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I Spend 15 Days In The Most Dangerous Country In The World. Spoiler Alert: It’s Not (107 Pics)
During the pandemic, after seeing a Drew Binsky video and deciding to go to Afghanistan (the most dangerous country in the world) for 15 days, I was constantly attacked with politeness, and if you consider terrorism giving me diabetes due to the constant threat of amazing tea with sugar from strangers in the streets who wanted to share a moment with the crazy foreigner who came to their country, then yes, it was really dangerous.
The feeling of being in constant danger is real: constant danger from eating amazing food, or too much cotton candy. This is one of the most beautiful countries I have ever seen, and its people are just the most polite and welcoming people I ever met. The phrase that stayed in my mind after this trip was people asking for me to take and share their pictures to show that not everyone is a terrorist in Afghanistan.
I am planning to go there again since I met wonderful people, and I would like to explore more; of course, not everything is all peachy, as they say, but there's always the other side of the coin, and that's the one I saw.
On the funny side, when at the airport before flying back, I found a CNN video news report where they were describing the city where I had just spent 3 days walking, eating, and going on family picnics as a city destroyed by war and suffering. Well, I did not see that at all—I saw a city that wants to move forward.
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#1
Final score:
44points
Nancy Bouchard 4 years ago
Captions, captions, captions. All of these pictures are wonderful but we have no idea what they are documenting!
Jorge Riera Flores (Submission author) 4 years ago
The story is on the beginning of the article, is just showing a different side of what we know of Afghanistan
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Jorge Riera Flores (Submission author) 4 years ago
Funny part this was not suppose to be part of the article but well I cannot deleted now.
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#2
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42points
#3
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39points
#5
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35points
James Buchanan 4 years ago
my guess is that that is a tuk-tuk, a 3-wheeled vehicle
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#7
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31points
-Annelise- 4 years ago
That seems to be a a bit much weight for such a small donkey. Please be aware that there is a weight limit for every animal. No hate, I still love this photo! (:
Mz Phit 4 years ago
Annelise, good point, for horses there is a veterinarian recommend load weight limit (tack and rider inclusive) of around %20 of the animals weight. I'm not sure about donkeys though, they are known to be Great pack animals...I wouldn't be terribly concerned about a child rider, but I cringe when I see adults riding donkeys, with their legs practically dragging in the dirt. There's definitely a cultural difference too, when these families actually need their donkeys for their survival. Often these animals are highly valued as integral parts of the family's survival
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Diana Eriksson 4 years ago
I feel bad for both of them... The poor donkey should absolutely not carry that much at once and the kid really shouldn't have to work at all. They both look healthy at least :(
Commander Rex 4 years ago
Looks like a mule, I could be wrong, but mules and donkeys are absolute UNITS, and are pretty good at carrying stuff like that
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#8
Final score:
30points
cassiushumanmother 4 years ago
He is so beautiful! He was your guide? It's seems to be him in another picture dancing?
Jorge Riera Flores (Submission author) 4 years ago
Yes, he was the driver of the tour, and he took us to a picnic with his family
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Demongrrrrl 4 years ago
I think he's just really focused on what he is doing.
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Jette Wang Wahnon 4 years ago
He reminds me very much of a Holy man I met on a plane from CPH to London...In the midst of the hysteria of fear of Taliban and ISIS I almost got off the plane. said to myself,don´t be stupid,struck up conversation with him and we had a very interesting conversation during the flight. When getting close to London he pulled out a piece of paper,wrote something on it and handed it to me.I kept it and when home asked a Muslim friend to translate it (Arabic) It was a prayer for me asking God to keep me safe and well....I still have it and treasure it..
#23
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19points
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#29
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18points
Fifilura 4 years ago
So sad that they separate boys and girls in early years... And then we in the Western countries are surprised when the young Afghan men consider western women as whores due to how they dress (normal) and act (normal). The men get so messed up values. Just let children be children, and let women be human!
#30
Final score:
17points
Newsha Mohammadi 4 years ago
It's something about govermental offices and their services it's not related to the pictures but the sign on the stickers they all have means no to prejudice ( it's mostly about religious or traditional beliefs that people have and they need to be modernized) ( also the writings are in dari persian which is spoken in afghanistan )
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#32
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16points
#33
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#37
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15points
Bow, I’m a Slytherin 4 years ago
Maybe they’re about to burst into flames
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#40
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#41
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#43
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Jods 4 years ago
To me, this just says everything about the oppressiveness towards women in Afghanistan. I’m surprised that she unaccompanied though.
Ashley Snover 4 years ago (edited)
It's not lost on me that the author that was able to travel safely is a man. Or that most of these pictures are of men/children. 😕
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#50
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12points
#51
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Diana Eriksson 4 years ago (edited)
Mee too, he looks kind of dirty though. Hope he's well cared for :)
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#54
Final score:
11points
Jette Wang Wahnon 4 years ago
This is where the Taliban blasted the centuries old Buddha statues...could it be the Afghan are trying to re-create them?
#62
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9points
Commander Rex 4 years ago
Looks like a member of the militia, (or whatever are our allies, I forget the name) nice
#63
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Jorge Riera Flores (Submission author) 4 years ago
This is at the blue mosque of Kabul on a normal friday
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#76
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#80
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Jette Wang Wahnon 4 years ago
I see no forts,just a very barren landscape..
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#82
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#84
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#87
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James Buchanan 4 years ago
it is really beautiful. You can see the old fort-settlements in the rock
#90
Final score:
4points
Hello Dolly 4 years ago
That is a phone it is the white part of the camera I believe the flash. Only thing scary about it is what it can capture.
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#93
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4points
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#100
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Jods 4 years ago
Oh, how we cheered when the Afghans ran the Ruskies out of the country. Pity we didn’t make more of a fuss when the Taliban took over.
