How to Cross The Hairatan Border From Termez to Mazar-i-Sharif
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The idea of travelling in Afghanistan can be intimidating for some. After all, this is a country with a reputation for extreme danger. Fortunately, crossing the Hairatan border from Termez to Mazar-i-Sharif is pretty easy, and will gently ease you into Afghanistan with a relatively stress-free journey.
I was told by a guide in the country that this is the only easy land border entry point. The Shir Khan border from Tajikistan, and the Torkham border from Pakistan are notoriously chaotic places that will take several hours (7+ is not uncommon) and result in all sorts of problems.
Fortunately, the Hairatan border is pretty easy to cross. It took me around 2.5 hours to go from the Afghanistan consulate in Termez (Uzbekistan) to my hotel in Mazar-i-Sharif (Afghanistan), and that included an 80-minute drive from the border to Mazar, so the crossing itself took around an hour.
I’ve made this guide so you know exactly what to expect after you get your Afghanistan visa in Termez. If you aren’t flying to Afghanistan, then this is by far the best way to enter the country.
How to Get From Termez to The Hairatan Border With Afghanistan
I spent a month in Uzbekistan, and the ever-reliable Yandex Go (the Uber equivalent for Central Asia) never let me down… until I needed it to get to the Turkmenistan border. Suddenly there were no vehicles heading in that direction, and I was an hour late arriving having had to come up with an emergency plan B.
Now it seems Yandex drivers really don’t like borders, at least not to obscure destinations like Turkmenistan or Afghanistan. Because it’s the same issue here.
Yandex will give you a price, but if a driver is willing to accept your ride, that comes down to luck more than anything else. You can’t rely on it.
The Yandex price we were quoted to the border from the Afghanistan Consulate, which is where we got our visas in Termez, was 76,000 Uzbek som (£5/US$6). Regardless of where in Termez you start your journey from, the price should be no more than 20,000 som more or less than this.
Now, since Yandex may not work, you’re going to need to negotiate with local taxi drivers… I hate this as these guys love to rip passengers off, so your best option is to ask an Uzbek to negotiate for you. We were able to go with a friend of the guard outside the consulate who agreed to take us for the same price as Yandex quoted.
Staff at your accommodation may be able to help you here. Like most travellers to Termez, I stayed at the excellent Comfortable Guesthouse. The staff there speak perfect English and were always happy to help you when needed.
I will say that when I came back to Uzbekistan through this border, I used Yandex to get from the border to my accommodation with no issues waiting or being cancelled on, so the chances of it working are not zero. Just be prepared with a plan B just in case you do run into issues.
When is The Hairatan Border Open?
The Hairatan border is open 24/7. I’ve had this information confirmed from both sides.
However, if you’ve read any good Afghanistan travel guide then you will know that rules sometimes change on a whim, so the border may close on the Afghan side at short (or no) notice.
In November 2025, news broke that the border was fully reopening for the first time in years allowing Uzbeks to cross. This may lead to an increase in crossing times.
How Long Does it Take to Cross the Hairatan Border From Uzbekistan to Afghanistan?
You can easily do the crossing in about an hour. Of course, timings will vary depending on how much traffic and footfall there is, but take this as a rough average.
The Hairatan border is the only one into Afghanistan that’s relatively quick and easy to cross.
You may have your bags inspected for a few minutes, but it won’t be a full search (the return journey is a different story).
How to Cross The Hairatan Border (From Personal Experience)
Once we arrived on the Uzbekistan side, we had to show our passports to some heavily armed guards who let us through after ensuring we had the Afghanistan visa ready to go.
We got slightly lost and entered the building on the right. You should enter the left building to get stamped out of Uzbekistan.
This was my third overland exit from the country, after trips to Turkmenistan and Tajikistan, and on this occasion the Uzbek officials were a lot more suspicious. I suppose you don’t get too many white guys going on holiday to Afghanistan…
They kept asking how much cash we had. I showed $200 in my wallet, and this was enough to satisfy the guard, although he did ask me if it would be enough for my entire trip.
They looked in our bags, but didn’t dig too deep, and eventually waved us through and stamped us out of the country.
After leaving Uzbekistan, you must cross the Friendship Bridge. You cannot walk the whole way, you must pay 5,000 Uzbek som (£0.30/US$0.40) to ride in a small truck to get halfway across the bridge, where they drop you off and you can walk across the Afghan side.
