Last fall, photographer Beth Wald accompanied veteran reporter Rob Schultheis on a trip to Afghanistan. They toured the southern city of Ghazni, Kabul and the mountains to the northeast, the central highlands around Bamiyan, and the far northern province of Balkh. The wounds of the recently completed war against the Taliban and Al Qaeda were still raw, but they found the Afghan people already firmly fixed on the future. These are some of Wald's remarkable images from that trip. A farmer with his donkey loaded with forage walks toward the setting sun above the town of Bamiyan. If peace returns to Afghanistan, people hope that the sustainable way of life they have practiced for centuries can resume. photo by Beth Wald