What It Was Like to Travel in Afghanistan as a Woman

Updated March 2026, What it was like to Travel as a Woman in Afghanistan was originally written in December 2018

What is it like to travel in Afghanistan as a woman? I’ve visited Afghanistan several times between 2017 and 2023, traveling through places including Kabul, Bamyan, Mazar-e Sharif, Kandahar, Nuristan, and the Wakhan Corridor. Those journeys gave me a firsthand look at what female travel in Afghanistan was like under the former government, from figuring out what to wear to navigating social expectations and meeting Afghan women along the way.

Afghanistan is a country where gender shapes much of daily life, and traveling there as a foreign woman came with its own challenges, surprises, and memorable encounters. I wore local clothing, learned when to cover up more fully, fielded plenty of questions about my husband, and had conversations with women who were curious about why I’d come to their country.

But there’s an important distinction to make before we go any further. Many of my experiences took place before the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, and I was only able to visit once following the power change. Restrictions on women have since become far more severe, and the security situation has changed dramatically.

I first traveled through the Wakhan Corridor as a solo woman in 2017. You can read more about that journey in my account of solo female travel in the Afghan Wakhan Corridor.

For more information about the country, start with my Afghanistan travel guide.

Start planning here: The Afghanistan Travel Guide

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What it was Like to Travel Afghanistan as a Female

Traveling in Afghanistan as a woman is an experience shaped by clothing, social expectations, and the way men and women interacted. I had to pay attention to local customs, but I also found that being a foreign woman sometimes opened the door to conversations and everyday experiences that male travelers might not have had.

Two things particularly shaped my experience: learning how to dress appropriately in different settings and navigating social expectations around interactions between men and women. Neither was necessarily difficult with an understanding of the context, but both requiring listening to local advice and being aware of the people around me.

Did I Have to Wear a Burqa in Afghanistan?

One of the first questions people ask about women traveling in Afghanistan is whether they have to wear a burqa. During my trips between 2017 and 2023, I did not have to wear one everywhere I went. However, I sometimes wore a chadri on the recommendation of locals, particularly while traveling overland between Kabul, Bamyan, and Mazar-e Sharif.

The terminology can be confusing if you’re unfamiliar with Afghan clothing. A chadri is the full-body covering with a mesh panel over the eyes that many people outside Afghanistan simply call a blue burqa. A chador is a loose cloak worn over the head and body, while a hijab generally refers to a headscarf covering the hair.

What women wore varied by location, family, personal preference, and social expectations. During my travels, I saw women in larger cities wearing different forms of modest dress, including headscarves and full-body coverings.

It’s important not to apply those historical observations to present-day Afghanistan, and listen to what the current expectations are before your visit. Rules on women’s dress have become much stricter under Taliban authorities, including requirements for face and body coverings.

What Is It Like To Wear The Chadri?

Actually, it was more comfortable than I’d expected, though I didn’t particularly like wearing it. It reminded me of the year I went as a ghost for Halloween, except this time I was draped in a blue bedsheet instead of a white one. Scratch that: I was 12 years old, it was 1998, and I was obsessed with tie-dye.

I did come to understand one thing that women who wear a burqa or chadri have told me about: the anonymity. Imagine running errands without worrying about running into someone you haven’t spoken to since high school. There is something appealing about being able to move through life without being immediately recognized.

But there’s a big difference between choosing to wear a covering and being required to wear one. I would have hated being told I had no choice, particularly knowing that many women have faced pressure to dress a certain way.

What to Wear in Afghanistan as a Woman

During my travels in Afghanistan between 2017 and 2023, I generally wore a headscarf and a shalwar kameez. Shalwar kameez, a traditional outfit consisting of a tunic and trousers, was practical for everyday travel and helped me dress in a way that felt appropriate for the places I visited.

My usual outfit included:

• Headscarf: I covered my hair when out in public.
• Long-sleeved tunic: I preferred a loose tunic reaching well below my hips, often halfway between my knees and ankles.
• Full-length trousers: Loose trousers paired with a tunic were my everyday choice.
• Long dress: A loose, long-sleeved, floor-length dress was another option.

I found it easy to buy shalwar kameez at local bazaars during those trips. Depending on the quality, an outfit with a headscarf cost around 1,000 to 2,000 AFN at the time. These are historical prices, not current shopping estimates.

