From Kabul there are two very rough dirt roads to Bamiyan, the southern route through Wardak Province and across Hajigak Pass being shorter, more dangerous and more frequently used by public transport. It's advisable to try to blend in on this route for the first hour or so out of Kabul - using a scarf as the Afghans do to cover your head, nose and mouth keeps the dust out and helps to lower your profile. Toyota 4WD shared minivans seating 5-10 passengers leave Kabul starting at 4 am daily and cost 400 afghanis (you may have to and should bargain hard for this price), and take around 9 hours.
The northern route starts from the road heading north from Kabul, near Charikar. For an hour and a half on good tarmac road. From Charikar it goes through Parwan Province, passing Ghorband towards Shibar Pass (some 2 900 m) on a recently (2007) refurbished gravel road. Total travelling time some 8 hours. Several check-posts require a local guide.
From Herat it is a very long and hard multi-part journey via the minaret of Jam, taking at least 3 days in Toyota minivans. Enquire in Herat about the current safety situation.
From Mazar-e Sharif the old route to Kabul runs through Bamiyan. The recently improved gravel road within Bamyan Province (from Du-Ab) makes it much faster, though still some bottlenecks exist.
When you're ready to make an exit, minivans depart from Mama Najaf's restaurant daily for Kabul (9 hours, 400 afn). Inquire here for any other destinations you may have in mind, if there's not something heading there you can arrange a private hire minivan.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Bamiyan
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Bamiyan - updated Apr 2024
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Bamiyan Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
