The Best Boutique in Town

Ghazni was once a dazzling capital of the Turkish empire; now it’s a decaying mud-walled city. Located on the trade route between Kabul and Kandahar, one of the most dangerous highways in Afghanistan, the region is known for frequent roadside bombs, air strikes, and kidnappings. Then there’s the weather: extreme droughts, followed by snowstorms and heavy flooding. But even in Ghazni, the occasional pretty thing blooms. Here, dresses hang in the window of a tailor shop, a sign of the small pleasures daily life still holds — in spite of everything.