Short skirts, roadside picnics and smiling children — what was Afghanistan like before the Taliban

University professor Bill Podlich from Arizona took a whole series of pictures in 1967 while he was living and working in Afghanistan with his family — his wife and two daughters.

The stunning photographs of Afghanistan from the 1960s are so different from the images of a war-torn state that it seems they are two different countries.

Dr. Bill Podlich was filming Kodachrome. In his pictures, Afghanistan appears to us as a calm and peaceful country that will soon be destroyed by the Taliban regime.

The daughters of Professor Bill Podlich Jan and Peg in Pagman Gardens, which was one of the most popular vacation spots in Kabul. The gardens were completely destroyed during the war.

Afghan schoolgirls go home. Girls, as well as boys, studied in schools and wore school uniforms, entered universities. Women rarely wore the burqa in major cities.

Now in Afghanistan, women are required to wear a burqa, appear only accompanied by their husband or relatives, and education for the female population is not welcome.

Quite happy people gathered on heavy trucks, which were used as stands.

Men are resting in the shade. Below you can see the settlement, which has been the center of pottery art for many centuries.

Sisters holding hands, Kabul.

One of the daughters of a professor at a local market in the city of Istalif, which was one of the most beautiful places in the country. The city was destroyed during the war.

During a lesson at the American International School in Kabul, which was attended by the professor's daughters.

Men on a picnic drink tea and listen to music.

The queue at the gas station.

A boy decorates cakes.

People swim in the Kabul River.

Schoolchildren dance on the playground.

Young Afghans are returning home. There is a stunning landscape in the background.

An Afghan teacher.

Parking in front of the American International School in Kabul, where Professor Podlich's daughters studied. The school also no longer exists.

One of the professor's daughters is Peg.

Students of the Pedagogical College in Kabul.

The mosque of Shah-do-Shamshir (the lord of the two swords) in Kabul. It was near the mosque in 2015 that a mob lynched 27-year-old Farhanda Malikzada after her dispute with an amulet dealer who accused the woman of burning the Koran. This case showed the real situation regarding women's rights in Afghanistan.

A man prepares a sweet dessert jalebi on an open fire.

During a chemistry lesson.

On the bus going from Kabul to Peshawar, Pakistan.

Royal Hill in Pagman Gardens.

All that remains of one of the Buddha statues in the Bamiyan Valley, which was erected in the VI century AD. In 2001, both statues were destroyed by the Taliban.

During road repairs.

Afghan Army parade in Kabul.

The Salang Tunnel, which connects the northern and southern parts of the country, was built by Soviet specialists in 1964 under the impassable Salang Pass.