Holidaying in a country torn apart by warfare and ruled by fundamentalists won't be top of everyone's bucket list, but the number of foreign tourists visiting Afghanistan rose 120% last year, reaching nearly 5,200.
Travel officials want Afghanistan to become a "tourism powerhouse", said AP, an ambition backed by the Taliban's top leaders, who assured The Times that "attention has been paid to peace and order in the areas where tourists go".
But why are visitors returning to Afghanistan and how safe is it?
During the 1960s and 1970s Afghanistan was part of the overland "hippy trail" route across Asia, with "hundreds of thousands of Western tourists" passing through, said Sky News. Yet as its "complicated modern history unfolded" the "steady stream of travellers stopped".
But foreigners are visiting the country again, encouraged by the "sharp drop in violence", increased flight connections with hubs like Dubai and the "bragging rights that come with vacationing in an unusual destination", said AP. Although the numbers aren't huge, they "never were" and there's still "a buzz around Afghan tourism".
Tourists who visit will "holiday under the austere control of the Taliban authorities" – without consular support – and they must also comply with a strict dress code and submit to searches at checkpoints.
Although the UK Foreign Office currently advises against all travel to Afghanistan, highlighting its "volatile" security situation and an "ongoing and high threat of terrorist attacks", some "adventurous tourists aren't letting this stop them", said Sky News. "Unique sights, history and cultural experiences await" those willing to take the risk. | 
