Overland 1972 - Day 46

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Day 46 - Tuesday 28th March

It was one of those quiet days which a traveller needs every now and again. I sat on the verandah of my hotel and read some of the travel brochures, which I had acquired from the Indian Embassy in London. It would appear that heading south would be impractical due to time limitations and the potential heat. After lunch I headed towards the bazaar. En route I met the Canadian traveller who had returned from Bamian - he enjoyed the spectacle of the region and the statues but was totally unnerved by the flight. We were invited into a bakery which had about seven staff working on all of the processes from kneading the dough to preparation for delivery - there did not seem to be any direct selling though. They gave us some piping hot flat bread to try - it was delicious. Some of the cooking was done in an underground oven by the entrance and almost in the street - interesting. On leaving the bakery, the Canadian guy headed towards the nearby mosque but strangely some of the local men discouraged him from entering and become very agitated - outside of Friday prayers, you are normally invited inside with enthusiasm. I wandered further through the bazaar. There were lots of really unusual jewellery and chickens everywhere - to western eyes, it is always strange to see live chickens hung up by cords round their legs.

It was time for a treat. I had walked passed the Kyber restaurant several times and had been enticed by the fresh looking salads, which of course are top of the foods to be avoided by travellers as clearly there are uncooked. Anyway the restaurant looked extremely clean and so well worth the risk. Yes I had a salad and then a piece of cake to satisfy my sweet tooth. After I left, I fumbled for my wallet - not there. I must have left it at the Kyber restaurant but the waiters had not found anything despite the girls at the next table confiming that no-one else had sat there after me. So that was that - £5 in cash, £1 in Afghanis and my Turkish student card lost.

I returned to the hotel and had to rush to the toilet - yes a few rumblings were starting to cause some discomfort. I met Michael and Heather and we decided that rather than all of us waiting here in Kabul that they would travel on towards Pakistan and I would wait behind for the delivery of the replacement International student cards from London -after all it was my fault that they were stolen in Istanbul.

During the night I felt extremely bad and at 4am I rushed from my room (no en-suite in those days) and in my desperation filled the sink in the hotel corridor with sick ! Charming but I was too ill to care and just about managed to drag myself back to bed. I guess it was the salad and I had no more uncooked vegetables until I reached Australia - lesson learnt !

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