nomadicanuk

September 7, 2006 The recent days in Jalalibad though expensive have been well worth it. Recuperating and doing nothing for several days besides playing risk and reading has really helped our spirits and the stories from the other "guests" are amazing. After a brief interview with the Consul on our intentions in Pakistan and some questions about Europe and North America we have our passports...I still don't understand why he was positive I was ethnic afghan..must be the beard.... Our new friends from the UN arrange us a 4x4 vehicle and a reliable driver that will get us to the border within a few hours and also facilitate our crossing. Once we arrive a contact from our new friends, a Major is to arrange transport to Peshawar and ensure our safety while going through customs. Everything ... read more

Sept 2 After a paranoid night of restless sleep...including a lame attempt at barakading the door with the nightstand it was off to the usual place for milk tea and deepfried dough of some kind. Today since the embassy is closed we have decided to head to west Kabul to see some of the destruction caused by the heavy fighting that took place there over the recent years. This also brought us to the Kabul zoo though its lacluster entrance made us skip right to the destroyed buildings. After wandering around for several hours of streets with old fortified watchtowers and a side trip to a shelled out cinema. A local gave us a guided tour all the way to the roof were great views of the surounding area. After attempting to further follow the streets ... read more

August 31 THE ROAD TO KABUL..VIA JALALABAD Torkham, the border crossing and its very few buildings was packed with people. Shortly before the bus came to the crowds of men, burqas and wheelbarrows transporting all sorts of goods (also the elderly that weren..t able to walk), other people in the bus wanted us to pull up the curtains, so that nobody would see our pasty white faces. Torkham witnesses violence and shootings quite frequently. Smugglers, random armed men, tribesmen, Pashtuns, the heat, the endless waiting hours sometimes bubble up, and seeing westerners passing through occasionally arouses anger. Especially since all officials want us to pass through as quickly as possible, for fear of something happening to us, some locals see it as an insult. So peeking through the yellow curtains we crawled past the ocean of ... read more

August 26 After finding a suzuki ride to Aliabad its onwards on top of a local bus to Gilgit. The several hour ride allows for great mountain views, a great tan and witnessing some great rockslides. In Gilgit its time to check in at the Madina Hotel a great place though the food was not as great as in karimabad. Gilgit is an interesting city with a heavy military presence and more of an islamic feel compared to Hunza. After some discussion I finally make the decision to head to Kabul and see Afghanistan first hand. The hotel manager tells us about a local Polo game and its off to discover the city. At the New Polo grounds we're disapointed to only find some local kids playing soccer and a brand new toyota pickup truck with ... read more

August 21 After a leasurely morning breakfast with tea and omelets it was too late for a big trip so it was time for the Yangzt Vally. Even though it was clearly described by the hotel manager I completely missed the turnoff for this hike and ended up further down the road, using a rockslide to scramble to the old path, after walking the channel for a bit I realize why it now is called the old path as a rockslide has completely taken out the path that was previously carved into the mountain side. Rather than backtracking all the way to the right path it was time for some more Indiana Jones action by clambering around the slide, the most worriesome aspect being the cars and villagers directly below me and the loos rock. Afterwards ... read more