• This is a 4-hour beautiful drive, traveling through the fascinating Hajigak Pass (3700 m: 12,140 ft.), with stops at picturesque rest areas to refresh and take unforgettable photos
• Registration with the Provincial Afghan Tour Department
• Visiting the ruins of Buddha Statues (once tallest standing Buddhas in the world), the Large Buddha, 55 m: 180 ft high (late 5th to the early 7th centuries A.D.). The Small Buddha, 38 m: 125 feet high (the 3rd or very early 4th centuries A.D.). Both were demolished by the Taliban in 2001
• Visiting the ruins of Gholghula City (The City of Screams), one of the eight UNISCO Heritage Sites in Bamyan. Build by Ghaznavids (977-1186) and demolished by Genghis Khan in 1221
• A visit to the ruins of Zuhak City (The Red City). The fortress is believed  to have been founded between 500-600 A.D. by the Hephthalites, around the same time as the Buddhas of Bamyan were created and demolished by Genghis Khan in 1221
• Lamb Roosh, one of the best local meals will be served
• Breakfast, lunch and dinner
• Accommodation: Royal Hotel

• Hiking and sightseeing around Band-e-Amir Blue Lakes. Altitude: 2916 m: 9567 ft. There are five lakes in all. The largest lake, Band-e-Zulfiqar is four miles long and…
• Visiting the people who live in caves
• You can be hosted by a local family for lunch if you tip them
• Quruti, one of the most popular local meals in Bamyan will be served
• Breakfast, lunch and dinner
• Accommodation: Royal Hotel

Ghazni, a thriving Buddhist center in the 7th century A.D. The dazzling capital of a powerful empire (the Ghaznavid Empire 994-1160 A.D.), encompassing much of northern India, Persia and Central Asia. In the name of Islam, Ghazni was razed to the ground in 869 which later was rebuilt and again was razed in 1151 by the Ghorid Alauddin and in 1221 by Genghis Kahn.

• After breakfast we will depart Bamyan for our road trip to Ghazni. This is a 6 hour drive with many stops at picturesque rest areas to refresh and take unforgettable photos
• Registration with the Provincial Afghan Tour Department
•  After lunch, a visit the minarets of Ghazni. The easternmost was built by Sultan Mas’ud III who reigned from 1099-1114 and the other was raised by the last king of the dynasty, Sultan Bahram Shah (1118-1152) during whose reign the city was sacked by Alauddin of Ghor.
• A visit to Bala Hesar Citadel, dominates the town and it is undoubtedly one of the more imposing fortresses to be seen in Afghanistan. The old city of Ghazni is clustered closely around the foot of the citadel and you can see that mud houses and bazaars that are still inhabited by people
• Breakfast, lunch and dinner
• Accommodation: Oranus Hotel

• After breakfast, we will depart Ghazni for our road trip to Kandahar. This is another 6-hours drive and we will visit lots of mud houses, bazaars and beautiful mosques on our way. We will stop many times to take photos and having lunch. Registration with the Provincial Afghan Tour Department in Kandahar
• Breakfast, lunch and dinner
• Accommodation: NFC Hotel

Kandahar, the political capital and second largest city of Afghanistan

• Touring Kandahar, meeting people and experiencing their daily life and culture. A drive to the old bazaar of Kandahar or Char Suq, the four principal bazaar streets meet in the center of the city with hundreds of old shops and markets.
• Visiting the shrine of the Cloak of the prophet. This is one of the holies shrines in Afghanistan.
• Visiting the Mausoleum of Ahmed Shah Durrani, the founder of Afghanistan who ruled an empire from Kandahar (1747-1772). This is the most important historical monument in Kandahar.
• Visiting the Tomb of Mir Wais Hotak, the Ghilzai chieftain who declared Kandahar’s Independence from the Persians in 1709. It is of recent construction by Nadir shah (1929-1933). This building is modeled after the mausoleum of Ahmad Shah Durrani
• A visit to the Chihlzina or Forty Steeps, built in 1531 by Mohammad Kamran son of the Mughal Emperor Babur Shah. A rock-cut chamber high above the plain at the end of the rugged chain of mountains forming the western defense of Kandahar’s old city. A forty steps, about, lead to the chamber, inscribed with an account of Moghul conquest in Persian
• Another visit to the Read mosque and to the shrine of BaBa Wali Kandahari
• Breakfast, lunch and dinner
• Accommodation: NFC Hotel

