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• Updated: 20/05/2021 - 17:20
Considered as one of the most geographically stunning regions in the world, the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan remains one of the last destinations still completely untouched by mainstream tourism and modern ways of life. This is due to both its solitude and Afghanistan s complex recent history which has put much travel to the country on hold.
But this is all about to change, with the building of a major new Chinese trade route directly through the valley.
What is the Wakhan Corridor?
The Wakhan Corridor lies in Afghanistan’s distant north-eastern corner. The narrow strip of land once formed the buffer zone between the British and Russian Empires and was of immense strategic importance during the 19th century Great Game .
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“When I was 8 years old, girls from my province weren’t allowed to go to school. I was this little shepherd girl. I would run after sheep and cows, hiking with them in the mountains. It brought me closer to nature, and it was the first time I ever guided someone,” says 22-year-old Fatima Haidari, who is believed to be the first female tour guide in Afghanistan.
As a guide for Untamed Borders, a company that specialises in trips to less-trodden parts of the world, Haidari has hosted eight foreign travel groups since the beginning of 2020. While her work has been affected by the pandemic, she has received guests as recently as March and April, and hopes to welcome another group soon.
“We too want you to interact with people,” said Abdi. “Here, it’s like a prison. We cannot travel. Our passports are not accepted. So, if we cannot see the world, we bring the world here. We want people to realise there is another way to live, a normal life.” It seemed churlish to suggest normal life was illusory for most of us. Covid was a concern but not a preoccupation in Mogadishu.
As we talked, the adhan was called out from the hotel’s mosque. A boy carried a carpet into the courtyard and unfurled it. Men of all ages jogged over, standing in rows, offering gentle, lyrical responses to the imam’s words, then prostrating themselves in prayer.
Meet Afghanistan s first and only female tour guide
The 23-year-old hopes to empower other Afghan women to stand up for their rights
Fatima Haidari Despite decades of brutal war Afghanistan has kept its unique beauty and there are so many historical sites to explore, Fatima Haidari says from her home in the historical city of Herat.
The 23-year-old has made her mark as Afghanistan’s first and only female tour guide, in a bid to empower other Afghan women to stand up for their rights, and to lift the veil on the beauty of their country.
In 2020, despite the added pressures of Covid-19, Fatima led her first group of tourists around Herat’s highlights for adventure tour operator Untamed Borders.
After she began writing her posts, everything changed.
Fatima says started getting comments and responses from her new online friends. In 2020, one of them a man known as Big Tom reached out to her saying he was going to be traveling in Afghanistan and would she be interested in showing him around in Herat?
She said yes. They went to the Herat Citadel, to the National Museum and to a traditional tea house.
Tom recommended her to someone else, and Fatima continued to get work by word of mouth. Eventually she came to the attention of Untamed Borders, a boutique travel agency that specializes in trips to more inaccessible areas.