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Published: March 28th 2006
Our last three days were a blur of museums and shopping. On one of the last nights, one of my roommates and I went to dinner at the 5-star Serena Hotel. It was like being in a whole other world - and we got to see Kabul at night for the first (and only) time. After 8 pm, the streets of Kabul look like a ghost town. No lights, no cars, no noise.
One of my favorite memories of Afghanistan will be our time at Babur's tomb and garden in Kabul. Babur, the founder of India's Moghul empire, occupied Afghanistan during the 16th Century. Although he died in India in 1630, it was his wish to be buried in his garden, in Kabul, so his body was returned to the city. Much of the garden and its walls had been destroyed during the civil war in Afghanistan, but after the fall of the Taliban, several countries and the Aga Khan trust began restoration of the grounds. It is a very peaceful and beautiful place. While we were there, preparing to leave, our van driver put on a tape of Afghan pop-dance music that we all had come to like, and
we sat in the van, doing "synchonized van sitting/dancing" while we waited for stragglers from the other van to gather and leave; some of the workers on the grounds noticed us "dancing" in the vans, and they decided to join in...the music was turned up, and a great cross-cultural time was had by all. 😊
We also visited the National Gallery, which is open only by appointment. Much of the work in the Gallery is on loan from other nations, with the artist of such works denoted as "Foreigner." The Taliban destroyed much of the art during their reign, particularly those things which depicted humans or other living things. Christina Lamb detailed the extent to which art curators at the museum tried to protect the works by hiding them or paining over them with watercolors in her book
The Sewing Circles of Herat. We went to Darulaman Palace, which can only be viewed from a distance. It is currently a shell of its former self, literally, but money to renovate it cannot be justified when there is so much else to be done in Afghanistan. It is guarded by NATO forces, and hopefully, will be restored or preserved
in the years to come. It's destruction came through the years of civil war between the Taliban and others.
We did the whole Chicken Street/Flower Street shopping scene, but I wasn't impressed enough to buy much of anything. I bought a few trinkets - locks in the shape of animals, an oil lamp, hats, and purses. A few people in the group bought rugs.
On my final day, I realized that I still had about $50 in Afghan money. My roommates and I decided that we would take a "photo safari" of the neighborhood, and I decided that I would spend/give away the last of my Afghan money since it was no good elsewhere. I also put a $20 US bill in my pocket just in case I ran across something that I "had" to buy.
As we walked and snapped photos, people would greet us. Whenever a kid greeted us, I would shake their hand and discreetly give them some of the money I needed to get rid of - I accidentally gave a kid who was minding a shack-store and who looked to be about 5 my $20 bill...he was very happy!
When we got
to the airport, the security process was strict and yet harried. Our guides and drivers couldn't accompany us to the terminal, so we said quick and sad goodbyes. The flight to Dubai was uneventful - and we even had a celebrity with us - Peter Bergen, the author and CNN terrorism analyst. We joked that with him on board, we'd at least make the news if our plane crashed.
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A. D. Kay
non-member comment
Thanks for sharing your amazing trip!
Hi, I founds your blog via your link in one of your DailyKos comments. What an amazing trip! I collect Afghani tribal saddlebags and am fascinated by the culture. It was criminal for the Bush administration to abandon them. The Afghans have suffered so much.