It is sometimes funny to see how things from one place show up in another place where you really would not expect it. For example I was quite surprised to find the lorry from Skara in Pisco, Peru.
Maybe less surprising, but still quite funny were all the German tourist busses in Kabul. Not tourist busses in the sense that German tourists were travelling to Kabul by bus, no these busses had made their journey on their own and were now in use as transport between cities. The funny thing was that they were still in original paint with the German company name painted on the side or “Ferienreisen” in large letters all over. The best ones were the ones that had had to be repainted by one reason or another and when doing that the Afghans who most likely did not know any German at all spelt it all rather, well let’s say, creatively….
On leaving Afghanistan I also noticed another sign of German influence. In my passport!!
Maybe that is actually not so strange, as I know the Germans are supporting training of the Afghan police and security sector reform. But somehow one could think they could have provided them with new stamps instead of giving them old German ones. So now I have in my passport two stamps from Kabul International Airport showing entry on the 12 and exit on the 20 “März” 2008!!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Travelling from the Couch
I have just done something I very rarely (never?) do. I have just re-read a book.
When I was at my parent’s place for Easter I found Åsne Seinerstads book The Bookseller of Kabul. I read it when it was quite new and liked it. At that time of course I never knew I would go to Afghanistan, even though I have always wanted to travel to that part of the world. Now I thought it could be interesting to read the book again, after having been there myself. It was. It definitely gave another dimension to it. I recognised a lot of the things, places and situations she described. But I could also better understand something else. The author has been criticised for the way she treated the family in the book; for putting words and thoughts in their mind that she could not know about etc. That is also something that I have been thinking about when writing on my blog. Of course my blog is not by far read by as many people as her books, and my blog is mostly for showing friends and family what I am up to, but as anyone can go in there, I still have tried to show respect and to be careful when choosing the pictures to post and about not mentioning names and sites etc. That is one of the reasons I did not post any of the pictures that I took at my driver’s home and the reason I haven’t given his full name etc.
The movie based on the book The Kite Runner went up on cinemas in Sweden this weekend. I liked the book and think I would like to see the film, but still I am afraid to get disappointed. I am afraid the feeling and atmosphere I got when reading the book will be difficult to capture in a film. And the trailers I have seen on it has seemed a bit “flat” to me. But maybe I will still have to see it. Anyone who has seen it and can recommend or comment on it?!
When I was at my parent’s place for Easter I found Åsne Seinerstads book The Bookseller of Kabul. I read it when it was quite new and liked it. At that time of course I never knew I would go to Afghanistan, even though I have always wanted to travel to that part of the world. Now I thought it could be interesting to read the book again, after having been there myself. It was. It definitely gave another dimension to it. I recognised a lot of the things, places and situations she described. But I could also better understand something else. The author has been criticised for the way she treated the family in the book; for putting words and thoughts in their mind that she could not know about etc. That is also something that I have been thinking about when writing on my blog. Of course my blog is not by far read by as many people as her books, and my blog is mostly for showing friends and family what I am up to, but as anyone can go in there, I still have tried to show respect and to be careful when choosing the pictures to post and about not mentioning names and sites etc. That is one of the reasons I did not post any of the pictures that I took at my driver’s home and the reason I haven’t given his full name etc.
The movie based on the book The Kite Runner went up on cinemas in Sweden this weekend. I liked the book and think I would like to see the film, but still I am afraid to get disappointed. I am afraid the feeling and atmosphere I got when reading the book will be difficult to capture in a film. And the trailers I have seen on it has seemed a bit “flat” to me. But maybe I will still have to see it. Anyone who has seen it and can recommend or comment on it?!
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Culture Shock!
So, now I am back in Sweden again, got back yesterday. It feels ok. My luggage got stuck in Vienna. Of course! My luggage always gets stuck in Vienna. I think I will try to avoid transit in Vienna in the future. It now has arrived in Stockholm, but will not get from there to The Small Town until Monday because it is Easter! Anyway I went directly to my parents’ place to avoid spending more time in The Small Town than is absolutely necessary.
From Kabul we flew to Dubai again, and even though we had some problems with the customs because of the flak jackets, we had quite a lot of time between our flights. My colleague’s brother lives in Abu Dhabi and works and he came and picked up together with a cousin who lives in Dubai. They took us out for dinner on the town, very nice! They took us to a big shopping mall, not too far away from the airport, by Dubai creek. It was quite some difference from Kabul! I somehow felt it a little difficult to grasp, that on the same day I had lunch in a clay hut in a dusty street in Kabul and in the evening I had dinner on this terrace in a glitzy, shiny, all gold, marble (fake!) and crystal shopping mall, overlooking the yachts in the harbour in Dubai. It was very nice. I loved the place and all the beautiful people frequenting it, but it somehow also felt completely absurd. That huge difference in wealth and lifestyle only separated by a two hours flight. Completely absurd! And as my colleague and I had not had the time to change clothes we felt very dusty and dirty in that shiny environment.
Landing in Sweden did not make the culture shock less. Here it was a snow storm when I arrived! Flying is definitely a fantastic way of travelling, but sometimes I wonder if it is not too fast. Sometimes I would prefer to let the transport take some time to let my mind adjust slowly and to digest all the impressions on the way.
I will soon post pictures from my trip to Afghanistan here on the blog. I will just have to sort them out first and get back to my own computer and the photo software I am used to. So just stay tuned!
From Kabul we flew to Dubai again, and even though we had some problems with the customs because of the flak jackets, we had quite a lot of time between our flights. My colleague’s brother lives in Abu Dhabi and works and he came and picked up together with a cousin who lives in Dubai. They took us out for dinner on the town, very nice! They took us to a big shopping mall, not too far away from the airport, by Dubai creek. It was quite some difference from Kabul! I somehow felt it a little difficult to grasp, that on the same day I had lunch in a clay hut in a dusty street in Kabul and in the evening I had dinner on this terrace in a glitzy, shiny, all gold, marble (fake!) and crystal shopping mall, overlooking the yachts in the harbour in Dubai. It was very nice. I loved the place and all the beautiful people frequenting it, but it somehow also felt completely absurd. That huge difference in wealth and lifestyle only separated by a two hours flight. Completely absurd! And as my colleague and I had not had the time to change clothes we felt very dusty and dirty in that shiny environment.
