Mud brick ranges in color from buff to khaki to more red shades as well. Cinder block is possible, but rare in remote areas. Cinder block is painted.
Buildings in the same compound or village will more often than not be the same color. Some might be whitewashed (rare).
More often government buildings or mosques may be painted. Mosques may also have blue domes. Occasionally a pattern will be painted on the building simulating irregular stonework. The individual "rocks" will often be different shades of brown ranging from buff to chocolate. This is rare, however.
Graffiti is evident in some cases, often a political party advertisement and usually only on walls facing major roads. Also, businesses will have their signs hand painted, often crudely, but professionally produced signs are common in the bigger towns and cities.
Most buildings in villages or separate compounds will more often than not have domes on them to shed water. The domes may be circular at the base, or oblong, depending on the shape of the building. The rainy season lasts two or three months and my experience this year was it rained every other day for the month of April and half of May.
There are few windows. Chimneys may be evident, usually looking like a monk's cowl sticking out of the apex of a dome. Small holes in compound walls at ground level are evident as well. Possibly to allow the passage of small animals and children. I haven't asked any locals.
Compound perimeters are more often than not rectangular, however I have seen irregularly shaped compounds. This is probably due to topography on a micro level or even some issue known only to the inhabitants of the village/district. Walls are usually arrow straight, but curved walls are possible.
Compound yards might have rather lush gardens bordering on small farm plots. Fruits, vegetables, even grains are grown. Trees are evident in many of them as well, some bearing fruit. Compound walls may be up to 10 feet high, although I have seen waist-high walls, as well, especially around larger agricultural plots.
Compound entrances will be shuttered with a metal door, custom-fit made by a local metal wright out of angled or tubular steel and sheet metal. These are often painted. Indeed, it may be the only color on the compound. Red, blue, green, any color you can imagine is used. Sometimes these are vehicle-width, but usually just big enough for a person to pass.
In villages, compound walls will butt up right against the street (using the word street very liberally here). There are usually ditches and 5-10 yards of ground between major (i.e. paved) roads and compound walls.
Antennae ranging from over-the-air television antennae to satellite dishes are evident. You have your choice of a small gasoline or diesel powered generator or a stack of batteries powered by the family Toyota for electrical power in the villages.
"Running" water consists of running to the ditch out front or to the town well.
These direct observations definitely apply to villages and separate compounds in Herat and Farah Provinces. I'd guess they apply to the rest of the country, as well. Of course, regional differences will apply. Larger towns and cities require a more in-depth study then I'm prepared to give at the moment. Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police stations, outposts and checkpoints deserve a separate study as well.
Hope this helps.
