Experience: Staying At A Hotel In Bamiyan, Afghanistan 🇦🇫
- Konrad Tillman
- Apr 2
- 3 min read
Intro
During my stay in Bamian, Afghanistan, my guide booked me at one of the “upscale” homestays in the city (village or maybe town? I am not sure). I’ve gotta say, I had one of the coziest sleep I’ve ever had in my life at the Norban Qala Guest House, but with a few quirks.
Note to others:
Staying at a hotel in Afghanistan isn’t like checking into a hotel in Dubai, or even Pakistan for that matter. Through the cold Afghanistan nights, heating is a luxury, hot water only comes around for certain periods during the day, and bed sheets are not what you would find in a traditional hotel.
This is not to say that it is any less of a nice hotel in comparison; just different. In my humble opinion, staying in the guesthouse in Bamian felt like a winter night in the Cotswolds.
But the wifi, I mean it was the slowest of the slow. It took about 5 minutes to download a single picture to my blog 😮.
Around The Hotel
Arriving at the hotel after exploring the city of Bamian, the first thing I noticed was that the Norban Qala has walls outside and around-the-clock security. A Taliban-staffed checkpoint was just around the corner, providing even more security for cars looking to head to this consolidated area.
However, once inside, I was pleasantly surprised to see a nice-looking homestay/hotel. Heck, when a Jewish New Yorker popped out to pick up his backpack, my jaw almost dropped to the floor.
But guess what? Once again, The Taliban flag roamed freely across the hotel, much like the streets and most parts of Afghanistan.
There is also a restaurant, although I didn’t try it out since we left very early the next morning.
The Rooms
Tired out of my mind, it was time to head up to my room. Removing my shoes in the hallway and feeling the cold floor, I knew that this was going to be a long night. That was until I entered the room and was pleasantly surprised to see a very nice-looking room (okay, I was expecting the worst of the worst). Bed, chairs, shower, and toilet: the basic necessities covered.
The Sleep
The most important aspect of staying in an accommodation is the amount of sleep that occurs. Unless you’re in Miami, Vegas, or Ibiza 😉. Gathering up all the blankets I could find, I tried to wait until 7 pm in which hot water would appear.
Eventually, at 7, there was enough hot water to take a shower (first in 3 days) and the staff came in to light the fire for the night. Proper old-school this, and I love it.
I slept from 7:30 pm- 5 am like a bug in a rug, until I woke up freezing my arse off. What I failed to realize was that the heat only lasted 7 hours, and with the weather outside at night being negative 8 degrees Celsius, I was like a popsicle when I woke up.
And so the journey continues…
Final Thoughts
If you are thinking about traveling to Bamian and staying in a guesthouse, be prepared to not have the luxuries you have in the West (yes, if you travel a lot then this is fine since you probably already know). However, Norban Qala guesthouse/homestay/hotel is a fantastic and safe place with comfortable beds and a wood fire fireplace. What a cozy night's sleep huh?
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