Herat

Herat is where Miriam's father lives. Miriam and her mother live in a hut on the outskirts of this place in the hills.

Kabul

Kabul is where Rasheed has a shoemaking business and it is where Miriam goes when she is married off to him. It is also where Laila and Tariq live and it is where the novel concludes, as Laila and Tariq return there with their family after the wars are over.

Shahr-e-Sohak

This is where two enormous Buddhas have been carved into the cliffs of an ancient city. The Islamists dynamite these Buddhas, much to Laila's dismay. She had visited there with her father and Tariq, climbing to the top together to look out on the valley below.

Pakistan

This is where Afghani refugees flee to from the wars in Afghanistan. Laila and Tariq live there for a time before they return to Kabul...