Customer Reviews

Afghanistan International Travel Map

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I just returned to the United States after spending six months in Afghanistan. Maps of Afghanistan are plentiful, many are printed by military or United Nations organizations, but most maps are not of the entire country. ITL's map of Afghanistan covers the entire country and shows many of the small villages that are not seen on other maps. The only wrong thing about this map (unavoidable because of the size and detail, I suppose) is it is printed on two sides which makes it impossible to put on a wall and see the whole country unless you buy two maps. I carried my map in my pocket so the printing on both sides was not that much of a problem. The paper quality was fairly good, at least the map did not disintegrate as some Russian made maps are prone to do. The text in the directory of places was tiny but legible and the color printing was good. The best recommendation I can offer for this maps is that when I was ready to leave Afghanistan, a colleague told me how greatly she admired my map so I gave it to her.

This is a good map of Afghanistan for finding cities. Really there are no other options to finding smaller villiages in the country.

As an earlier reviewer mentioned, Viet Hoa Pham's map has two salient features that make it useful in a traveler's kit: it lists many small communities that don't appear on other maps while at the same time showing the whole of Afghanistan and important border areas with surrounding states. A traveller may need to acquire additional detailed maps of smaller areas of interest with topo features, etc - but this is the best national map I have seen.

If I could change anything on future printings, it would be to leave the tourist photos off. They distract and detract from the general usefulness of the map without informing. For me, a 4 star rating would have road distances marked between towns - and a 5 star rating would additionaly give an indication of topography so the traveller can see the lay of the land with respect to the available routes. If you are going to Afghanistan, you should buy this map.