The atmosphere completely changes from this point onwards. It feels like you’ve stepped into a different world.
The clothing of the Afghans is very different to that of the Uzbeks, and they’re far more curious to see foreigners. I was stopped for photos on the Afghan side of the bridge on both my journeys into Afghanistan, and back to Termez when I left.
At the end of the bridge, there’s a row of stinking hole-in-the-ground toilets hidden behind the first building on the left if you’re really desperate (I’d hang on unless you really need to go…).
But it’s the building slightly ahead to the right where you need to go. It’s not particularly well-signposted, but the Afghans are friendly and will point you in the right direction. Even with a language barrier, “Afghanistan?” combined with a stamping motion towards your passport will make it clear where you need to go.
We only queued for around 5 minutes, were asked why we were visiting Afghanistan (tourism), made to look at the camera, then stamped into the country. A very easy process.
At the back of the room where you’re stamped in, exit on the right and you may or may not have your baggage scanned. They just waved us through on the way in. Confusingly, they use this same room to scan baggage on the way out of the country, so you have people heading in both directions there. If this border was busier, it would be pretty chaotic.
If you retrace your steps to where you first turned right to enter the immigration building, you must walk forward and take a left turn to enter Afghanistan for real.
Guards will check your passport before letting you through. Suddenly you’re really in Afghanistan and you’ll know it the moment you get swarmed by kids offering to exchange money and taxi drivers trying to rip off gullible tourists who don’t know how much to pay.
Where to Exchange Money For Afghanis
It’s at this point where you need to exchange money to at least have enough to cover the taxi to Mazar.
I do NOT recommend changing Uzbek som here. The rates I was given are the worst I have ever seen. You will lose 25% of your money in an instant at the atrocious rates they offer.
Fortunately, they do offer more reasonable rates on US dollars, roughly 2-3% below the official rate. Now it’s here you’ll get your first taste of the difficulties of managing money in Afghanistan. Any small notes they won’t accept. My $5, $10 and $20 notes were rejected in an instant. I tried to give them $50, but they weren’t too keen on this either and asked for $100 bills only.
I reluctantly agreed, having planned to only exchange enough for the taxi before changing money at better rates in Mazar-i-Sharif (turned out the US dollar rates weren’t really much better there, so there’s no harm in changing more money here).
I didn’t feel too comfortable exchanging large amounts with these kids, given the nature of how they swarmed around us from the moment we arrived and instantly caused a lot of chaos, but nothing went wrong in the end, so this isn’t as bad as it may first seem.
The bottom line is to exchange USD rather than Uzbek som, have $100 bills, and make sure they aren’t marked or damaged in any way. It seems ridiculous that they reject marginally imperfect USD bills when you see the state of afghanis, but hey, I don’t make the rules.
This is something I really wish I’d known before entering Afghanistan.
How to Get From The Hairatan Border to Mazar-i-Sharif
Once you’ve got your money, it’s time to go. Taxi drivers will also surround you and try to entice you over.
Unfortunately, there’s no Uber or equivalent app in Afghanistan, which means you have to do things the old fashioned way and negotiate a price.
It should cost no more than 1,000 afghanis (£12/US$16) for a private taxi from the border to Mazar-i-Sharif.
You may be lucky and find a shared taxi costing a quarter of this (per person – you’ll save nothing if there are 4 of you), but to be honest there isn’t that much footfall at the border, and you’re best off taking the private taxi rather than waiting amongst the chaos for some buddies to share with.
Drivers initially tried quoting prices of 2,500-3,000 afghanis for a private taxi, but we were able to negotiate this down to 1,000. Stand your ground, don’t get ripped off, and make sure they know that you know the real price.
Show them a number on your phone using the calculator app to ensure there are no language barrier issues and the driver knows exactly what price you’ve agreed on.
Our driver took us to the Blue Mosque in the centre of Mazar-i-Sharif, and demanded an additional 200 afghanis to take us all the way to our hotel, the excellent Rahat Hotel, so we actually paid 1,200 afghanis in the end…
We told the driver to stop at Zarafshan Hotel opposite Rahat because we didn’t want to give away our exact location. Afghanistan is much safer than you’d think, but it’s still wise to keep a low profile and only share your location with trustworthy people.
