eSIM — Afghanistan

Le volume de données dont vous avez vraiment besoin

Whatever you use depends on the line your local organiser arranges, and it stays light in practice — messages and a few photos a day — because the legs that cross the mountains have no service anyway.

À l'atterrissage

The main gateway is Kabul International (KBL), served mostly from Dubai, Islamabad and Istanbul, with three other operating airports at Mazar-i-Sharif (MZR), Kandahar (KDH) and Herat (HEA). Overland there are crossings at Torkham and Spin Boldak into Pakistan, Islam Qala into Iran, and Hairatan into Uzbekistan, all of which open and close according to the situation at the time.

Où la couverture change

The network follows the cities and the ring road linking Kabul, Kandahar, Herat and Mazar-i-Sharif. The high mountains have very little: the passes through the Hindu Kush, parts of the route up to Bamiyan and the Band-e-Amir lakes, and above all the Wakhan Corridor in the far north-east, which is genuinely remote. Groups travelling in those areas normally carry their own satellite equipment rather than relying on a phone network.

Villes qui intéressent les voyageurs

• Kabul: Capital in a mountain bowl, the hub for flights and foreign agencies.
• Herat: Western city near the Iranian border, with its great mosque and citadel.
• Mazar-i-Sharif: Northern city on the way to the Hairatan crossing into Uzbekistan.
• Bamiyan: High valley in the centre; winding road in and thin signal.
• Kandahar: Major southern city on the main ring road.

Applications à installer avant de décoller

• WhatsApp, the channel local contacts use most
• An offline map app such as OsmAnd with the routes downloaded in advance
• Google Translate with offline Persian and Pashto packs