Landing in Sweden did not make the culture shock less. Here it was a snow storm when I arrived! Flying is definitely a fantastic way of travelling, but sometimes I wonder if it is not too fast. Sometimes I would prefer to let the transport take some time to let my mind adjust slowly and to digest all the impressions on the way.
I will soon post pictures from my trip to Afghanistan here on the blog. I will just have to sort them out first and get back to my own computer and the photo software I am used to. So just stay tuned!
Nauroz Mubarak!
My last day in Kabul I managed to do some more sightseeing before going to the airport. I suppose any security adviser would say that what I did is exactly what you should not do, but when it is only about me, myself and I, I like to do my own security assessments and this far that has always worked out well. I am careful, not afraid!
The recommendations was to stay away from the Nauroz celebrations and big public crowds as these can be a very soft target for insurgents, terrorists and/or criminals, but I had discussed the plans of the day yesterday with my driver and he came and picked me up a little earlier and took me to see how the Kabulis celebrate new year. Well, the few of them that were left. He meant that 25% of the people in Kabul had already left for Mazar, which is the place to be on Nauruz. So the streets were fairly empty and quite. Those who were left took it up the hills and the mountains, on all the hills in and around Kabul you could see a lot of people. My driver took me to Bibi Maru Hill.
Already from a distance you can tell that there is something wrong and weird with the hill. It is not very high and has a flat top. There are no buildings on it and hardly a road worth the name going up to the top; still you see from a distance a big diving board on top of the hill. It belongs to an Olympic sized pool that the Russians built, but that hardly ever had any water in it because of the difficulties to pump water up to the top of a hill.
During the war they found an alternative use for the diving board; as an execution site. Then I must say I think they found better use for it now.
When we came up to the top of the hill we saw a big crowd of people on the bottom of the empty pool, there was music and there was dancing, lot of kids were climbing the diving board; the pool was turned into a spot for party and celebration!
There were a lot of people everywhere; everyone dressed up in their best clothes. Between two of the old deserted, rusting, Russian tanks was a man selling colourful balloons! Quite an absurd thing!
From the hill we could look down at another party site; a cemetery! My driver, Khan, asked me if I wanted to go there. First I was hesitating. Not so much for security reasons, but more for the fact that it felt a little bit as showing up at a party you are not invited to, and being the only westerner by far, I easily attracted attention and kids quickly started asking for “one dollar, please mister, one dollar”. But I understood that my driver wanted to go there; and from the hill he had pointed out the house where he is living, so I understood that this is his home ground. That was one factor that convinced me to let him take me there (another of course my notorious curiosity). I decided not to look upon my self as an uninvited stranger, but as a guest from overseas, invited by my driver to his neighbourhood, then it felt better. That also made me able to move around more relaxed, it also meant I had someone who could translate for me and tell me what was the right behaviour and when it was ok to take pictures etc.
It was an interesting and fascinating experience, walking around among the tombstones and mausoleums, seeing people setting up their picnics between the headstones, vendors selling everything from tea and snacks to kites and toys.
There was also a man-driven merry-go-around.
There was something else that was also wrong with the mountain. Looking up the hill from the cemetary one could see a big bomb crater.
After a while I felt it was time to get going. I had made plans to have lunch with my colleague at the guest house before taking off to the airport, and my colleague also did not know what I was up to so I thought we’d better get moving. The Khan asked me if he could invite me to see his home and meet his family. I was completely surprised, I had not expected that. I did not really know what to answer as I realised this was an honour and I was flattered, I knew Khan was Pashtun and I had read and heard a lot of the Pashtu hospitality, but at the same time I knew we were short of time. I asked Khan how long it would take us and he assured me that we would have time, so we went there.
We drove along the bumpy dirt tracks of the narrow alleys between the mud walls that are hiding all houses in Kabul until we stopped in front of a green gate. The gate was opened by a young boy and we drove into the yard. The compound consisted of three or four connected houses around yards, one of them had a small garden. It was all very simple, but very clean and tidy. In the dusty environment I guess they have to sweep the yard, the paths and the floors several times a day. I met the mother and the father of Khan, his younger sister and a sister in law and a bunch of nephews and nieces. I immediately felt very welcome and they all looked happy to see me there. Only the sister in law could speak a few words in English and welcomed me to Afghanistan. So did the father and the mother in Khan’s translation. The women and the children all rushed up to me to shake my hand, but not the father. I knew this could be the case and I am think I did well not to expect that and also to put my hand to the chest and greet him that way, it somehow came automatically and I did not feel less welcomed by him because of this. He was a very dignified man with a magnificent black beard. Later Khan told me that he is an attorney and a member of the parliament. The women and children were all very excited to have me there and showed me in to the living room. First I was invited to sit on the floor, but then someone objected and showed me to the next room where there was a low table with a sofa and three chairs. I believe sitting there was regarded as better than sitting on the floor. The sister in law brought her six months baby and gave him to me to hold.
I was asked if I wanted food or some tea. In a combination of not wanting to cause them a lot of work, shortage of time and a fear of being served something that I could not eat, I answered that I had lunch waiting for me at the guest house and that I only wanted some tea. But nevertheless the sister came in with a jug of water, a washing bowl, and a towel and she poured water over my hands over the washing bowl so I could wash my hands. Then a big sheet of naan bread was divided between me and Khan, a big tray of rice, a bowl of meat stew, some spinach and fresh vegetables were put on the table and voila; lunch was served. I felt a little bit awkward, both because I did not really knew how do deal with this, but I just looked at what Khan did and did the same, and because the others were not eating but only watching us and also I could not help wondering if this food would make me sick, mostly because I did not know about the quality of the water they had. But I found the food looking very fresh and nice, and I though that even if it would make me sick, this was my last day and hopefully I would make it back home before it broke out. I only stayed away from the uncooked vegetables but ate from the rest and it was delicious! However, we could not stay for too long but had to go back to get my colleague and the luggage and go to the airport. Before we left Khan also presented me with one of his works, a portrait of a man framed with flower patterns and calligraphy. Very nice! Before we left I took a picture of the family, unfortunately not with the father, but Khan and the women and children and his sister also wanted to be photographed together with me.
