Life before the Taliban: Fascinating photos show short skirts, flash cars and no burkas before Afghanistan plunged into hell
The collection was shot by university professor Dr. Bill Podlich from Arizona during a two-year stint with Unesco
The amateur photographer set out to document the serene way of life in Afghanistan featuring locals and scenery
Images include school pupils happily playing, a smiling boy decorating cakes, and people swimming in the river
Friends: Pictured are Afghan girls coming home from school. The girls, as well as boys, were educated up to the high-school level, and although both sexes wore uniforms, the girls were not allowed to wear a chadri on their way to secondary school. Able young women attended college, as did the men
Play time: Young students in blue uniforms can be seen dancing to music in a school playground
These fascinating photographs from Afghanistan in the 1960s are a far cry from the war-torn images in the news today.
The eye-opening collection was captured by university professor Dr Bill Podlich from Arizona, who swapped life in America to travel to Kabul with his wife, Margaret, and two teenage daughters, Jan and Peg.
Using his Kodachrome film, his images show a peaceful Afghanistan making strides towards a more liberal and Westernised lifestyle - a stark contrast to harrowing sights seen during Taliban regime.