Pro tip: Look for what resembles a shower loofah glued to a hair clip at the bazaar. They cost around 70 AFN during my trips. Clip one onto your ponytail to add some volume under your headscarf and help keep it in place.

Chadri

The chadri is the full-body covering most commonly associated with Afghanistan’s distinctive blue burqas. Although blue is the color many people recognize, I’ve also seen chadris in other shades, including dusty purple and white.

The garment fits over the head and body, with a mesh panel that allows the wearer to see. During my travels, I noticed that women often held the fabric at the back or sides as they walked, adjusting it for comfort and visibility.

The chadri was one of the garments I became more familiar with while traveling around Afghanistan. Understanding the differences between local clothing styles helped me better understand what I was seeing, although the garments themselves were only one small part of a much broader cultural picture back to expose their faces (it gets hot sometimes, and other times you need to yell at someone).

Burqa

The word burqa can mean different things depending on where you are. In Afghanistan, it is often used interchangeably with chadri to describe the full-body garment with a mesh panel over the eyes.

In other contexts, people use burqa to refer to different styles of full-body covering. An abaya is a long outer garment, while a niqab is a face veil that leaves the eyes exposed. These terms describe different garments, and they are not all interchangeable.

If you’re reading about Afghan dress for the first time, the terminology can be confusing. It’s helpful to describe the garment itself rather than assume that a word has the same meaning everywhere.

Chador

A chador is a loose cloak worn over the head and body. It is commonly associated with Iran and is also seen in parts of Afghanistan, particularly in Herat and areas close to the Iranian border.

During my travels in Herat, I saw women wearing chadors draped over their heads and shoulders, with the fabric often held forward around the body. It differs from the chadri because it does not have the same mesh panel covering the eyes.

Clothing varies across Afghanistan, and regional influences are one reason you may see different styles as you travel around the country.

Being Merry-ied

Being married made traveling in Afghanistan a little easier in some situations. Afghans are often very family-oriented, so questions about your husband and children may come up in conversation.

When I traveled solo in the Wakhan Corridor, I’d tell people I was married. That part was true. When asked where my husband was, I’d explain that he was working back home in Alaska, which was also true. When people asked about children, I’d say not yet, perhaps someday. Who knows if that’ll ever happen?

When traveling with a man, whether a boyfriend or another traveler, I sometimes found it simpler to describe him as my husband, particularly when sharing accommodation. Unmarried men and women socializing together could attract disapproval, although social norms varied between people and places.

When Jolie and I traveled together, fielding questions about family was fairly easy. I was married back then and my friend Jolie was married, and she had three children. All boys, mashallah. Apparently, that last detail earned bonus points.

Talking to Afghan Women as a Female Traveler

When I traveled with a man or a male guide, I noticed that men who wanted to ask me something would sometimes address the man accompanying me first. In the places I visited, this was one of the social customs I learned to navigate. It wasn’t universal, and I wouldn’t assume every Afghan man or community approached interactions in the same way.

When I traveled without a man, I often found myself having more conversations with local women. Women would approach me to ask what I was doing in Afghanistan and what I thought of their country. Some were simply curious about meeting a foreign traveler, while younger women occasionally wanted to take a selfie together.

Those encounters were among the most memorable parts of my travels. They gave me opportunities to talk with people about everyday life, rather than seeing Afghanistan only through its historical sites and landscapes.

Learning a few basic phrases in Dari before a trip made these interactions much more enjoyable. Even a little local language can help turn a brief encounter into a real conversation.

Need help getting a visa? Read my Afghanistan Visa Guide

Welcome to the Third Gender

Gender roles were clearly defined in many of the communities I visited in Afghanistan. As a foreign woman, I sometimes found myself in a position that didn’t fit neatly into local expectations. I could join conversations with men in situations where local women might not ordinarily have done so, while also having opportunities to spend time with women in settings that were generally less accessible to male visitors.

There were moments when this felt like an unexpected privilege. I could hang out with a group of men, then later find myself chatting with women and seeing a different side of everyday life. Those experiences helped me appreciate how much gender could shape social interactions.

