Afghan living room
Balkh, Afghanistan
The inside of a traditional adobe farmhouse can be surprisingly bright and cheery. This farmer's house lacks any furnishings except carpets on the floor (for sitting) and a samovar (for warmth and heating up water for tea). Bedding is rolled out onto the carpets at night.
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caryn lawson writes:
This could have been the living room of my house in Kabul when I was a Peace Corps volunteer in the the late 1970's. What you refer to as a samovar, in the background, is actually called a bokhari. It was indeed used for heating. In Kabul, they were usually wood or saw dust burning. I can still recal the strong smell of wood smoke in the air on winter nights. We perched a metal can, filled with hot water and a glass jar with yougurt starter and milk, on top of it to make our own yogurt.