Herat City

 This is not Photoshop, people...it's Afghanistan.

While out West, I got to pass through the regional capital, one of Afghanistan's most significant and historic cities.  Herat is also an example of what can be done right today, in a number of ways.  Its answers may not be easily duplicated elsewhere, but still it is relatively a model of stability, growth and even tolerance.  It was as if we'd left Afghanistan completely and traveled beyond the border...

For contrast's sake, the rough landscape a few miles to the south...

Nicely paved roads, curbs, tree-lined dividers...and we weren't even in the city yet. I knew then that this would be unique.

Welcome to Herat! We're in the business now.

Military checkpoints don't slow down ANA vehicles much.

The Hari Rud, which flows from the Hindu Kush to the Caspian Sea.

My fellow passengers weren't nearly as giddy about that as I was...

"What the hell? Where am I?"

It didn't take long to see firsthand what I'd read and heard about...that Herat is its own thick slice of the country, doing quite well by doing things its own way.  Does that mean it's all above board?  Good God, no...we're talking about Afghanistan here.  And just as interference from Pakistan plagues the East and South, the same can be said of Iranian interference in the West.  But it's no more shady and entangled in various deals and alliances than anywhere else, from what I can tell...and it's prospering, safe and secure.

Even standalone buildings on the outskirts are done in style.

The villa of some connected guy or other, no doubt.

Speaking of, this could easily be a New Jersey diner. 

Tuk-tuks galore. They swarm the streets of this fair city.

Pink glass: extremely popular commodity here.

Persian influence is evident in the architecture, and even the fashion.  Rather than burqas here, women tend to wear patterned long robes that extend from a head covering, though with the face uncovered.  Scandalous, I know...how on earth do the men contain their crazed lustful instincts?!  Insanity.  The pace here is busy; more western than you see in most of the country.  Yet there was an almost jarring sense of order about the place.

A city park! With tall trees...lots of them!

Ornate traffic circle centerpieces are the norm...

Though sometimes the classic umbrella will do.

Tuk-tuk drivers: they are even on G-mail now.

Anyone else see a "Main St., USA" vibe here?

OK, not exactly...but I think you know what I mean.

Poppy palaces do abound here as well...

(the girl wears a typical regional robe garment)

And another new pink building stands tall.

My apologies...but it's beyond late, and there is much more to show of this startling city on Afghanistan's western frontier.  I've decided to break it up into installments...am not seeing anything new in Kabul these days anyway.  And the last thing you want is a gallery of moustache shots!  Thanks for bearing with the slideshow...I'd have made a great substitute teacher.
Khodaafes, JagraniDan