Overland 1972 - Day 48

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Day 48 - Thursday 30th March

Today would be the last one in Kabul. I had to return to the clothes shop as some of the seams on my jacket needed strengthening. It was nearly 11am and so I had about an hour to get to the site of the Noon Gun. I walked out of town along the river and although I could see the fortications in the distance, I had trouble finding the route to get there. Too late the gun fired ! I stopped in a small village and had a drink - everywhere was very decrepit and dirty. I returned to the main road and met a few fellow travellers - two Japanese and a Singaporean. The latter was very talkative but he gave a depressing view of India (my next port of call). We arrived at Babur's garden which held the tomb of the first Moghal emperor ( and descendent of Genghis Khan) - the mausoleum was small but had a very impressive marble setting. We continued the walk and arrived at the top of the mountain where the Noon Gun was sited. The mountain provided a stunning view over Kabul and the surrounding snow capped mountains. It was good to have a rest as the walk was quite tiring especially as the day was sunny although there was a slightly chilly breeze.

I returned to the city and the Hotel Halel which played english records and served pretty good food. I had a reasonable looking beefsteak for 25 Afghanis. Next stop was the Hotel Metropole where you could read the Kabul Times - Asian news but in english.

When I arrived back at my hotel, I was informed that I had a new room mate. She was a NZ girl whose last job was working in London at the Comedy theatre in the Haymarket. She had run out of money in Kandahar and was seeking financial assistance from the British Embassy. She had experienced a few problems including being threatened by four women in Kandahar who wanted to take some blood to help her overcome evil spirits - apparently after a bad drug trip - luckily she manged to evade them. The Kiwi was very talkative and so the evening passed very quickly.

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