[Afghanistan] - Balkh archaeological sites on focus of foreign and domestic tourists' attention

INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The historical and ancient sites of Afghanistan&s Balkh province have attracted the attention of foreign and domestic tourists more than
ever nowadays.Foreign tourists say that Afghanistan, especially Balkh province has many undiscovered places and that is why they want to
visit this province.Beside the historical and ancient sites of Balkh province, the small museum of Hazrat Ali&s Shrine is one of other
places where foreign tourists visit.According to local officials, the domestic and foreign tourists visit the ancient and historical sites
of Balkh, in Dawlatabad and Dihdadi districts of this province.During their visit to Shrine of Hazrat Ali&s Museum, they said that
Afghanistan is full of tourist attractions and people are more interested in traveling to this country and to come to this country for
pilgrimage and tourism.&If the government pay more attention, we have many interested Iranians who want to come to Afghanistan for
pilgrimage and tourism,& said Azghar Mohammadi, an Iranian tourist.Tourists also say that contrary to their previous views over Afghanistan,
they have now found that the people of this country are hospitable, kind, and there is complete security.&It is not a bad country from the
point of view of being a tourist, it has good natural scenery, good sightseeing places because Afghanistan and Iran was once one country,
its history, culture and civilization are not much different from Iran,& said Ali Jawad, another Iranian tourist.Simultaneously, the
officials at Shrine of Hazrat Ali Museum say that 50 foreign tourists have visited this museum since the beginning of the year.According to
them, this number shows the interest of foreign tourists in this province.&From the beginning of this year until now, we have registered
about 50 tourists who have visited the Roza Mubarak,& said Qayoum Ansari, the head of the museum.The Museum of Hazrat Ali shrine was
established in the seventies, where more than 1400 items of ancient artifacts have been showcased to the viewers.Meanwhile, the lack of a
standard museum in Balkh province is one of the most important challenges in the preservation of the ancient and historical works, which the
province cultural experts have been complaining about for years.The post Balkh historical sites on focus of foreign and domestic tourists&
attention first appeared on Ariana News.