So, what is Afghanistan like now? St. Germain helps peel back some of the layers of that onion as he travels to Mt. Noshaq, talking and travelling with locals from the capital, Kabul, in the

centre to the north of the country near the Tajikistan border.

As St. Germain confirms, the Taliban deserves its record as having one of the worst human rights

records of any government in the world, largely because of its brutal treatment of women.

Hunger also remains an issue, with one in four people needing food aid, according to the UN. And as St. Germain notes, that is not as dire as many had predicted. We also get into the debate

about the pluses, minuses and dangers of travelling in a pariah state. As much as he's an extreme adventurer, doing amazing things like climbing the highest peaks on all seven continents or rowing solo across the Atlantic Ocean, what I love about St. Germain is that he is also a student of history, geography and current events, and he brings all of that to his expeditions.