1 week ago
Indian Solo Traveller Documents Afghanistan’s Beauty, Restrictions and Contradictions
Sharanya Iyer travelled around Afghanistan by herself in November 2025.
She visited places including Kabul, Kandahar, Bamiyan and Band-e-Amir National Park.
She travelled with authorised guides who arranged permits and showed documents at checkpoints.
Because she was a tourist, she could do some things that Afghan women could not.
She noticed that women were often missing from public streets and public places.
Girls’ education effectively ends after Class 6, and women are not admitted to universities, according to the article.
Iyer also met people who welcomed her with chai and admired India and Bollywood.
Some women told her they were glad the war had become less intense, even though restrictions remained.
She wants people to understand Afghanistan but does not want her journey to become a tourism recommendation.
Travel creator Sharanya Iyer travelled solo across Afghanistan in November 2025 with authorised local guides.
Her permits and passport enabled access that Afghan women often do not have, including entry near Band-e-Amir National Park.
She described widespread hospitality, chai, interest in India and Bollywood, and a strong sense of safety as an Indian visitor.
Iyer also observed the conspicuous absence of women from public life and cited restrictions on education, universities and restaurant seating.
She says her videos aim to inform audiences about Afghanistan, not promote tourism or provide travel instructions.
- Who
- Travel creator Sharanya Iyer, known online as Truly Nomadly, and the Afghan people she encountered.
- What
- Iyer documented a solo leisure journey across Afghanistan while discussing hospitality, heritage, checkpoints and restrictions on women.
- Where
- Across Afghanistan, including Kabul, Kandahar, Bamiyan and the road to Band-e-Amir National Park.
- When
- Iyer travelled in November 2025; the article also refers to a disputed press-conference exclusion of Indian women journalists in October 2025.
- Why
- Iyer wanted people to know more about Afghanistan without promoting tourism, itineraries or travel there.
Visitor’s Experience
Residents’ Reality
Mobility and access
Visitor’s Experience
As a foreign tourist with permits and a guide, Iyer was allowed to pass checkpoints and access places that were restricted to local women.
Residents’ Reality
Afghan women faced different rules; at a Band-e-Amir checkpoint, local women were not permitted to enter while Iyer was allowed through.
Security and stability
Visitor’s Experience
Iyer said she felt safe as an Indian tourist and encountered hospitality, chai and enthusiasm for India and Bollywood.
Residents’ Reality
Afghan women told her they were relieved that decades of war had subsided but continued to describe restrictions shaping their lives.
How Afghanistan should be presented
Visitor’s Experience
Iyer wants audiences to see the country’s people, crafts, landscapes and history beyond headlines.
Residents’ Reality
Her own account stresses that a tourist’s experience is not a blanket truth about Afghanistan or the lives of its residents.
Key facts
- Traveller
- Sharanya Iyer, also known as Truly Nomadly
- Trip timing
- November 2025
- Travel requirements
- Visitors must use authorised local guides, who arrange movement permits.
- Checkpoint procedure
- Iyer’s passport remained in the car, and her guide showed documents at checkpoints.
- Women’s restrictions
- The article says girls’ education effectively ends after Class 6 and women are not admitted to universities.
- Public life
- Iyer described the absence of women in public spaces as conspicuous.
- Purpose of coverage
- She wants to inform people about Afghanistan but does not provide visa guides, itineraries or travel recommendations.
Quotes
Sharanya Iyer
Indian travel creator who travelled solo across Afghanistan.
“One must never forget that what one is experiencing is purely as a tourist. It's not the blanket truth for the country or the people.”
thebetterindia.com
“I want people to know about Afghanistan. But how to go, when to go, or maybe why to go — you will not see that.”
thebetterindia.com
Sources
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