I am so happy my driver invited me to his home and I am so happy I went there! It is so important to meet real people when one is out travelling, maybe especially in my work and in a country as Afghanistan. Otherwise it is easy that one start to look at everyone as a presumptive insurgent or a terrorist or a victim or some one in need of help and assistance, but of course the big majority is normal people like we. Seeing the preparations for the Nauroz celebrations and when Khan asked me what kind of holidays we celebrate I also started thinking about the similarities between our cultures. I told Khan that in Sweden we will celebrate Easter this weekend, at the same time as they are celebrating Nauroz, and just the way the Afghans have painted eggs and were playing egg fights for Nauroz, we have painted eggs for Easter and in some parts of Sweden I know they have egg fights too, as well as I know, eggs are en essential part of celebrations in other countries and cultures too at this time of the year. I guess it all have something to do with celebrating the arrival of spring and the spring equinox and such, and that it all goes much further back in the history of humankind than both Islam and Christianity. That makes me wonder what all the fuss is about! Why can’t we just accept that we are all humans with the same needs, hopes and wishes and try not to focus so much on what differs?
The recommendations was to stay away from the Nauroz celebrations and big public crowds as these can be a very soft target for insurgents, terrorists and/or criminals, but I had discussed the plans of the day yesterday with my driver and he came and picked me up a little earlier and took me to see how the Kabulis celebrate new year. Well, the few of them that were left. He meant that 25% of the people in Kabul had already left for Mazar, which is the place to be on Nauruz. So the streets were fairly empty and quite. Those who were left took it up the hills and the mountains, on all the hills in and around Kabul you could see a lot of people. My driver took me to Bibi Maru Hill.
Already from a distance you can tell that there is something wrong and weird with the hill. It is not very high and has a flat top. There are no buildings on it and hardly a road worth the name going up to the top; still you see from a distance a big diving board on top of the hill. It belongs to an Olympic sized pool that the Russians built, but that hardly ever had any water in it because of the difficulties to pump water up to the top of a hill.
During the war they found an alternative use for the diving board; as an execution site. Then I must say I think they found better use for it now.
When we came up to the top of the hill we saw a big crowd of people on the bottom of the empty pool, there was music and there was dancing, lot of kids were climbing the diving board; the pool was turned into a spot for party and celebration!
There were a lot of people everywhere; everyone dressed up in their best clothes. Between two of the old deserted, rusting, Russian tanks was a man selling colourful balloons! Quite an absurd thing!
From the hill we could look down at another party site; a cemetery! My driver, Khan, asked me if I wanted to go there. First I was hesitating. Not so much for security reasons, but more for the fact that it felt a little bit as showing up at a party you are not invited to, and being the only westerner by far, I easily attracted attention and kids quickly started asking for “one dollar, please mister, one dollar”. But I understood that my driver wanted to go there; and from the hill he had pointed out the house where he is living, so I understood that this is his home ground. That was one factor that convinced me to let him take me there (another of course my notorious curiosity). I decided not to look upon my self as an uninvited stranger, but as a guest from overseas, invited by my driver to his neighbourhood, then it felt better. That also made me able to move around more relaxed, it also meant I had someone who could translate for me and tell me what was the right behaviour and when it was ok to take pictures etc.
It was an interesting and fascinating experience, walking around among the tombstones and mausoleums, seeing people setting up their picnics between the headstones, vendors selling everything from tea and snacks to kites and toys.
There was also a man-driven merry-go-around.
There was something else that was also wrong with the mountain. Looking up the hill from the cemetary one could see a big bomb crater.
After a while I felt it was time to get going. I had made plans to have lunch with my colleague at the guest house before taking off to the airport, and my colleague also did not know what I was up to so I thought we’d better get moving. The Khan asked me if he could invite me to see his home and meet his family. I was completely surprised, I had not expected that. I did not really know what to answer as I realised this was an honour and I was flattered, I knew Khan was Pashtun and I had read and heard a lot of the Pashtu hospitality, but at the same time I knew we were short of time. I asked Khan how long it would take us and he assured me that we would have time, so we went there.
We drove along the bumpy dirt tracks of the narrow alleys between the mud walls that are hiding all houses in Kabul until we stopped in front of a green gate. The gate was opened by a young boy and we drove into the yard. The compound consisted of three or four connected houses around yards, one of them had a small garden. It was all very simple, but very clean and tidy. In the dusty environment I guess they have to sweep the yard, the paths and the floors several times a day. I met the mother and the father of Khan, his younger sister and a sister in law and a bunch of nephews and nieces. I immediately felt very welcome and they all looked happy to see me there. Only the sister in law could speak a few words in English and welcomed me to Afghanistan. So did the father and the mother in Khan’s translation. The women and the children all rushed up to me to shake my hand, but not the father. I knew this could be the case and I am think I did well not to expect that and also to put my hand to the chest and greet him that way, it somehow came automatically and I did not feel less welcomed by him because of this. He was a very dignified man with a magnificent black beard. Later Khan told me that he is an attorney and a member of the parliament. The women and children were all very excited to have me there and showed me in to the living room. First I was invited to sit on the floor, but then someone objected and showed me to the next room where there was a low table with a sofa and three chairs. I believe sitting there was regarded as better than sitting on the floor. The sister in law brought her six months baby and gave him to me to hold.
I was asked if I wanted food or some tea. In a combination of not wanting to cause them a lot of work, shortage of time and a fear of being served something that I could not eat, I answered that I had lunch waiting for me at the guest house and that I only wanted some tea. But nevertheless the sister came in with a jug of water, a washing bowl, and a towel and she poured water over my hands over the washing bowl so I could wash my hands. Then a big sheet of naan bread was divided between me and Khan, a big tray of rice, a bowl of meat stew, some spinach and fresh vegetables were put on the table and voila; lunch was served. I felt a little bit awkward, both because I did not really knew how do deal with this, but I just looked at what Khan did and did the same, and because the others were not eating but only watching us and also I could not help wondering if this food would make me sick, mostly because I did not know about the quality of the water they had. But I found the food looking very fresh and nice, and I though that even if it would make me sick, this was my last day and hopefully I would make it back home before it broke out. I only stayed away from the uncooked vegetables but ate from the rest and it was delicious! However, we could not stay for too long but had to go back to get my colleague and the luggage and go to the airport. Before we left Khan also presented me with one of his works, a portrait of a man framed with flower patterns and calligraphy. Very nice! Before we left I took a picture of the family, unfortunately not with the father, but Khan and the women and children and his sister also wanted to be photographed together with me.
