitors to Kabul should pick up ‘Kabul: The Bradt Mini Guide'."
Weekend FT
"…those with business in the land of the Taliban and independent tourists who want to get there first would be well advised to pack their pockets with this mini-guide...Security advice is blunt and specific…The authors make abundantly clear the danger of wandering in the world’s most heavily land-mined country."
San Francisco Chronicle, October 2004
“…these handy palm-sized paperbacks seem intended to cheer on the intrepid without making a bad situation worse by licensing foolishness.” (Kabul and Baghdad)
The New York Times,December 2004
International Herald Tribune, December 2004
About this Destination
In November 2001, Taliban forces fled Kabul and the victorious Northern Alliance moved in. Although the US-led War on Terror continued around the country well into 2002 and 2003, and the situation remains tense, Afghanistan seemed to have been dragged out of more than 23 years of constant fighting and international apathy. In Kabul, change has been rapid, unbelievable and hopefully - Inshallah (God willing) - irreversible.
Author's Note, by Dominic Medley and Jude Barrand
'September 11 2001 changed everything for Afghanistan and its capital city, Kabul. The terrorist attacks in New York and Washington put Afghanistan firmly on the international agenda as the US-led bombing campaign to root out Al Qaeda started.
Within just two months, on November 13, Taliban forces fled Kabul and the victorious Northern Alliance moved in. The US-led War on Terror continued around the country well into 2002 and 2003. There were assassinations and fatal bombings in Kabul and elsewhere. The situation was tense. But Afghanistan seems to have emerged from more than 23 years of constant fighting...
There was genuine atmosphere of freedom and excitement in the city. Girls went back to school after five years of exclusion under the Taliban; women were employed in government ministries and international agencies; restaurants opened, a thriving guesthouse business developed and souvenir shops began a roaring trade in carpets. Stationery and computer shops opened to feed the growing international community hosting conferences and workshops. There were numerous weddings and parties for returning Afghans with music, dancing and even alcohol.
For the authors of this guide, first-time visitors to Afghanistan in 2002, to observe the changes over a two-year period has been amazing. For those who had been watching and reporting on Afghanistan for more than 20 years there was clearly no going back to the dark, bad old days. Ordinary Afghans has been liberated and were enjoying their freedom.
Dominic Medley and Jude Barrand wrote and published the original Survival Guide to Kabul while working in Afghanistan during 2002 and 2003.
Dominic is a former BBC journalist, he worked in Afghanistan during 2002 for Internews as project director, setting up a journalist-training project. He returned in 2003 with Radio Free Afghanistan as project co-ordinator.
Jude Barrand is a former newspaper journalist who has worked for Euronews, France and ITN, London. She worked in Afghanistan during 2002 and 2003 for Caraitas Internationalis as press officer.
£9.95
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