Blogs from Afghanistan, Asia

Geo: 36.7081, 71.5729The southern route nicely takes you down the warmer souththen nicely drops you into the valley that separates Tajik from Afghanistan.Right from the onset the road is bad, the recent rains having caused some chaosand further damaged an already damaged road.So the first night we try to get close to the river and camponly to be sprung by some Tajik military doods so were not so keen for us to doso… eventually found a camp site under some trees and reasonably well off theroad. Cooked dinner and was about to make a coffee when Lisa exclaimed Darrenthere is something running at your foot… well even before I looked I jumped andalmost brained my self on the canopy…. Looked around and in the torch light sawthe biggest ugliest nastiest spider I have ever seen…. Good ... read more

Dimanche 3 novembre : Prends le taxi pour l’aéroport. Prends le vol MTL – Washington, le vol c’est bien passé. Aéroport de Washington, OK, achat de magasines et de hot-dog. Vol Washington – Dubaï, OK. Regardé 2 films de notre époque : Jobs, sur la vie de Steve Jobs, fondateur d’Apple, et The Internship, comédie sur 2 gars qui font un stage chez Google. Lundi 4 novembre : Arrivé à Dubaï. Direction hôtel, 300 $ pour une bonne douche et 6 heures de sommeil. Mon traditionnel WacDo de l’aéroport de Dubaï. Vol Dubaï – Kabul, OK. Mardi 5 novembre : Finalement de retour à Kabul. Le transport a oublié de venir me chercher. J’attends plus d’une heure sous une pluie battante. Il y aura un temps de merde pour les 3-4 prochains jours. Une fois arrivé ... read more

Mardi 10 septembre : Première vrai journée de travail depuis longtemps. On doit notamment prendre des numéros de séries de deux vieux camions russes qui seront donnes à la commission électorale ultérieurement. Rencontre de 10 :30 à 12 :30, avec mon principal interlocuteur local, le responsable de la commission électoral de la province de Paktya, dont Gardez est la capitale, énumération d’une série de problèmes et de grieffe que je devrais essayer de trouver réponses au cours de la prochaine année; shelter pour un générateur, réparer un générateur d’appui, employés non payes depuis quelques mois, manque d’espace de travail, insécurité, etc. Je commence déjà à écrire le rapport hebdomadaire. Souper, poisson et purée avec salade. Mercredi 11 septembre : Compte tenu de la date au calendrier, on se doit de demeurer très prudent. On assiste quand ... read more

Hello again! Sorry it's been a while, but wifi costs money in OZ, unlike in Asia... Here are a few of our favourite moments so far from Australia. - Cape Hillsborough. This place was famous for a huge beach that at dawn and dusk attracts all the wallabies and kangaroos who go to eat sandworms. We didn't see any on the beach but it was our first encounter with a kangaroo. Steph was down at the camp kitchen when she came running back up to the van, I bumped into her and she said there was a kangaroo. We went back down and there, surrounded by kids stroking it was a kangaroo, eating the grass, seemingly oblivious to all the attention. We could stroke it and pose for photos with it, it was an unforgettable first ... read more

d ese I've discovered a new way to explore ... the bycicle ... and that coming from a Dutchie... not only does it take mi to places i would never end up while going for a walk, the exercise is doing wonders to mi body and soul ... so instead of going to Angkor Wat on my first day i decided to explore the town. A few km from the hotel i stopped for my first temple visit. A few buddists were playing chanting music on local instruments and as i relaxed in a lotus position, i felt an overwhelming sensation of letting go of everything ... somewhat the purpose of this trip ... within minutes of quiet the tears moistened my eyes, i somewhat felt like a fool, however i kept breathing deeply and soon ... read more