I am so happy my driver invited me to his home and I am so happy I went there! It is so important to meet real people when one is out travelling, maybe especially in my work and in a country as Afghanistan. Otherwise it is easy that one start to look at everyone as a presumptive insurgent or a terrorist or a victim or some one in need of help and assistance, but of course the big majority is normal people like we. Seeing the preparations for the Nauroz celebrations and when Khan asked me what kind of holidays we celebrate I also started thinking about the similarities between our cultures. I told Khan that in Sweden we will celebrate Easter this weekend, at the same time as they are celebrating Nauroz, and just the way the Afghans have painted eggs and were playing egg fights for Nauroz, we have painted eggs for Easter and in some parts of Sweden I know they have egg fights too, as well as I know, eggs are en essential part of celebrations in other countries and cultures too at this time of the year. I guess it all have something to do with celebrating the arrival of spring and the spring equinox and such, and that it all goes much further back in the history of humankind than both Islam and Christianity. That makes me wonder what all the fuss is about! Why can’t we just accept that we are all humans with the same needs, hopes and wishes and try not to focus so much on what differs?
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Kabul Sightseeing
Oh, today was a great day!!
We only had two meetings booked as it is a semi holyday (tomorrow it is Nawroz and the birthday of the prophet), first a lunch meeting with a NGO, then at five, another meeting. Between that I was trying to get a meeting with someone I met in Mazar, but as he did not pick up, I had a gap in the schedule the whole afternoon. My colleague had caught a cold and felt he could not attend the first meeting and asked if it was ok that I went on my own, which it of course was. As the meeting was with a NGO they had far less security restrictions and that felt really refreshing. And as the persons I was meeting was one Afghan man and a Tadjik woman it felt very natural and relaxed. After the meeting in their office they invited me for lunch in the Serena Hotel. That was also very nice. After the shootings there in January, internationals seem to avoid the place, but it was nice to see it and it is a very nice hotel, a world apart from the life outside the walls. Since the shootings they have rebuilt the entrance and now it is basically a fortress!
Kabul Serena Hotel
After lunch the lunch they offered to take me back to the guest house, but I already had other plans in mind than going back to sit there the rest of the day so I called my own driver. First I asked him to take me to the Safi Landmark as I knew there it would be a cash machine and I needed to withdraw some more money. He let me off outside the entrance and said he would park around the corner. I thought the Safi Landmark was just a hotel that had a cash machine in the lobby, but it turned out to also be a quite modern shopping mall! Very surprising! I had to walk quite a bit into the mall and then I started questioning whether this was a smart thing; walking all alone in a shopping mall to get money, quite a lot of money, that I would have to carry with me all alone again. But it felt safe and I was very aware of whom and what was moving around me. Unfortunately this made me not look into the shops very much. Had I known this was a shopping mall, I would have planned for staying on a while. When I came out I did not see the car and the driver, which made me a little nervous; I mean there are people being robbed after having withdrawn money in Sweden too! But then I saw him just a bit further down the street and walked there. Well walked and walked, more zig zaging between cars and jumping over puddles and deep ditches. Anyhow this started get me going and once in the car again I asked the driver if we could go for a trip somewhere nice and still safe.
He seemed to think this was a good idea and suggested the TV-hill. That is a hill in the middle of the city from where you have a fantastic view over the whole city. That was fantastic!
On the way up to TV hill.
The old city wall climbing up the hills over the Kabul river.
View from the tv-hill.
As the hill is basically in the centre of ths city you have views in all direcions.
From there we went to the Old Town, through very narrow “streets” lined with market stalls and people preparing for the holiday parties tomorrow.
I realised I was probably violating a million security regulations and recommendations, I was out on my own, in an un-armoured car, with a driver I do not know very well (but trusted!) driving in areas I don’t know, getting caught in crowds and traffic jams and also carrying quite a lot of money on me (of which the driver was aware!). But I felt safe!! I felt much safer going through the crowded market with people everywhere than driving past the heavily fortified ISAF-HQ.
On the streets of Old Kabul
The people that we met and that we had some interaction with, seemed very nice and did not mind a lonely foreign woman coming around. In the old town we left the car and entered into some narrow alley. It was rather dirty and smelly; you could see the open sewers running across the path. My guide showed me a tomb of two people, he could not really explain who they were, but I understood it as it being a man and a woman that were in love but somehow were killed and now people went there to pray and my driver, who is a trained designer told me that he and his teacher had made the decorations in the ceiling. There was also another tomb next to this one but that one was only for women so I had to go in alone.
It was all a rather moving experience. At the same time as we were there an old woman was also there. When I first saw her, she was sitting in the stair and shivering, I thought she was sick or “mad” but when she managed to get up I saw she was so badly bent she made a 90 degree angle. This is a very poor part of Kabul, very far from the Serena hotel! A young boy was handing out dried chick peas and sultanas. At first he did not give any to me, but then someone said something to him and very shy and blushing he gave me some. I said “tashakhor” and he blushed even more. My driver explained those are alms that they give out because they pray for something special. Again I was in one of those culturally and socially sensitive moments. An extremely poor person gives something edible to me, who am just so much more affluent than him, and in this case as an alms. There was no way I could refuse to accept that and also it would be very rude to not eat it and throw it away. At the same time I was thinking about the open sewers just outside. I ate one pea and one sultana as the boy saw and then on the way out of the tomb and on the way into the other I asked the driver to hold them for me under the pretence I needed both hand to remove my shoes before entering the tomb. Good eh!?
