afghanistan
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| A densely populated hillside in Kabul above a city street Ref:MKAFG464 |  |
| Traffic heading north out of central Kabul towards a densely populated hillside Ref:MKAFG465 |  |
| In a Kabul street two women and a small boy buy biscuits from a pedlar Ref:MKAFG466 |  |
| In Kabul a family crosses a busy street despite heavy traffic Ref:MKAFG467 |  |
| Schoolchildren, girls veiled, boys bareheaded, mingle in a Kabul street Ref:MKAFG468 |  |
| A shop selling the famous Afghanistan carpets in central Kabul Ref:MKAFG469 |  |
| Waiting to buy bread--nan--in Kabul's Chicken Street Ref:MKAFG470 |  |
| Making bread--nan--in a Chicken Street bakery, Kabul Ref:MKAFG471 |  |
| In a Kabul shop women's clothes never seen in public Ref:MKAFG472 |  |
| The atrium within the entirely modern Kabul City Centre shopping mall, a hotel on the righhand side Ref:MKAFG473 |  |
| A male pastime--watching non-fatal partridge fighting in a Kabul park on a Friday morning Ref:MKAFG474 |  |
| In popular partridge fighting contests the prized birds. very costly, are rarely hurt Ref:MKAFG475 |  |
| Wicker cages containing partridges are a common sight in Afghanistan towns Ref:MKAFG476 |  |
| A young kiteflyer, his kite somewhere over Kabul city, on the Teppe Maranjan plateau Ref:MKAFG477 |  |
| Two kiteflyers happily posing; under Taliban rule the simple pleasure of kiteflying was banned Ref:MKAFG478 |  |
| A proud horseman restraining his lively stallion as he shows it off at Teppe Maranjan Ref:MKAFG521 |  |
| The tomb of recent kings at Teppe Maranjan on a hill above Kabul Ref:MKAFG479 |  |
| The early 16th century tomb, gracefully restored, of Moghul emperor Babur in the gardens he founded Ref:MKAFG480 |  |
| In Babur's gardens, Kabul, is a small white marble mosque built in 1647 by Shah Jahan of Taj Mahal renown Ref:MKAFG484 |  |
| Babur's gardens in Kabul are a haven in a city with a fast expanding population Ref:MKAFG481 |  |
| Family life goes on--boy with a book, baby in Huggies--in a hillside house Ref:MKAFG482 |  |
| A prosperous family, unmarried daughters in red, leaving Babur's gardens in Kabul Ref:MKAFG483 |  |
| The sad ruin, on the outskirts of Kabul, of the once royal 1920s palace of Darulaman Ref:MKAFG485 |  |
| In Kabul's museum, its prime treasures elsewhere, an attendant dusts a Nuristan carved ancestral figure Ref:MKAFG486 |  |
| An eyecatching loving couple in the Kabul museum's collection of Nuristan carved wooden deities and ancestor figures Ref:MKAFG487 |  |
| A couple walking (in 2009) in a crowded Kabul street Ref:MKAFG488 |  |
| Local transport in Charikar, north of Kabul Ref:MKAFG489 |  |
| A Charikar rickshaw, built over a motorbike, seats seven, plus the driver Ref:MKAFG490 |  |
| Homemade icecream is a popular feature in this Charikar restaurant Ref:MKAFG491 |  |
| A nomadic Kuchi family, its black tent and its goats, camped beside the fastflowing Panjshir river Ref:MKAFG492 |  |
| In the Panjshir valley the portrait of local hero, the assassinated Ahmad Shah Massoud, is everywhere Ref:MKAFG493 |  |
| An elaborate tomb and culture complex honoring local hero Massoud, assassinated in 2001, under construction on a hilltop in the Panjshir valley Ref:MKAFG494 |  |
| Russian tanks still litter (in 2009) the Panjshir valley and other rural corners of Afghanistan Ref:MKAFG495 |  |
| Portraits of Massoud by Reza Deghati adorn the hilltop site of the tomb in the Panjshir valley where (in 2009) Russian tanks still have not been removed Ref:MKAFG496 |  |
| Jangalak village in Panjshir valley, birthplace of local hero Ahmad Shah Massoud, assassinated in 2001 Ref:MKAFG497 |  |
| One of many peaceful villages in the Ghorband valley between Kabul and Bamiyan Ref:MKAFG498 |  |
| Stark setting for a Ghorband valley village Ref:MKAFG499 |  |
| Women in the Ghorband valley collect forage for their animals
Ref:MKAFG500 |  |
| Springtime ploughing for potatoes, with cows and a wooden plough, in the Ghorband valley near Bamiyan Ref:MKAFG501 |  |
| A fertile valley in Bamiyan province looking towards the snows of the Hindu Kush Ref:MKAFG502 |  |
| The famous cliffs of Bamiyan where giant 6th-century Buddhas, destroyed by the Taliban, once stood Ref:MKAFG503 |  |
| The Bamiyan cliffs, with their empty niches, dominate peaceful valley farms Ref:MKAFG504 |  |
| The Bamiyan cliffs, with their empty niches, dominate the peaceful valley Ref:MKAFG505 |  |
| Along the red sandstone Bamiyan cliffs are many caves, some today providing shelter for desperate people Ref:MKAFG506 |  |
| Further west the Bamiyan cliffs provide shelter, a stout back wall, even building material Ref:MKAFG507 |  |
| In Bamiyan province snowy mountains, the southern extension of the Hindu Kush, are setting for bare highlands as well as green valleys Ref:MKAFG508 |  |
| A Hazara shepherd grazes his sheep in Bamiyan province grasslands Ref:MKAFG509 |  |
| A Hazara shepherd in Bamiyan province highlands Ref:MKAFG510 |  |
| In Dragon Valley, Bamiyan province, youngsters perch on the back of a monstrous myth-surrounded petrified dragon Ref:MKAFG511 |  |
| Beside the great dragon in Dragon Valley is a shrine to Ali, son-in-law of the prophet Mohammed, who slew it Ref:MKAFG515 |  |
| Shahr-e Zohak, ruins on a mountaintop where the grandson of Gengis Khan was killed Ref:MKAFG512 |  |
| The ruins of Shahr-e Zohak date to the 5th century; the grandson of Gengis Khan was killed here Ref:MKAFG513 |  |
| Every clifftop, this one close to Bamiyan, seems to tell a thrilling story Ref:MKAFG514 |  |
| Band-e Amir, six vividly blue linked lakes in Bamiyan province (this one Haibat) are now a national park Ref:MKAFG516 |  |
| Band-e Amir, six vividly blue linked lakes in Bamiyan province are now a national park Ref:MKAFG517 |  |
| The six lakes of Band-e Amir are linked by natural dams in a spectacular formation Ref:MKAFG518 |  |
| Waterfalls adorn the lakes of Band-e Amir where there is also a small shrine, at right Ref:MKAFG519 |  |
| An unexpectedly jolly sight in a brilliant blue lake at the national park of Band-e Amir in Bamiyan province Ref:MKAFG520 |  |