Sign In
Blogs from Afghanistan, Asia - page 18
Advertisement
February 26th 2005
actually got out of the compound.. was fun running the gaunlet of carts and tanks and children walking the streets. There is this really big hole next to where i work here at the New Embassy Complex. It is the start of the Hilton Hotel Kabul.. they put this massive crane up.. dug a big hole and then stopped.. Its a great location right next to the mebassy and near the airport.. but nobodies doing anything.. guess there afriad that the bad guys are gonna come back and invade.. I promise pictures soon.. until then.. My afghan adventure continues..\ tc... read more
February 25th 2005
Well i finally broke down and went shopping today.. it was ODD to be on the roads.. in this big vehicle and see a man and a donkey cart going along the road next to me..It has been very cold here it is winter after all.. We had some VIP folks around Hillary Clinton and John McCain.. yeah fine big deal..all they did was clog traffic even worse and we cant get mail when they come as the security tightens even worse than it already is.We even had a Rush Limbaugh sighting.. yawn......... It has taken a full 2 weeks to get myself adjusted here the altitude caused me to be woozy often.. like i had been on a roller coaster all day..This city is soo dirty.. burning wood for heat doesnt help..and with no services ... read more
February 6th 2005
Well today is the day of packing and doing the laundry to see what fits and doesnt fit.. Gonna watch the Eagles and take a trophy down broad street.. 76 hrs and counting.. TC... read more
November 18th 2004
I don't really feel like writing, but I suppose I ought to before I forget too much. I am kind of upset by what an enormous pain the holiday of Ramazan has been to me. It was fun sharing food with people at sunset, but when I arrived in Kabul, the post Ramazan holiday had begun, and just about everything was closed. I've been trying to get my Pakistani visa now for 5 days. I was 3 days in Kabul, and then I came to Jalalabad consulate, where it's supposedly easier to get. It seems though, that Ramazan was not yet inconvenient enough for me, and Pakistan's holiday lasts a day longer. So I settled down in Jalalabad, played billiards and cricket with some of the local boy, enjoyed a nice picnic of kebab and ... read more
November 11th 2004
An update on what I've been doing the past few days. I've settled into Mazar-i-Sharif, now a regular at one juice stand and an Indian restaurant, which is nice. Mazar is a dirty, dusty city, filled with beggars, but it has one of the most amazing structures in the Islamic world, the shrine of Ali. It's really impressive in person, the photos I'd seen of it before didn't really do it justice, and neither do mine, as you can probably see. The highlight of my time in Mazar was a side trip I took to Balkh, probably Afghanistan's oldest city, and the birthplace of Zoroaster. It's filled with ruins, the city was huge before being completely levelled by Jenghiz Khan. It was fun walking around the site where the city used to be, it's littered ... read more
Advertisement
November 7th 2004
I thought I'd just write about some minor things, conversations I've had in the last couple of days, which I find very interesting and will certainly forget to write about if I don't now. Last time I wrote I was headed off to my first bastion of Western culture in Afghanistan. I love Afghanistan because it's certainly the country that's retained it's culture more than any other I've visited. I met a guy yesterday who mistook me for a German he met a couple of months ago. He showed me around the city, but most interestingly he told me about Afghan dating. It's amazing how un-free you are to do what you want here. As we would walk, he would point to a girl and say, 'ohh, she's very beautiful.' and all I could see ... read more
March 31st 1972
Day 49 - Friday 31st March I was very worried about the NZ girl and how she would survive without any money. So I negotiated with the manager of the hotel - a pair of my albeit old western shoes to pay for a few nights rent and some food. I left for the Ariana airline office for 8am. Most of my fellow passengers were Americans and Canadians. The proceedure through the airport was fairly slow. I noticed that two travellers were arrested (believed to be for drugs offences) but most people were not searched at all. We all sat in the lounge waiting for the plane - alas I did not have any Afghanis left and therefore could not buy a drink. As a near virgin air traveller, I found the flight quite unnerving. However ... read more
March 30th 1972
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 ... read more
March 29th 1972
Day 47 - Wednesday 29th March I was still feeling off colour and was worrying at the prospect of being left in a sickly state in Kabul whilst my friends moved miles away on towards Pakistan. Fortunately by midday, my health started to improve and I began to feel hungry - clearly a good sign. By 2pm, I felt well enough to walk to the Post Office and to my relief, my post included a package containing the replacement student cards, which would be vital in reducing fares throughout Asia - and of course everyone knows that so many cards are counterfeit and risk not being accepted. I could now go to the Ariana offices (Afghan airlines) and arrange for an ongoing flight into India. I was informed that fares would be going up in April. ... read more
March 28th 1972
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. ... read more
