Astrid Sieber’s travel checklist is an impressive feat. Still only in her mid twenties, the Brit has checked off more from her bucket list than most people twice her age.
Seeing the Northern Lights? Tick. Posing at the Pyramids of Giza? Done. Skiing in Japan? Of course!
But the country that’s surprised and delighted Astrid in ways she could never imagine isn’t France or Greece.
It’s Afghanistan.
The Taliban-run country ‘changed her life’ and ‘humbled her in ways she did not understand before’, she tells the Daily Mail.
Despite the Home Office strongly advising against travelling to the nation where the threat of terrorism and kidnapping is extremely high, a small but growing number of female travel influencers are gushing online over their trips to the country.
Astrid is one of them. She took the risk of sharing footage of Afghanistan’s stunning landscapes, historic culture and local hospitality with her 76,000 followers.
Showcasing footage of life in the nation after the Taliban takeover, the content creator, who is in her mid 20s, offered a rare glimpse into a place few outsiders dare to visit as she travelled around Kabul, Bamyan, Band-e Amir and villages in between.
But while such content intrigues followers, clips like Astrid’s have sparked fury for oversimplifying or even glamourising a nation where women live under a ‘gender apartheid’.
Since the Taliban took over the country there have been reports that Afghan women are being denied the opportunity to join the workforce, are not allowed to drive, and are deprived of their right to education.
The militant group also recently claimed women should cover one eye stating that ‘one eye is enough’ under Sharia law – a harsh extremist Islamic legal system which permits flogging and the death penalty in some circumstances.
Solo traveller Astrid Sieber is on an extraordinary quest to visit every nation on Earth- and with an impressive 101 countries already under her belt, one has made an impression on her that she could have never imagined
Meanwhile, officials have reportedly shut down beauty salons run by women in their homes and women’s radio stations in various provinces, according to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.
But Astrid, whose Instagram bio reads ‘Official National Crush of Afghanistan’, described the Taliban as ‘very welcoming’ and ‘friendly’ towards her, noting that they ‘wanted to make sure I had a good time in their country.’
However, the traveller was careful to stress that her experience was not typical. ‘I know it would have been very different if I had been born there,’ she said. ‘My perspective is not representative of how local women experience the Taliban.’
‘A lot of the guards and Taliban members I met were much more lenient with me,’ she admitted, acknowledging that visitors to the country often experience a more relaxed set of rules than local women, who are said to face severe restrictions.
She confessed that the country holds ‘a certain reputation’, saying even the process of trying to get into the nation was difficult.
Astrid recalled: ‘I went to the embassy to get a visa and there was a huge queue of people trying to get out of the country but there was no queue for people trying to get in.’
She revealed that entering the country came with a strict set of rules, from rigid dress codes to stringent cultural laws governing how women must conduct themselves in public that female visitors also need to abide by.
She was required to wear a headscarf and loose-fitting clothing to conceal her body, arms and legs.
Astrid explained that she was prohibited from being alone as a woman, therefore she hired a female tour guide, who had to bring along a male relative to accompany them due to the Taliban’s restrictions on local women
Astrid explained that she was prohibited from being alone as a woman, therefore she hired a female tour guide, who had to bring along a male relative to accompany them due to the Taliban’s restrictions on local women.
‘A requirement I had for myself before going to Afghanistan was to give back to local women, this is a country that doesn’t treat women very good and they do not have a lot of employment options, they are having the largest unemployment in the world,’ she said.
Astrid managed to find one of only four licensed female tour guides in the entire country, a rare privilege in a place where women’s employment opportunities are severely restricted.
The guide, permitted by the authorities to work, offered Astrid a unique window into daily life for women living under such stringent regulations.
‘To have a female guide you have to have her mahram, an adult male relative, father, brother or husband. So the three of us travelled around the country together.’
Astrid explained that if she had hired a male guide, she wouldn’t have been able to meet or interact with any local women at all while she was with her guide.
