Stans June/July 2025

[Motorcycle RN]

7/5/25
In Kabul we needed to get to the Ministry of Information & Culture to get travel permits for travel within Afghanistan. Because of the weekend and the Ashura holiday we couldn't get there until Sunday so we had an extra day in Kabul. We decided to take a day trip to Bamyan. The ride there was a lot of fun, especially with no luggage on the bikes. We went over two high mountain passes. After the heat of Kabul it was surprising to see mountain snow. The road was in good shape with lots of twisties. Moin & I got into a supermoto race. I've been riding with Moin for over 10 years and there's no time that hasn't happened. When we got near Bamyan we hit another of many checkpoints. They detained us for 20 minutes or so then let us continue. We came into the town of Bamyan and continued to the site where Buddhist Statues were detonated by the Taliban a few years ago. Kinda sad to see. Afterward, we had lunch in the town of Bamyan. After lunch we retraced our route back to Kabul, once again a fun ride until we got back into heavy Kabul traffic. We regrouped at a traffic circle and continued back to our hotel. Along the way we realized we didn't know exactly where the hotel was. We made our way through the traffic in the general direction of the hotel. Through dead reckoning and bumming hotspots we found our way back. A little over 200 miles round trip. Note to self: next time, drop a pin!

 

[Motorcycle RN]

Cool down stop on the way to Bamyan, truck oopsie-driver was ok, former site of Buddhist statues, lunch in Bamyan.
Vid on the road to Bamyan.
{YouTube]

 

[Motorcycle RN]

Regrouping at a traffic circle in Kabul. Now where’s the hotel?!?

 

[Motorcycle RN]

Itchy boots has videos of the same area. This one kind of demonstrates how wonderful the people are.

She lost her drivers license and motorcycle registration when she left them on her top case and rode off. Someone found them and is returning them, which is an adventure in itself.

I watched this!

 

[Motorcycle RN]

Aussie DR650, fellow travelers, in the group pic next to me, Dragos, Michael from Germany hitchhiking around Asia with his dog, Mohammad, Moin, & one of three guys from Australia taking a year making their way from Sydney to London. In the second group pic, the couple sitting next to Dragos are Sean & Gwen from Florida, they've been traveling around Asia for a few years while finishing their college degrees online. Michael & his dog. The tall guy said he's visiting from Atlanta. Simona getting a head start. Mohammad, the guy on the bike is from Morocco, he rode the entire coast of Africa before heading up into Central Asia. Moin taking a watermelon break.

 

[budman]

Great pics!

 

[JimE]

I'm in for August 2026. Traveled with Moin several times on a couple continents. It's the real deal.

 

[Caddywumpus]

Moin has an excellent ability to get things done!

 

[JimE]

Moin has an excellent ability to get things done!

Honestly I think it's a straight up gift. Like some folks are more left or right brained kind of thing. I'm not sure what part of the brain navigating people and borders lies in but he's got it. Looks like the next trip might be only 6 people and 3 of them (at the moment) are returning travelers that have all been to Pakistan and Africa with Moin (and together). That says a lot.

 

[Motorcycle RN]

6-Jul-25, Sunday

We planned to ride from Kabul to Kunduz which is about 200 miles. First we needed to go to the Ministry of Information and Culture to get road permits for travel within Afghanistan. The four of us plus Sean & Gwen went. The office was deep within a walled off government compound with a security checkpoint on the way in. We filled out applications and were ushered into the office of the minister. He was pleasant and granted our permits and told us to call the phone number on the permit if we had any problems. We went back to the hotel and packed up the bikes and left for Kunduz which was a bit ambitious since it was getting to be early afternoon. The traffic leaving Kabul was hellish. Total gridlock. Moin’s and my bike were lightly loaded compared with Dragos & Simona’s bikes which were loaded with camping gear + luggage, so we were able to filter through the traffic a little easier. We got to the next town of Charikar, a whopping 46 miles. It was still daylight so we debated on pressing onto Kunduz, another 150 miles. There were no towns along the way so we would’ve wound up riding at night again. We decided to look for a place to stay in Charikar. We stopped for a soda, Moin bummed a hotspot and tried to find something online. We went to one possible place which turned out to be a restaurant. The owner said we could sleep there after he closed. We moved on. Moin spotted a guy by a white Camery and asked him if he knew of anywhere we could stay. He said, ”Follow me,” and jumped into the car. We stopped at one place, they were full. We went to another place, the guy came out and said there’s a wedding going on but they had two rooms. We thanked the guy and checked in. When we got to our rooms we realized there was no air conditioning. Just a fan. It was well over 100 degrees out. We took turns taking cold showers and went out to go find dinner. It was still quite hot and you can’t wear shorts in public. We found dinner at a walk-up . Afterward we walked around, chatted with people on the street, some kids were doing wheelies on old bikes, some other kids were kicking a soccer ball up & down the street, a dad was out for a walk with his toddler. We sat down in a park, the kids on bikes tried to have a conversation in broken English. Moin gave them some money to pick us up some water. They returned with water bottles and his change. We went back to our hotel. It was still quite hot. The manager invited us to hang out in his office which was air conditioned. He gave us tea & fruit. They were playing chess, Moin played a game & lost. We went back up to our rooms. It was still hot so we sat outside our rooms in front of the one working fan. We went back to our rooms, I took a cold shower and tried to get some sleep. Around 4:30 am the power went out. It was still hot. I went outside where the generator was and asked a couple of guys who were standing around if they could get it going. They either didn’t understand or couldn’t. start it up. I took another cold shower and went back to bed.

 

[Motorcycle RN]

Soda stop in Charikar and our hotel.

 

[Motorcycle RN]

Walking around Charikar, dinner, and lined up in front of the fan.

{YouTube]

[YouTube]

 

[Mike95060]

BOB (Best of Barf) thread right here. Awesome all around man.

 

[budman]

Love the pics... sounds like the heat sucked, but the smiles show it did not suck you down with it!

 

[Motorcycle RN]

7-July-25

After a long hot night & intermittent sleep we had coffee (you have to bring that with you!) and we loaded up the bikes and got on the road to Kunduz. The day was already getting hot. Fortunately we climbed up Salang pass,12k feet, so it was a bit cooler. There was a long tunnel going up which makes the road usable in winter. We stopped for a soda and a rest at the top of the pass. We descended back down and the heat came back. Fortunately there are car washes along the road. The way they’re advertised is by shooting jets of water straight up. I periodically rode up to a car wash and let the water cascade down on me. Refreshing. Along the way Dragos & Simona fell behind. We stopped at a soda shop and waited for them. Eventually they caught up. They’d taken a rest break because of the heat. We arrived in Kunduz at a decent hour and checked into a hotel with a/c. The inventor of air conditioning should be canonized! After we unpacked and cooled down we went out to find dinner. Kunduz is loud and frenetic. I asked Moin what all the shouting was about. He said that they’re selling potatoes. We found street kabab and shwarma (sp?). We walked around a bit and went back to the hotel. The next day we’d cross into Tajikistan.

 

[Motorcycle RN]

Hitting the road, rest stop, high altitude yoga.

 

[Motorcycle RN]

Another rest stop along the way and a shower.
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[Motorcycle RN]

Dinner in Kunduz.

 

[Motorcycle RN]

Kunduz street scene.
[YouTube]

 

[ThumperX]

Scott, thank you so much for making the effort to post this thread. What a great trip. Someone mentioned Moin's extrodinary talent for getting things done. I believe it's his incredibly open nature that invites connection. How fortunate for all of us here on Barf that he chose to be part of this forum.