After that we went up a couple of other hills and saw a few cemeteries and I learned that those are popular pick nick sites for the Nawroz celebrations, especially the one close to the lake; Shohada-ye Salehin. This could have been an absolutely stunningly beautiful place with the high mountains in the background over the lake, were it not for the amount of dirt and rubbish in the water. We saw the old citadel and the grave of the old king and the Gazni stadium and the buzkashi ground. When I was told about the buzkashi ground I told my driver I like horses and used to ride a lot. Then he said “come, let’s have a look at the horses” and turned the car into a winding dirt track behind some buildings, I think it was stables. On the ground behind the stables there were some people practising buzkashi!!
I got completely excited! I never thought I would get the chance to see that and here I was on the training ground of the Kabul team!!
It was so fascinating! I could have stayed there a long time and watch.
Had it not been for the fact that we had another meeting and that I would not have time to go back and change clothes before the meeting I most probably would have accepted the offer made by some of the managers sitting on the side watching the game.
When they heard I could ride a horse they offered me to borrow one and one of the men was already on his way into the stable to get one for me before I could say that I will have to come back and try that. Just imagine how cool wouldn’t that be! To ride a buzkashi horse in Kabul!! I am not sure I would be able to manage one and I would most definitely not join the game, but it would have been cool just to have a try to ride one!! This was a great after noon!! I think the driver also liked it as he offered me to go somewhere tomorrow too, before he takes us to the airport. We’ll see what we can manage. It could get a bit messy tomorrow as it is a big holiday.
This evening we had dinner in a restaurant on town, which was also nice. The food at the guest house is very nice, but it is just nice to get out some too and see some other sides of the town.
We only had two meetings booked as it is a semi holyday (tomorrow it is Nawroz and the birthday of the prophet), first a lunch meeting with a NGO, then at five, another meeting. Between that I was trying to get a meeting with someone I met in Mazar, but as he did not pick up, I had a gap in the schedule the whole afternoon. My colleague had caught a cold and felt he could not attend the first meeting and asked if it was ok that I went on my own, which it of course was. As the meeting was with a NGO they had far less security restrictions and that felt really refreshing. And as the persons I was meeting was one Afghan man and a Tadjik woman it felt very natural and relaxed. After the meeting in their office they invited me for lunch in the Serena Hotel. That was also very nice. After the shootings there in January, internationals seem to avoid the place, but it was nice to see it and it is a very nice hotel, a world apart from the life outside the walls. Since the shootings they have rebuilt the entrance and now it is basically a fortress!
Kabul Serena Hotel
After lunch the lunch they offered to take me back to the guest house, but I already had other plans in mind than going back to sit there the rest of the day so I called my own driver. First I asked him to take me to the Safi Landmark as I knew there it would be a cash machine and I needed to withdraw some more money. He let me off outside the entrance and said he would park around the corner. I thought the Safi Landmark was just a hotel that had a cash machine in the lobby, but it turned out to also be a quite modern shopping mall! Very surprising! I had to walk quite a bit into the mall and then I started questioning whether this was a smart thing; walking all alone in a shopping mall to get money, quite a lot of money, that I would have to carry with me all alone again. But it felt safe and I was very aware of whom and what was moving around me. Unfortunately this made me not look into the shops very much. Had I known this was a shopping mall, I would have planned for staying on a while. When I came out I did not see the car and the driver, which made me a little nervous; I mean there are people being robbed after having withdrawn money in Sweden too! But then I saw him just a bit further down the street and walked there. Well walked and walked, more zig zaging between cars and jumping over puddles and deep ditches. Anyhow this started get me going and once in the car again I asked the driver if we could go for a trip somewhere nice and still safe.
He seemed to think this was a good idea and suggested the TV-hill. That is a hill in the middle of the city from where you have a fantastic view over the whole city. That was fantastic!
On the way up to TV hill.
The old city wall climbing up the hills over the Kabul river.
View from the tv-hill.
As the hill is basically in the centre of ths city you have views in all direcions.
From there we went to the Old Town, through very narrow “streets” lined with market stalls and people preparing for the holiday parties tomorrow.
I realised I was probably violating a million security regulations and recommendations, I was out on my own, in an un-armoured car, with a driver I do not know very well (but trusted!) driving in areas I don’t know, getting caught in crowds and traffic jams and also carrying quite a lot of money on me (of which the driver was aware!). But I felt safe!! I felt much safer going through the crowded market with people everywhere than driving past the heavily fortified ISAF-HQ.
On the streets of Old Kabul
The people that we met and that we had some interaction with, seemed very nice and did not mind a lonely foreign woman coming around. In the old town we left the car and entered into some narrow alley. It was rather dirty and smelly; you could see the open sewers running across the path. My guide showed me a tomb of two people, he could not really explain who they were, but I understood it as it being a man and a woman that were in love but somehow were killed and now people went there to pray and my driver, who is a trained designer told me that he and his teacher had made the decorations in the ceiling. There was also another tomb next to this one but that one was only for women so I had to go in alone.
It was all a rather moving experience. At the same time as we were there an old woman was also there. When I first saw her, she was sitting in the stair and shivering, I thought she was sick or “mad” but when she managed to get up I saw she was so badly bent she made a 90 degree angle. This is a very poor part of Kabul, very far from the Serena hotel! A young boy was handing out dried chick peas and sultanas. At first he did not give any to me, but then someone said something to him and very shy and blushing he gave me some. I said “tashakhor” and he blushed even more. My driver explained those are alms that they give out because they pray for something special. Again I was in one of those culturally and socially sensitive moments. An extremely poor person gives something edible to me, who am just so much more affluent than him, and in this case as an alms. There was no way I could refuse to accept that and also it would be very rude to not eat it and throw it away. At the same time I was thinking about the open sewers just outside. I ate one pea and one sultana as the boy saw and then on the way out of the tomb and on the way into the other I asked the driver to hold them for me under the pretence I needed both hand to remove my shoes before entering the tomb. Good eh!?
After that we went up a couple of other hills and saw a few cemeteries and I learned that those are popular pick nick sites for the Nawroz celebrations, especially the one close to the lake; Shohada-ye Salehin. This could have been an absolutely stunningly beautiful place with the high mountains in the background over the lake, were it not for the amount of dirt and rubbish in the water. We saw the old citadel and the grave of the old king and the Gazni stadium and the buzkashi ground. When I was told about the buzkashi ground I told my driver I like horses and used to ride a lot. Then he said “come, let’s have a look at the horses” and turned the car into a winding dirt track behind some buildings, I think it was stables. On the ground behind the stables there were some people practising buzkashi!!