But I was also conscious that being a foreign visitor gave me freedoms and privileges that Afghan women did not necessarily share. My experience shouldn’t be mistaken for theirs, and a few conversations cannot tell you everything about the lives of the people you meet.

This is a definite perk of traveling Afghanistan as a woman. There are things that women wouldn’t ordinarily be allowed (or it may just be very frowned upon) to do, that you’ll be able to partake in… Like hitting a bong with an old baba you met at the walls of Old Balkh.

The perks don’t stop at ripping a bong or kicking it with the boys– you’ll get to join in on all the femininely things that no man, foreign or not will ever get to see. That means getting to see women without hijab.

On greetings, I found that some men offered a handshake while others preferred a more reserved greeting. I generally placed my hand over my heart and gave a slight bow when meeting someone, then followed the other person’s lead.

Want to visit the Wakhan? See the Afghan Wakhan in photos

Expect Stares, Don’t Expect Catcalls

A foreign woman traveling in Afghanistan who wasn’t an aid worker or accompanied by her husband was an unusual sight in many places I visited. As a result, I attracted plenty of attention.

And let me tell you, the stares could be intense. I often interpreted them as curiosity about who I was and what I was doing there, rather than hostility. Being visibly different from most people around me meant I was rarely anonymous, especially outside the larger cities.

That was my experience between 2017 and 2023, though. Every traveler will have different encounters, and I wouldn’t assume that the attention a woman receives today will be the same as what I experienced then.

Behind the Fluttering Curtain, Madam: Security Checks for Women in Afghanistan

Security checks were a regular part of traveling around Afghanistan during my visits. I encountered them at airports, at the entrances to major sites, and occasionally while crossing between provinces.

Men were generally searched in the open, while women were usually checked separately by female security staff. Sometimes this took place in a private room or behind a curtain, away from the main flow of people.

The searches I experienced were usually brief. The women carrying them out were often friendly, and sometimes the process turned into a short conversation. On other occasions, the search was quick and businesslike, with a gesture to move along once it was over.

What Traveling in Afghanistan Taught Me About Afghan Women

Traveling in Afghanistan changed how I thought about Afghan women. I met women with different personalities, ambitions, opinions, and relationships with the traditions around them. Some seemed comfortable with forms of dress and social expectations that I might personally have struggled with. Others made it clear, through their words or actions, that they felt constrained by those same expectations.

It would be a mistake to assume that all Afghan women feel the same way about clothing, family, religion, or their place in society. Just as anywhere else, their experiences and opinions are shaped by their individual circumstances.

I also learned that visiting a country doesn’t automatically make you an expert on the lives of its people. I could listen, ask questions when appropriate, and try to understand what people chose to share with me, but I could never claim to know the full reality of their lives from a few encounters.

Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, restrictions on women’s education, employment, movement, and participation in public life have become much more severe. That context matters when looking back at my experiences. The women I met during my travels were individuals with their own stories, and their lives cannot be reduced to a single narrative.

What I took away from those encounters was a greater appreciation for the people I met and a reminder to approach unfamiliar cultures with curiosity rather than assumptions.

Practical Things to Know About Women Traveling in Afghanistan

• Do dress modestly, blending in is best
• Everyone needs a visa, find out more here
• Learn a few words of Dari and Pashto
• Hiring a local guide can help you visit harder to reach areas, I 100% recommend Let’s Be Friends Afghanistan in mainland Afghanistan and Malang Darya in the Wakhan Corridor
• Frequent handwashing is a must, it’s ingrained into the culture
• Don’t flaunt expensive items
• Be prepared for heaps of dust (take care with cameras and electronics)

The People Behind the Headlines

Traveling through Afghanistan gave me a glimpse of a country that was far more complicated than the headlines I’d read before visiting. I remember the conversations, the curiosity of the women who approached me, and the small moments of connection that made unfamiliar places feel less distant.

But I also know that my experience as a foreign visitor was not the same as the experience of an Afghan woman living with the consequences of her country’s political and social changes. The Afghanistan I traveled through between 2017 and 2023 is not the Afghanistan described by current travel advisories.

I hope these stories preserve something of the people and encounters that shaped my journeys, while also making clear how much has changed. Understanding a place means appreciating its people and history without mistaking a visitor’s experience for the whole story.

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