• We will leave Kandahar early for our road trip to Herat. This is a 6-hour drive.
• Registration at the Provincial Afghan Tour Department
• Pushti Kabab, one of the best local meals will be served
• Breakfast, lunch and dinner
• Accommodation: Sadaf Hotel

• Visiting the Citadel of Alexander the Great 330 B.C. and built in its present form by the Kart Malik Fakhruddin in 1305 A.D. Genghis Khan and Amir Timur (Timuri Lang) fought beneath its walls and it was the heart of the Timurid Empire for a hundred years (1405-1506) after that fighting.
• Walking around the old city of Herat. The four main bazaars of the old city come together at a center square called the Chahrsuq or Four Bazaar. In addition to the old shops lining the streets there are several covered bazaars in the vicinity. covered bazaars are now rarely to be seen outside of Herat and visitors are encouraged to include a visit to a a few of these bazaars.
• You will visit the neighborhood of Jewish Afghans who were forced to leave their country years ago and their Synagogues and bath.
• Visiting the Caravanserais located on Silk Road around Chahrsuq.
• Visiting the Malan bridge 1100AD.
• A visit to the Shrine of Khwaja Abdullah Ansari, the celebrated Sufi poet and philosopher who was born in Herat in 1006 and died here in 1088. Here Shah Rukh built many buildings which were lavishly decorated with brilliant tilework. Work began in 1425. Inside the shrine there is a most remarkable and must see sarcophagus, called the Haft Qalam Stone (Seven Pens) which is fashioned of black marble and dates from the reign of Sultan Husain Baiqara (1468-1506)
• Visiting the Musallah Complex, designed and built (1417) under Queen Gawhar Shad, wife of Shah Rukh, son of Amir Taimur (Taimur Lang), artistic director. Most of these great works of art were irretrievably demolished under the direction of Amir Abdurahman and British troops in 1885 and some of them were subsequently downed by earthquakes. Only three examples remain:  1- Queen Gawhar Shad’s mausoleum, (inside are the tombstones of the Queen 1457, her son Baisunghur and various grandsons and great-grandsons), 2- the mausoleum of Mir Ali Sher Nawai (died in 1501), the prime minister of Sultan Husain Baiqara (1468-1506), last of the Timurid rulers in Herat. 3- The 5 minarets out of a total of 20 minarets, (4 of them stood at the four corners of a Madrassa built by Sultan Husain Baiqara).
• Visiting the Masjid-e-Jami or Friday Mosque. The form in which it stands today was originally laid out on the site of an earlier 10th century mosque in the year 1200 by the Ghorid Sultan Ghiyasuddin (died 1202). His unadorned tomb lies under a dome situated behind the north iwan (portal). Today’s restoration of the mosque continues a tradition of architectural decoration of Timurid (15th century).
• There is a Madrasa (Islamic school) inside the mosque where students continue a tradition active in the mosque since the 10th century.
• Dizzi, a local meal will be served
• Breakfast, lunch and dinner
• Accommodation: Sadaf Hotel

• Back to Kabul by a flight
• A visit to the National Museum in Kabul. It contains an impressive collection of artifacts illustrating Afghanistan’s long story from prehistory to modern times. Of particular interest are: the prehistoric finds from all the sites; Begram rooms, frescoes from the Bamyan Valley, The Surkh Kotal inscription, the Islamic finds from Ghazni and Lashkari Bazaar, Ethnic items from throughout the country, including a fine collection of Kafir statues form Nuristan, a superb collection of coins including the exquisite works of art from the Graeco-Bactrian period, and interesting collection of weapons from the last century, the latest additions to the collection from Ai Khanoum.
• A visit to Ziarat-e-Sakhi or Sakhi Shrine. This is a beautiful and important shrine of Kabul where the Cloak of the Prophet was kept for a few days as it was conveyed from Badakhshan to Kandahar during the reign of Ahmad Shah Durrani (1747-1772)
• We will take you to Chicken Street (antique market). You will find all kinds of handicrafts, Afghan handmade Rugs, gemstones, calligraphy, glass miniatures and oil paintings, antique and ornamental works in Chicken Street.
• Breakfast, lunch and dinner
• Accommodation: Khyber Hotel

• Touring Kabul depends on what time remains
• Finally, after a 10-day trip to Afghanistan with lots of unique experiences and heart touching stories we will drop you at the Kabul airport for your flight back home.
• Breakfast and lunch

End of the tour.