I got completely excited! I never thought I would get the chance to see that and here I was on the training ground of the Kabul team!!
It was so fascinating! I could have stayed there a long time and watch.
Had it not been for the fact that we had another meeting and that I would not have time to go back and change clothes before the meeting I most probably would have accepted the offer made by some of the managers sitting on the side watching the game.
When they heard I could ride a horse they offered me to borrow one and one of the men was already on his way into the stable to get one for me before I could say that I will have to come back and try that. Just imagine how cool wouldn’t that be! To ride a buzkashi horse in Kabul!! I am not sure I would be able to manage one and I would most definitely not join the game, but it would have been cool just to have a try to ride one!! This was a great after noon!! I think the driver also liked it as he offered me to go somewhere tomorrow too, before he takes us to the airport. We’ll see what we can manage. It could get a bit messy tomorrow as it is a big holiday.
This evening we had dinner in a restaurant on town, which was also nice. The food at the guest house is very nice, but it is just nice to get out some too and see some other sides of the town.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Kabul Lives..
I am now back in Kabul again. It feels good to be able to take a good proper shower and to be able to close the door behind you for some privacy, but at the same time I kind if liked to be on the camp and it almost felt a little bit sad to leave, I can imagine what it feels like for those who stay there for six months.
It is a bit frustrating though not to be able to go out more. A part from our meetings I haven't been anywhere on the town. And that there are a very different side was just shown to me on the tv. I guess the program is still running, but we just had a power black out so I can not see it. Anyway, it was a program on Al Jazeera (fantastic channel!!) on heroin addicts in Kabul. Because not only is Afghanistan the worlds biggest producer ob heroin (opium) but the number of users has increased a lot the last couple of years.
I guess the life of heroin addicts living on the street is not very nice anywhere, imagine that what it looked like in a place like Kabul... It was truly horrible pictures, so depressing.
The whole trip here has been very rewarding. We have met a lot of interesting people and recived a lot of information and input. At the same time it is depressing and a bit discouraging. I never thought anything here would be easy, but still... where the hell to start?!?
It is a bit frustrating though not to be able to go out more. A part from our meetings I haven't been anywhere on the town. And that there are a very different side was just shown to me on the tv. I guess the program is still running, but we just had a power black out so I can not see it. Anyway, it was a program on Al Jazeera (fantastic channel!!) on heroin addicts in Kabul. Because not only is Afghanistan the worlds biggest producer ob heroin (opium) but the number of users has increased a lot the last couple of years.
I guess the life of heroin addicts living on the street is not very nice anywhere, imagine that what it looked like in a place like Kabul... It was truly horrible pictures, so depressing.
The whole trip here has been very rewarding. We have met a lot of interesting people and recived a lot of information and input. At the same time it is depressing and a bit discouraging. I never thought anything here would be easy, but still... where the hell to start?!?
Security Matters
It is diffucult to say how safe or how dangerous Afghanistan is. Generally I don't feel insecure or afraid here and all the security measures mostly feels annoying and irritating. But on the other hand, it felt a bit scary when we on our way to the airport passed the crater in the road where a suicide bomb killed seven people the day before.
And yesterday I was asked if I wanted to join one of the Swedish MOTs on a patrol to three villages together with the commanding officer, which I of course agreed to as it was a bit frustrating to be stuck at the camp and not seeing anything and would be very interesting to get out and see something else. But at the morning brief just before we should take off, we were informed about a Dutch NGO being shot at not so far away and onw person got killed. The MOT had to change their plan and go to the police instead and we stayed in the camp. It is so tragic.
Today we went back to Kabul and on the way from the aiport I was considering the modus operandi of the attackers and thought about how easy it would be for a MC to drive up next to us and just shoot into the car and, we were not in a armoured car.
At the same times it feel so wrong to isolate one self from everyting around and how can the international commonity ever win the respect and confidence of the people that way? But how can you do any proper work if you risk being killed any time? It is a real catch 22 situation..
And yesterday I was asked if I wanted to join one of the Swedish MOTs on a patrol to three villages together with the commanding officer, which I of course agreed to as it was a bit frustrating to be stuck at the camp and not seeing anything and would be very interesting to get out and see something else. But at the morning brief just before we should take off, we were informed about a Dutch NGO being shot at not so far away and onw person got killed. The MOT had to change their plan and go to the police instead and we stayed in the camp. It is so tragic.
Today we went back to Kabul and on the way from the aiport I was considering the modus operandi of the attackers and thought about how easy it would be for a MC to drive up next to us and just shoot into the car and, we were not in a armoured car.
At the same times it feel so wrong to isolate one self from everyting around and how can the international commonity ever win the respect and confidence of the people that way? But how can you do any proper work if you risk being killed any time? It is a real catch 22 situation..
Sunday, March 16, 2008
In Mazar
Now moved up north to Mazar e Sharif. If I thougt Kabul was dusty, that is nothing against what it is like here, and then we are not even in the dry season!!
I have not been able to see much of the place as we are staying in the Swedish PRT camp and having our meetings here, but we did go out on a patrol around the area this morning. It was a quite surreal experience (as most things here are!). We were walking with four armed Swedish guards, one armed German guard and a bunch of Icelandic journalists and representatives from the Icelandic foreign ministry. That of course caused quite a commotion when we came to a school. There we were invited to go in by the headmaster.
The kids went wild. So wild that another headmaster or teacher started throwing small stones on the kids to get them back into school again!!
This was a school for both girls and boys although they went at different times (boys in the morning and girls in the afternoon) but it is clear that the segregation and differntiation between the sexes starts at an very early age. The girls were clearly thought to stay in the background!! Sad...
Some kids were more keen on being in the fore ground than others. This little boy wanted me to take his picture. I did. Once.
But then he kept coming back.
And even if I actually wanted to take a photo of something else, he just showed up in the picture anyway...
In the end he seemed to be everywhere...
