'A Unique Place': Foreigners Visit Post-war Afghanistan

Decades of conflict made tourism extremely rare, and while most violence has now abated, visitors are confronted with extreme poverty, dilapidated cultural sites and scant hospitality infrastructure (Credit: AFP)

His soldier son toured Afghanistan with insurgents in his crosshairs, but American traveller Oscar Wells has a different objective -- sight-seeing promoted by the Taliban's fledgling tourism sector.

"It is a unique place, it touches my heart," the 65-year-old Indiana farmer told AFP, praising "its magnificent mountains" with "people living in the old way".