Travelling with a female guide, she said, was a rare privilege. The pair even shared rooms and were welcomed into women-only spaces, giving Astrid a unique chance to connect with Afghan women and hear their stories firsthand.
She recalled: ‘At one point I was in a room of 20 women and children, we would remove our scarfs, share stories, we were dancing together and would share food, it was a wonderful experience.
Despite Western countries strongly advising against travelling to the nation where the threat of terrorism and kidnapping is extremely high, Astrid took the risk sharing footage of the country’s stunning landscapes, historic culture and local hospitality with her 76,000 followers
‘Hearing their stories, the way they still find joy in life, it was really really eye opening, it changed my life in more than one way.
‘They all spoke about their future and their dreams of being doctors, a journalist, these are women who have not been allowed to finish their education, yet they are still very hopeful that these things will happen.
‘I did like how hopeful they were, how full of life and how eager they were to share about their life with me, they didn’t have any stereotypes of me being a Westerner, it felt like I was in a family setting the whole time.’
Astrid recalled a particularly emotional moment as she was preparing to leave, when a young girl slipped her a handwritten note.
In it, the girl shared her dream of one day leaving Afghanistan to experience freedom and take control of her own future. Yet, she added poignantly that she hoped to return home someday, when life in her country might be different.
‘There was a lot of pain, everyone wants to study and they want to work but there is this hindrance. I think the hope is that they will somehow be able to in the future,’ said Astrid.
‘A lot of them were doing online classes, so they did have some sort of informal education.’
Astrid claimed that under Taliban rule, nothing ever felt permanent, with laws and restrictions constantly shifting. She said locals were left in a state of uncertainty, never knowing what might change from one day to the next.
Astrid, whose Instagram bio reads ‘Official National Crush of Afghanistan’, acknowledged that visitors to the country often experience a more relaxed set of rules than local women, who continue to face severe restrictions
She explained: ‘When I was there, there was some more rules coming up and by the time I was leaving there were some other rules that came in. So there is hope that change will be brought in that will benefit women in some way.’
While speaking with local men, Astrid said some expressed surprisingly positive views, claiming the Taliban had brought a sense of ‘stability’ to the country after decades of war.
However, she noted that most of the men she spoke to also expressed empathy for the challenges women face and believed that girls should be allowed to attend school.
When asked if she felt conflicted about admiring Afghanistan’s beauty and culture while being aware of the widespread ‘gender apartheid’, Astrid admitted it was something she had thought deeply about.
She explained that many of the countries she’s visited have their own human rights issues, but when it came to Afghanistan, she wanted her trip to have a purpose.
So, she made sure to pack a suitcase full of stationery and school supplies for young girls being educated at home, hoping to offer a small gesture of support amid the country’s challenges.
Astrid’s mission was to shine a light on the parts of the country that rarely make the headlines. While she acknowledged the current political climate is far from ideal, she insisted there is ‘a time and place to talk about that.’
‘Not a lot of people are talking about how generous the Afghan people are, both men and women, how welcoming they are with someone who looks so different to them and someone who represents something different to what they are used to.
‘I have been welcomed into their homes, complete strangers, who put on their best outfits for me, they would feed me and I would sleep in their houses with their families.
‘This type of hospitality that I saw in Afghanistan I haven’t seen in any other country, I feel it’s something the world doesn’t know about. Incredibly resilient hospitality that I don’t know how it survived after decades of wars.’
However Astrid warned, as much as she loved her time in Afghanistan she said she wouldn’t recommend the ‘average person to just hop on a flight’ to the country.
She explained she is a seasoned traveller and even though she took the right precautions and done her research into cultural laws, she still made some mistakes.
‘When I was leaving women only spaces I would sometimes forget to wear my headscarf because it’s not something I am accustomed to, so women would have to remind me which I am very grateful for.’
She said the warmth and hospitality of the local people have convinced her to return to Afghanistan again in the future.
‘There is a local man who lives in the mountains, he’s a doctor, he started making this sheepskin coat for me, he said it takes a year to make but it would be done by the time I go back to visit.’
