In 2008, Ian Robinson ventured into the hustle and bustle and dangers of the streets of many of Afghanistan's cities and towns, and also, alone on horseback, into the sparsely populated north-eastern regions of the country.

Compelled by a romantic desire to find the 'old' Afghanistan, loved by many travellers in the hippy days of the '60s and '70s and beguiled by ancient tales of Mughal emperors and the traders on the Silk Road, the Afghanistan Ian found was challenging but also enchanting, in parts frightening and infuriating, but it was an experience he knows will never leave him.