I have not been able to see much of the place as we are staying in the Swedish PRT camp and having our meetings here, but we did go out on a patrol around the area this morning. It was a quite surreal experience (as most things here are!). We were walking with four armed Swedish guards, one armed German guard and a bunch of Icelandic journalists and representatives from the Icelandic foreign ministry. That of course caused quite a commotion when we came to a school. There we were invited to go in by the headmaster.
The kids went wild. So wild that another headmaster or teacher started throwing small stones on the kids to get them back into school again!!
This was a school for both girls and boys although they went at different times (boys in the morning and girls in the afternoon) but it is clear that the segregation and differntiation between the sexes starts at an very early age. The girls were clearly thought to stay in the background!! Sad...
Some kids were more keen on being in the fore ground than others. This little boy wanted me to take his picture. I did. Once.
But then he kept coming back.
And even if I actually wanted to take a photo of something else, he just showed up in the picture anyway...
In the end he seemed to be everywhere...
Friday, March 14, 2008
The Panjshir Valley
Had a very interesting day going up the Panjshir valley today.
It was really a very complex and strange feeling. The valley is extremely beautiful, it was now only starting to get a little green and we saw some cherry blossoms and other flowers, but in a couple of weeks it will most probably be absolutely stunningly beautiful.
The high snow covered mountains of the Hindu Kush in the background, the bubbling stream along the winding road, steep slopes falling down almost horizontally into the valley, every somewhat flat area covered with clay buildings and terraced fields. In the villages the road are lined with small shops and markets and people everywhere, although it is somehow difficult to understand how they can survive there.
At the same time this is one of the areas where the fighting between the Soviet and the mujaheddin was most severe. This is the land of the Lion of the Panjshir, of Ahmad Shah Massoud.
Every where you see pictures of him, on shops, on cars, on the walls of houses and it is here you find his tomb that is a site of pilgrimage for many Afghanis still. At the same time others of course see him as a slaughter.
In the middle of all the serene beauty there are loads of carcasses of old soviet tanks.
They are everywhere, in the fields and in the river, sometimes they are used as road fill or road support!
Completely absurd! And often you see men, and young children carrying guns. We stopped at a small town along the road to buy some kebab and naan and to use the facilities (that is a hole in the ground within clay walls closed off with a wooden door that was about to fall in any time). While stopping there we took a short walk for some 50-100 metres. A bit further up the river we spotted a young boy, maybe 12 years old with a gun. Then we thought it might be a good idea to turn back to the cars. But the boy was coming closer and after a while was circling around the car, sometimes pointing his gun. It made us a little nervous. Later we could confirm that it was actually an air gun, but it is really hard to tell from a distance and especially in a country where guns are so abundant. On the way we passed shops making and selling guns.
Somehow you could feel the history here. Only the names, Panjshir valley, Hindu Kush etc are so loaded with mystery and magic, so often heard of in reports of war and politics. And knowing that this is such an important pass through the Hindu Kush that already Alexander the Great used in his conquests. At the same time it is hard to imagine how any mechanised army could come up with the idea to try to occupy a country like this one.
The local holiday past time; walking and rocking the rope bridge.
One additional perspective to our trip was the two very different background of our two drivers. The one being tajik from the area, being very happy to go here and for whom Massoud seemed to be a big hero. The other one a pashtun, who also had spent some time in the area, but then fighting on the Soviet side. That was the man driving the car I was in and he seemed cool about being there again and did not mind talking about it, but it is hard to know what is going on inside and it was difficult for us to know if it was ok to talk and ask about this when they both were around. It is indeed a complex country.
It was really a very complex and strange feeling. The valley is extremely beautiful, it was now only starting to get a little green and we saw some cherry blossoms and other flowers, but in a couple of weeks it will most probably be absolutely stunningly beautiful.
The high snow covered mountains of the Hindu Kush in the background, the bubbling stream along the winding road, steep slopes falling down almost horizontally into the valley, every somewhat flat area covered with clay buildings and terraced fields. In the villages the road are lined with small shops and markets and people everywhere, although it is somehow difficult to understand how they can survive there.
At the same time this is one of the areas where the fighting between the Soviet and the mujaheddin was most severe. This is the land of the Lion of the Panjshir, of Ahmad Shah Massoud.
Every where you see pictures of him, on shops, on cars, on the walls of houses and it is here you find his tomb that is a site of pilgrimage for many Afghanis still. At the same time others of course see him as a slaughter.
In the middle of all the serene beauty there are loads of carcasses of old soviet tanks.
They are everywhere, in the fields and in the river, sometimes they are used as road fill or road support!
Completely absurd! And often you see men, and young children carrying guns. We stopped at a small town along the road to buy some kebab and naan and to use the facilities (that is a hole in the ground within clay walls closed off with a wooden door that was about to fall in any time). While stopping there we took a short walk for some 50-100 metres. A bit further up the river we spotted a young boy, maybe 12 years old with a gun. Then we thought it might be a good idea to turn back to the cars. But the boy was coming closer and after a while was circling around the car, sometimes pointing his gun. It made us a little nervous. Later we could confirm that it was actually an air gun, but it is really hard to tell from a distance and especially in a country where guns are so abundant. On the way we passed shops making and selling guns.
Somehow you could feel the history here. Only the names, Panjshir valley, Hindu Kush etc are so loaded with mystery and magic, so often heard of in reports of war and politics. And knowing that this is such an important pass through the Hindu Kush that already Alexander the Great used in his conquests. At the same time it is hard to imagine how any mechanised army could come up with the idea to try to occupy a country like this one.
The local holiday past time; walking and rocking the rope bridge.
One additional perspective to our trip was the two very different background of our two drivers. The one being tajik from the area, being very happy to go here and for whom Massoud seemed to be a big hero. The other one a pashtun, who also had spent some time in the area, but then fighting on the Soviet side. That was the man driving the car I was in and he seemed cool about being there again and did not mind talking about it, but it is hard to know what is going on inside and it was difficult for us to know if it was ok to talk and ask about this when they both were around. It is indeed a complex country.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
First Day in Kabul
So now I survived my first whole day in Kabul!