Hedonism Bot 4 years ago
If I remember correctly, it was the Taliban that ran the Ruskies out of the country (with help from the US) to begin with. It was only after the Cold War fizzled out that we started to realize that that maybe wasn't as much of a step in the right direction as it appeared to be.
Load More Replies... #101
Final score:
2points
Rahel Barkan 4 years ago
I wonder if this the proverbial road our fathers walked to school everyday....
#103
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2points
Jorge Riera Flores (Submission author) 4 years ago
Sadly no, there’s massive structural damage to the mountain
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#106
Final score:
2points
Jodi Rinker 4 years ago
all beautiful photos, but I really wish they had captions so I could understand what I'm actually looking at. Most, I really don't have much of an idea, sadly.
Debby Hartinger 4 years ago
Beautiful photos, but I don't understand the connection to the title, and whether Afganistan is the most dangerous place.
Jorge Riera Flores (Submission author) 4 years ago
I was trying to make a difference on what people thing of Afghanistan and what I saw, am sadly no a copy writer and probably my explanation at the beginning was not clear enough.
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Jods 4 years ago
If I was to travel to Afghanistan as a unaccompanied female, I wouldn’t last 2 minutes. The Taliban would either kill me or hold me to ransom, or worse. During the 60s and 70s Afghanistan was such a vibrant country. Women enjoying education, dressing in western clothing, meeting up with male friends - the sort of things we take for granted. The Taliban is a brutal, sadistic, terrifying regime, banning technology, TV, education for girls. Doling out beatings on women and young girls just for reading or going out without a male chaperone? Yet men can have a mobile phone? Would WE be OK with this way of living - no. There are also dangers such as unexploded munitions left by the former USSR.
Mimi M 4 years ago
Yes. And young boys aren't safe in Afghanistan either - they are routinely raped and used as sex-slaves. This is accepted there.
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BorPand8 4 years ago
They're great photos, but that "To See If It’s Really The Most Dangerous Country In The World" bit in the title makes you sound like some sort of extreme misery tourist. I think it's disrespectful. And doesn't relate to the material -- it's not like you have photos of "this is me getting shot at," "this is me being held at knife-point" etc.
Troux 4 years ago
His intro leans in hard to that ignorantly smug title. This is the definition of privileged - taking a cozy 2-week tour and titling yourself an investigative journalist. "Mmm this tea is really good! That means there must not be a war going on anywhere." Nice pictures and I'm glad you found some positivity, but pull your head out of your ass. Blood on the ground isn't even dry yet.
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Stina Kolling 4 years ago
OP is a man. Let's see a woman travelling alone in Afghanistan and see how hospitable and kind everyone is.
SykesDaMan 4 years ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOChk-crMQM&ab_channel=EvazuBeck
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Flavia Slag 4 years ago
People are people where ever you go. Good or bad. Most want to live in peace and raise their families. It's the haters and the greedy that want to cause problems/wars.
Rainbow Panda 4 years ago
Even if Afghanistan is dangerous, most people aren’t, and the sad thing is that people assume all of them do bad things. It would have been such a beautiful country. 😢
Rainclouds Radio 4 years ago
Im glad the author of this article had a good time but Afghanistan is a very difficult, often brutal place to live. Over 2 million Afghans live as refugees. It's like visiting North Korea and because you came to no harm, suggest that it must be a very safe place!
Jods 4 years ago
If I was to travel to Afghanistan as a unaccompanied female, I wouldn’t last 2 minutes. The Taliban would either kill me or hold me to ransom, or worse. During the 60s and 70s Afghanistan was such a vibrant country. Women enjoying education, dressing in western clothing, meeting up with male friends - the sort of things we take for granted. The Taliban is a brutal, sadistic, terrifying regime, banning technology, TV, education for girls. Doling out beatings on women and young girls just for reading or going out without a male chaperone? Yet men can have a mobile phone? Would WE be OK with this way of living - no. There are also dangers such as unexploded munitions left by the former USSR.
Mimi M 4 years ago
Yes. And young boys aren't safe in Afghanistan either - they are routinely raped and used as sex-slaves. This is accepted there.
Load More Replies... BorPand8 4 years ago
They're great photos, but that "To See If It’s Really The Most Dangerous Country In The World" bit in the title makes you sound like some sort of extreme misery tourist. I think it's disrespectful. And doesn't relate to the material -- it's not like you have photos of "this is me getting shot at," "this is me being held at knife-point" etc.
Troux 4 years ago
His intro leans in hard to that ignorantly smug title. This is the definition of privileged - taking a cozy 2-week tour and titling yourself an investigative journalist. "Mmm this tea is really good! That means there must not be a war going on anywhere." Nice pictures and I'm glad you found some positivity, but pull your head out of your ass. Blood on the ground isn't even dry yet.
Load More Replies... Stina Kolling 4 years ago
OP is a man. Let's see a woman travelling alone in Afghanistan and see how hospitable and kind everyone is.
SykesDaMan 4 years ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOChk-crMQM&ab_channel=EvazuBeck
Load More Replies... Flavia Slag 4 years ago
People are people where ever you go. Good or bad. Most want to live in peace and raise their families. It's the haters and the greedy that want to cause problems/wars.
Rainbow Panda 4 years ago
Even if Afghanistan is dangerous, most people aren’t, and the sad thing is that people assume all of them do bad things. It would have been such a beautiful country. 😢
Rainclouds Radio 4 years ago
Im glad the author of this article had a good time but Afghanistan is a very difficult, often brutal place to live. Over 2 million Afghans live as refugees. It's like visiting North Korea and because you came to no harm, suggest that it must be a very safe place!
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