A short trip to the North

---

And a short trip it was... I wanted to go up North for two weeks or so, but I stayed only for 4 days... Plans change...

Anyway, I went up to Mazar-e Sharif to look at Afghanistan’s holiest shrine, the tomb of Imam Ali, the son in law of the prophet Mohammed... It is all a bit confusing as according to most Muslims he is buried in Najaf in Iraq, which is one of the most important pilgrimage sights in the world especially for Shiite Muslims... According to legend, he visited some local mullah in a dream (of course...) revealing his true tomb to be here in Mazar-e Sharif... Perhaps one day, after I am dead, I will do the same... I can have a bunch of graves around the world... It will give me something to do in the afterlife, visiting different people revealing my true grave...

Close to Mazar-e Sharif is Balkh, which was once much bigger and much more important then Mazar, but now is nothing more than a small village with a few ruins.. It is here that Zoroaster was born, he who founded the world’s oldest monotheistic religion... It was called "the Mother of Cities" by the passing Arabs... Than came Genghis Khan and did what he did best, completely levelling the city... It never really recovered from this and was later abandoned in favour of Mazar-e Sharif...

After this I was planning to go to Panjshir valley, but I got some stomach trouble on the day I was leaving and decided to go to Kabul instead.. Also on the bus to Kabul I was scared for the first time in Afghanistan as we got stuck behind an ISAF convoy and as ISAF is a big target for the Taliban and Al Qaida it made me nervous.. You always here these news reports on how a ISAF convoy was the target of a road side bomb, with minor damage to the convoy, but a bunch of locals dead in the bus behind the convoy.. Luckily nothing happened but I felt I had enough of thinking about my safety the whole time and decided to leave Afghanistan, which I will do tomorrow... Three weeks Afghanistan has been interesting and I am happy I came to this amazing and beautiful country... Now lets see how Pakistan is... The birthplace of the Taliban... Ha, ha, ha.. Perhaps Afghanistan is safer anyway...

---

Photos

Salang Pass
On the way to Mazar-e Sharif, a view towards the Salang Pass

Mazar-e Sharif
Shrine of Hazrat Ali

Mazar-e Sharif
Surrounded by a beautiful park

Mazar-e Sharif
Intricate tiles cover the Shrine

Mazar-e Sharif
Turbans and burkha's

Mazar-e Sharif
Pelgrims and beggars at the entrance

Mazar-e Sharif
Santa Claus Afghan style!

Mazar-e Sharif
The crippeled also need to earn their money

Balkh
Tomb of Rabi'a Balkhi, the greatest and first female poet to write in Persian

Balkh
Shrine of Khoja Abu Nsr Parsa

Balkh
Detail of one of the pillars

Balkh
Typical Timurid architecture

Balkh
The old town walls of Balkh

Balkh
A few arches is all that is left of Afghanistan's oldest Mosque the Masjid-e No Gombad

Comments

[Konstantin Antonov]

With gratitude to your work mister Ralf Kreuze!
Dear Mr. Kreuze! I liked your works which you have made in Balkh. If you not against, whether I can place some of them on the site, devoted histories of Afghanistan. I guarantee preservation of your copyrights. Yours faithfully Konstantin Antonov.

[madina parmach nooristani]

CORRECT UR TEXT with honor
Dear author or in charge of this page - hello. I am madina parmach and writting to you because I think you should correct the text and show respect to us muslims. I read : According to legend, he visited some local mullah in a dream (of course...) revealing his true tomb to be here in Mazar-e Sharif... Perhaps one day, after I am dead, I will do the same... I can have a bunch of graves around the world... It will give me something to do in the afterlife, visiting different people revealing my true grave... On top of your page... this is WRONG! My grandfather His Excellency General Ghulam Rasool Parmach build the mosque in Mazar e Sharif - when he was appointed as governor of Mazar by Kind Zahir Shah. My grandfather was first generation to embrace Islam -from Nooristan. He was a righteous man and devouted all is life for Afghanistan - he worked non-stop to make a change. Thats why people of Mazar Call him baba - meaning father. Because he saw people of Mazar as his own family. Mazar e sharif was the worst city and many thieves terrorised the city. He had a dream that Hazrat e Ali - grandson of Prophet - ask him to clean the area around him. So he removed all the slums and rubbish buildings - made a new city plan - and made road structure and made the area around the shring big wide and built the mosque etc etc.. His Excellency General Ghulam Rasool Parmach used five years of life and devoted it to do what he had dreamt of till he succeeded. When a man like H. E. Gen. Ghulam Rasool Parmach embrace islam and honors his country and faith that much - then I dont like that you write that a mullah had a dream.... He served his country when he was sick and paralysed in bed for 7 years after he had retired and till the day he died. These men are not ordinary men. They had a will of Iron. Honor is with them and Allas has blessed them. Its better to write what is true or dont write at all. My kindest regards to you. Madina Parmach

[His Dudeness]

Re: Madina
I am surprised that you take my writing so seriously? I mean who would? It has been written in a satirical ironical way that nobody could mistake for being anything else than that. So I don't think anybody mistakes it for being the truth. I will not correct or change my blog, anybody who is interested in the history of Mazar-e Sharif will surely not use my blog a source but look further. I have accepted your comment and people can view it, that I think is enough of a correction.

[zikria]

khoshben
salam afghanista

[Balkhi]

Dear Madina I very much wish that your grandfather did not destroy those old and ancient town replacing them with concretes building. We lost a considerable part of our historical buildings due to his and ignorant King's indiscriminate approach to so-called development. The concrete building can be built at anytime but will never have the old ancient builts one we lost for ever. I would rather be caution in feeling proud about grandfather. Plus Mazar was not a town of thieves before your grandfather's arrival, if you have not known : this town was called Umulbelad or mother of the towns by Arabs many centuries ago pointing out its antiquity and size.

[nadeem]

mr
hello i really like these pictures god bless you looking forward to see in the future more mazar e sharif imeges.