Author: A story by Rabi Noorzai (Kabul University Student)
Translated by: Freshta Sediqi, ARCH volunteer 

 

Kabul city is famous for its high mountains, fortresses, palaces and gardens. As a child, I heard many interesting stories from my parents about Kabul’s palaces. I also read about the antiquity of my country’s historical and cultural heritage at school. Since then, I’ve always yearned for an opportunity to visit Kabul’s palaces and gardens with my friends.

Last month, we decided to take two days off and have a tour of the city and its remarkable ancient sites on two beautiful sunny days.

Day 1

The morning of our first day started off brisk and frosty with a temperature in the 20s (Celsius), but soon the clouds cleared off and the sky remained sunny and warm for the rest of the day.

There were four of us, and the plan was to take a taxi as there are no parking spaces around the area we wanted to visit. It was 9:00 in the morning as we moved towards our first destination, Tape-e-Toop (“Ball Hill”). We drove around 3 miles from the city to reach the Ball Hill. This historic fort is in district 7 on the east side of “Shirr Darwāzah” mountain and on the north side of “Babur Garden.” We asked the taxi driver to drop us off at the bottom of the hill and wait there. Stories exist about this Hill that, in the past, bullets were fired on ordinary days to announce the official time of noon and evening. In the days of Eid, firing the ball symbolized the official announcement of Eid. This hill is still referred to as the “Ball Hill”. In the cities of Jalalabad and Herat, there are hills of the same name, which indicate the implementation of this custom in these cities as well. This tradition was common for decades, but it stopped in the fifties. The cannon was mounted on a hillside at the foot of the crossroads (or “the lion’s mouth”) in central Kabul and is still preserved. The use of fireballs in the past to announce midday and other religious times was apparently due to the inaccessibility of clocks.

The top of the fort has a very nice view of the city. We stayed there for a while to breath the fresh air and to look at the beautiful view of the city. After taking some photos, we left the fort, as we had some other places to visit throughout the day. 

It was around noon and we decided to eat before we move to our next destination. There are several newly opened traditional cafes and fast food restaurants in Karti-e-Chahar. We all agreed to have lunch at Bolani Café where they serve a typical Afghani dish called Bolani. (Bolani is a flat-bread which can be baked or fried with a vegetable filling. It has a thin crust and can be stuffed with a variety of ingredients, such as potatoes, lentils, pumpkin, chives, or leeks. It is served with plain yogurt or mint yogurt).

After lunch, we arrived at Babur Garden. The Garden of Babur is called Bagh-e Babur. The garden is around 1 kilometer away from Tape-e-Toop. This is a historic park and the last resting-place of the first Mughal emperor Babur. The garden was built around 1528 AD and its walls are made in a very old-style, hand-laid earth (pakhsa) and sun-dried bricks on stone foundations. 

This historical place has many attractive sites to visit, such as a white marble mosque built by Shah Jahan, Babur’s grave, pavilions, the haremserai complex or the queen’s palace. In addition, there is a caravanserai built at the base of the garden, and a swimming pool outside of the garden precinct. This is one of the most visited sites in Kabul. People can picnic and BBQ in the park. There are some famous street foods around such as Shur Nakhud or “chickpeas with chutney.” We all had some Shur Nakhud and left the garden. 

Continue to Day 2