This caused some awkward conversations when the driver knocked at Zarafshan’s front door and said we were staying with them. Ah…
Anyway, there’s no public transport from the border, so a taxi is the only way to make the 1 hour 20 minute trip from the border, unless you’ve already prearranged transport with a driver or tour guide.
After that, you’ll be able to enjoy the awesome sights of Mazar.
Costs of Travelling From Termez to Mazar-i-Sharif
The full costs of travel from Termez to Mazar-i-Sharif aren’t that much unless you include the visa cost.
- Taxi from Termez to the border: ~76,000 Uzbek som (£5/US$6)
- Bus across the Friendship Bridge: 5,000 Uzbek som (£0.30/US$0.40)
- Taxi from the border to Mazar-i-Sharif: ~1,000 afghanis (£12/US$16)
- Total costs: ~£17.30/US$22.40
This is in addition to the US$80 or US$130 visa which is mandatory for entering Afghanistan.
Getting Insurance For Travel in Afghanistan
Now if you’re a long-term traveller, you’ll know how important it is to have travel insurance just in case something goes wrong. And trust me, things do go wrong eventually.
I’ve had to see a doctor/go to hospital in Singapore, Colombia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Switzerland and Georgia on my travels, and in the case of Uruguay, insurance saved me from a £1,000+ bill, so it was a pretty good investment in the end.
Now, since Afghanistan is on most government’s “do not travel” lists, most travel insurance packages are invalid and will not cover you if something goes wrong here.
Step forward SafetyWing.
SafetyWing is one of the few travel insurance providers that will cover medical bills (and more) in Afghanistan. So I highly recommend one of their nomad insurance packages.
It’s better to be safe than sorry on this one guys.
SafetyWing Insurance
Don’t risk being left with a possible $100,000+ bill if something goes wrong on your travels.
Click on the link below to avoid a stressful trip, protect yourself, and know that you will be covered in emergency situations.
The Return Journey: Differences When Travelling From Mazar-i-Sharif to Termez
I didn’t just enter Afghanistan via the Hairatan border, I left the country this way too. And there were a few important differences to note on the return journey.
- The taxi from Mazar-i-Sharif costs more: I was told the price is 1,500-2,000 afghanis. I managed to get it for 1,320 on the basis that this was the exact amount I had left and there just happened to be a driver in my hotel at the time willing to accept that price. I got lucky. It costs more as drivers will have to head back to Mazar, and with low footfall at the border they may not be able to find passengers for the return journey.
- You can only take a maximum of US$500 out of the country: This is the total amount of cash in all currencies, and the Taliban may confiscate amounts above this. I bypassed it by hiding my money well. Make sure you slip notes in unlikely places before heading to the border. Hiding mine in my documents folder where they blended in with many other bits of paper did the job here.
- You will have your bags completely emptied and every item inspected: This is on the Uzbek side. Exiting Afghanistan is very easy, but the Uzbeks will scan your bags then look through EVERYTHING. Oh, and just when I thought I was done and got stamped into Uzbekistan, they did the same a second time. Every. Single. Item. I also got questioned a fair bit about what I did in Afghanistan, and they told me to turn my laptop on to look through my files (although they didn’t do this in the end). They even asked about a chocolate bar I bought in Afghanistan and inspected it VERY thoroughly. By far the strictest ever bag inspections I’ve had at any border.
It’s fortunate that few people cross this border. It took 1.5 hours in total to cross the border going back, and most of that was spent on the Uzbek side being searched.
After the searches were complete, I was finally free to walk out into Uzbekistan, from where I successfully ordered a Yandex taxi to head to my accommodation.
And that concludes this guide on how to cross the Hairatan border. If you have any further questions, leave a comment below, and I’ll be more than happy to help! If you need a quick response, I’m usually active on Instagram so you can message me there and I’ll do my best to help.
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- The Complete Guide To Watching Buzkashi In Afghanistan
- What I Wish I Knew Before Travelling To Afghanistan
- What Are The Best Things To Do In Mazar-i-Sharif?
- How To Cross The Hairatan Border From Termez To Mazar-i-Sharif
- How To Get An Afghanistan Visa In Termez (Uzbekistan)
- The Complete Afghanistan Travel Guide
