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 BAMIYAN, Afghanistan (AP) - There's a new building in town, and it isn't a military barracks or a hospital. It's a Tourist Information Center.
Even as troops fight militants in the south, government officials and donors in Afghanistan's central Bamiyan valley are training tour guides and teaching restaurateurs about customer service. It's an attempt to draw tourism and return one small part of Afghanistan to normalcy.
The challenges are many — land mines, dangerous roads outside Bamiyan, and, not least, Afghanistan's reputation as anything but a tourist haven. But the hope is to persuade history buffs and adventure seekers that Afghanistan can be safe, and locals are eager to give it a shot.
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