Kabul Grand Bazaar

Posted by Scotfot (Kabul, Afghanistan) on 9 August 2008 in Cityscape & Urban and Portfolio.

In the centre of Kabul is a huge bazaar where you can buy anything! It is a complete maze of passages and alleys and is always bustling - The British blew up the earlier Grand Bazaar in 1841 - westerners rarely go in here :-)

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Comments (9)

saeed from ahwaz, Iran

wow! so crowded! that hanging meats are very interesting! well done!

9 Aug 2008 8:30am

@saeed: On the street you are always very much aware of the close link between living animal and carcases like these.

Jenny from United Kingdom

Wonderful shot, it makes me feel as if I'm part of the crowd.

9 Aug 2008 9:34am

Lorraine from Canada

Except you of course, and I'm so glad you did, how I'd love to be there, with my camera and of course, lots and lots of money :)

9 Aug 2008 9:35am

grouser from Ludlow, United Kingdom

Are you there now? I was last in Kabul in 1974. It doesn't look as though it has changed much if that's a current picture. Nicely composed.

9 Aug 2008 9:59am

@grouser: No, I'm back in Scotland now. The 20 years of fighting left many buildings destroyed or damaged - many are still around - (I worked in the shell of one until it was renovated!). Down near the Darulaman Palace - vast areas were flattened and is still like that. There is much renovation and rebuilding including a lot of big houses and wedding halls built in a very gaudy imported style.

António Pires from Lisbon, Portugal

Very good photo. The ambiance at the bazaar couldn't be better described.

9 Aug 2008 2:53pm

Observing from West Cheshire, United Kingdom

Would this be their 'Main street' ? what a busy place it is, and not much regard for Health & Safety with the meat hanging there.

9 Aug 2008 3:28pm

@Observing: No, this is just a thoroughfare in the Bazaar. The main roads in Kabul are big and full of traffic - everything from armed convoys to camels and herds of goats -... and no discernable rules! H&S, one day maybe! The animals are dispatched in the abattoir shifted minus the head in the back of a truck and butchered with an axe and saw on the road outside the shop - not for the faint-hearted.

Michael Rawluk from Williams Lake, Canada

That is a crowded street. Very cool shot though.

9 Aug 2008 4:57pm

Ana Lúcia from Leiria, Portugal

Excellent photo and documentation of such crowd! So much confusion... The meat ... that danger to health!

9 Aug 2008 9:23pm

Terre Mavix Chartrand from Kitchener, Canada

What a beautiful shot! I love the bustle of people going about their business. Even though this is miles away from my city both in geography and in culture, a street scene here isn't much different from one in Toronto.

10 Aug 2008 4:03am

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