Start Point: Islamabad
End Point: Kabul
Day 1 Islamabad – Taxila – Islamabad:
- Arrive in Islamabad in the early hours of the morning. You will be met at the airport in Islamabad.
- Day trip from Islamabad to visit the ancient Greco-Buddhist remains at Taxila.
- Overnight in Islamabad
Day 2 Islamabad – Lahore:
- The drive from Islamabad to Lahore takes 4-6 hours. En route you will be able to stop at Rohtas Fort – a UNESCO world heritage site.
- Overnight in Lahore
Day 3-4 Lahore
- You have two full days in Lahore and the nearby Punjabi countryside. You will be able to spend time in the narrow alleyways of the old city meeting traditional craftsman as well as bone setters and street dentists. This visit will also include a stop at the largest medieval mosque in the world.
- The awesome Badshahi mosque.
- You will also have the option to visit a truck painting yard.
- We will also head out of Lahore in the afternoon to the Indian border at Wagah to witness the daily flag ceremony. Huge crowds gather to watch the Indian and Pakistani border guards lower their flags.
- Thursday night is the night in Lahore when Sufi mystics spin out to the sound of the Dohl drum so we suggest you plan your trip so you are in Lahore on a Thursday.
- Overnight in Lahore.
Day 5 Lahore – Islamabad:
- Drive to Islamabad.
- En route you can stop at the Khewra salt mines and Ketas Raj Hindu temple.
- Overnight in Islamabad
Day 6 Islamabad – Kabul:
- Transfer to airport for flight to Kabul
- Arrival and briefing. We will have time to have an afternoon tour of the city. This will include the remains of Darulaman Palace, Sakhi shrine, and Babur’s Gardens.
- Overnight in Kabul
Day 7 Kabul – Mazar e Sharif:
- A day in Kabul to visit places such as the sobering OMAR landmine museum, Shah-e Doh Shamshira mosque, see the Bala Hissar, the British cemetery.
- Followed by an evening flight from Kabul to Mazar e Sharif.
- Overnight in Mazar e Sharif.
Day 8 Mazar e Shaif – Balkh – Mazar e Sharif:
- You will have time to visit the majestic blue tiled tomb of Hazrat Ali, Afghanistan’s most important religious site.
- You will spend part of the day visiting the ancient silk road city of Balkh, called Bactria to the Greeks. Bactria was the birthplace of Zoroaster, the founder of Zoroastrianism as well as Rumi the legendary Persian poet. Legacy of its Islamic and Buddhist past can be found in the stupas at the entrance to the town, at the blue tiled shrine of Khoja Parsa and at the oldest mosque in Afghanistan, the 9th century No Gombad mosque.
- Overnight in Mazar e Sharif
Day 9 Mazar e Sharif – Samangan – Mazar e Sharif:
- A day trip to the Buddhist monastery remains at Samangan, two hours drive south of Mazar e Sharif. The 1500-year-old complex contains a huge stupa carved out of the bedrock as well as a number of caves used as places of worship.
- En route you will also be able to visit Tashkurgan and the old king’s hunting lodge.
- Overnight in Mazar e Sharif
Day 10 Mazar e Sharif – Kabul – Panjshir – Kabul:
- A morning flight from Mazar e Sharif to Kabul.
- We will visit the Panjshir Valley, described as the most beautiful place in Afghanistan by locals.
- We will stop to view the tomb of Ahmed Shah Massoud, the Lion of the Panjshir and Afghanistan’s most universally revered Mujahedin commander, as well as stopping off at a local fish restaurant on the banks of the Panjshir River.
- Overnight in Kabul.
Day 11 Kabul – End
- Transfer to airport.
- End of trip.
