Safarat in the NY Times

The New York Times got in touch with us a few weeks ago to ask if we had any guests from the United States in country as they were running a story on tourism in Afghanistan. We were lucky enough to have Wisconsin native Allen Ruppel on a short private weekend itinerary and he was happy to be trailed by the NYT’s photographer.

What the Times article fails to mention is that Mr.Ruppel turned out to be an extremely special traveller, because like many of our guests who choose Safarāt it became clear that Allen wasn’t interested in the usual tourist sites. What Allen wanted to see was the real Afghanistan, and after a visit to a couple of local schools and an orphanage in Kabul he decided to make a monthly donation to the children’s needs and food.

Allen and Qudratullah Noory with his first donation of food in a Kabul orphanage

Travellers like Allen Ruppel are why we started Safarāt. Thank you for the pleasure of hosting you.