Mazar's biggest attraction is the Shrine of Hazrat Ali, located right in the center of town. The beautifully-tiled complex of buildings is surrounded by gardens and pigeon coops. It's a great place to meet locals. Most of the hotels and restaurants are around the shrine as well as vendors selling US military rations that somehow never made it to the troops at the local airbase.
If you have the time, please stop by the local English school where students will test their English on you.
Nearby is Balkh, a city with numerous historical sites located around its central park. At the time I visited, it was necessary to bring an escort to Balkh due to the large number of people with assault rifles in the area. It's best to check with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Mazar, located across from the Bharat Hotel, before setting off for Balkh.
HOTELS
Finding accomodation is the biggest headache you will encounter in Mazar-i-Sharif.
Just about all the hotels are clustered around the shrine in the center of town. Often there will only be a sign with a bed to indicate that it is a hotel.
Don't bother going to the Bharat Hotel unless you like to be fleeced by its greedy manager. They might try to have you pay $50 for a room with no bathroom. In such a case, you should insist that they lower their rates to a reasonable level.
The Ariana Hotel, also around the Shrine of Hazrat Ali, is a cheaper option.
MONEY
Perhaps the most important thing you can know about Mazar-i-Sharif is its unique currency system. During the civil war, Mazar was virtually cut off from the rest of Afghanistan. This was good for the people since the city didn't suffer as much damage as Kabul. Unfortunately, they had to develop their own currency and started printing Afghani banknotes. When you reach Mazar, ask someone to show you the difference between the "governmental" notes you brought from Kabul and Mazar notes. Serial numbers are different and there are some very slight design differences.
1 governmental Afghani = 2 Mazar Afghanis
This means that if some vendor on the street of Mazar says that your plate of mantu will cost 20,000 Afghanis, you can give him 10,000 Afghanis that you bought in Kabul. One thing to watch out for is that you don't accidentally change money and bring Mazar Afghani banknotes back to Kabul - where they are completely worthless.
TRANSPORTATION
Buses leave at 6am for the beautiful ride back to Kabul. It should cost around 220,000 Afghanis (at the rate of 35,000 Afghanis to a dollar).
WARNING
While the entire country of Afghanistan isn't safe to visit, the area around Mazar in particular is very lawless. Rival warlords (Dostum and Atta) have had several battles recently. A French woman working for an aid organization was gangraped by seven men in June of 2002. Visit the US State Department's webpage at www.state.gov for more info.
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