Well I suppose that is nothing one should joke about. Already at breakfast we were told by the staff at the guest house that there had been a suicide attack at the airport road. The attack was directed towards an US army convoy, but killed nine civilian Afghans. Of cause the airport road is a popular target, that is the only road to and from the airport and that is where all the westerners go every now and then. True to the general trend this suicide attack took place early in the morning. It is horrible to say, but maybe I should be grateful that it happened today. That might make it less likely that it will happen already again in Saturday (in the morning!) when we are off to Mazar or any of the other days we will be travelling to and fro the airport.
Despite this I strangely do not feel insecure here. Of cause I don’t really believe that is in my nature to feel insecure from outer threats and of cause you can not think about the risk of you being blown to pieces any minute, but I did not feel uncomfortable. The thing I felt the most though is the stress that the insecure situation cause. Everywhere there are guards, armed with automatic weapons and you see a lot of heavily armed police and some military and there are plenty of road blocks and check points that I can imagine get rather annoying after a while. There are a nervousness in the air, everyone seem to get nervous if the car stops a little too long and if you hold a little too long outside a certain building or take up the camera in the wrong place. The most surreal thing though is actually the huge amount of those gigantic white armoured Land cruisers rushing along the narrow and crowded streets. They look so absurd in this setting they could just as well come from another planet. I am actually glad we don’t have one and as I thought we have not been wearing the flak jackets!
It is not advisable to go out to take photos in the street so I wanted to try to get some snapshots from the car, but as our driver is trained in defensive driving he does everything to avoid stopping which made making pictures very difficult. One of our meetings was a little bit out of the city, there we could stop and take a short walk and even take some pictures of the old bombed out royal palace, but still you had to be careful because there are obviously some ISAF offices near by and they might think you are photographing them. The whole area around the castle, except the newly built ministry buildings, was completely levelled to the ground. My colleague told me this used to be a part of the city, but a part that has been completely destroyed. When he was here in 2003 there were still all ruins, but they are now removed.
You still see a lot of ruins in the city, but it is difficult to tell if they are destroyed by war, fighting or just very poorly built. The surrounding hills are completely jotted by small brick boxes climbing the slopes. I don’t want to think about what they would look like after an earthquake! The general impression of the city, apart from the weird security stress, is poverty, sandy colours and dust, a lot of dust, and then I can imagine this is still nothing compared to what it is like in the midst of summer. I am also a surprised to see more women without burqas in the streets than I thought. First after the Taliban fell I would have guessed all women would get rid of the burqa. Since I have learned that the burqa has a longer and stronger tradition and that quite a few women continued wearing it, for different reasons. Then I had heard I should not expect to see many women at all in the streets. So, due to this my expectations were rather low. Therefore I am positively surprised to see more women than expected and many of them very smartly dressed, in bright colours and only with a shawl thrown lightly over the hair. On the way back from the meeting out of town we passed the markets along the Kabul river and there was a heavy traffic jam that we got caught in, not good from a security perspective, but good from a street life study perspective.
Tomorrow is Friday and holyday here, which means we will not be able to hold any meetings. Therefore we have been offered the great opportunity to join some of the embassy staff on a trip to the Panshir Valley. I look very much forward to that!!
Well I suppose that is nothing one should joke about. Already at breakfast we were told by the staff at the guest house that there had been a suicide attack at the airport road. The attack was directed towards an US army convoy, but killed nine civilian Afghans. Of cause the airport road is a popular target, that is the only road to and from the airport and that is where all the westerners go every now and then. True to the general trend this suicide attack took place early in the morning. It is horrible to say, but maybe I should be grateful that it happened today. That might make it less likely that it will happen already again in Saturday (in the morning!) when we are off to Mazar or any of the other days we will be travelling to and fro the airport.
Despite this I strangely do not feel insecure here. Of cause I don’t really believe that is in my nature to feel insecure from outer threats and of cause you can not think about the risk of you being blown to pieces any minute, but I did not feel uncomfortable. The thing I felt the most though is the stress that the insecure situation cause. Everywhere there are guards, armed with automatic weapons and you see a lot of heavily armed police and some military and there are plenty of road blocks and check points that I can imagine get rather annoying after a while. There are a nervousness in the air, everyone seem to get nervous if the car stops a little too long and if you hold a little too long outside a certain building or take up the camera in the wrong place. The most surreal thing though is actually the huge amount of those gigantic white armoured Land cruisers rushing along the narrow and crowded streets. They look so absurd in this setting they could just as well come from another planet. I am actually glad we don’t have one and as I thought we have not been wearing the flak jackets!
It is not advisable to go out to take photos in the street so I wanted to try to get some snapshots from the car, but as our driver is trained in defensive driving he does everything to avoid stopping which made making pictures very difficult. One of our meetings was a little bit out of the city, there we could stop and take a short walk and even take some pictures of the old bombed out royal palace, but still you had to be careful because there are obviously some ISAF offices near by and they might think you are photographing them. The whole area around the castle, except the newly built ministry buildings, was completely levelled to the ground. My colleague told me this used to be a part of the city, but a part that has been completely destroyed. When he was here in 2003 there were still all ruins, but they are now removed.
You still see a lot of ruins in the city, but it is difficult to tell if they are destroyed by war, fighting or just very poorly built. The surrounding hills are completely jotted by small brick boxes climbing the slopes. I don’t want to think about what they would look like after an earthquake! The general impression of the city, apart from the weird security stress, is poverty, sandy colours and dust, a lot of dust, and then I can imagine this is still nothing compared to what it is like in the midst of summer. I am also a surprised to see more women without burqas in the streets than I thought. First after the Taliban fell I would have guessed all women would get rid of the burqa. Since I have learned that the burqa has a longer and stronger tradition and that quite a few women continued wearing it, for different reasons. Then I had heard I should not expect to see many women at all in the streets. So, due to this my expectations were rather low. Therefore I am positively surprised to see more women than expected and many of them very smartly dressed, in bright colours and only with a shawl thrown lightly over the hair. On the way back from the meeting out of town we passed the markets along the Kabul river and there was a heavy traffic jam that we got caught in, not good from a security perspective, but good from a street life study perspective.
Tomorrow is Friday and holyday here, which means we will not be able to hold any meetings. Therefore we have been offered the great opportunity to join some of the embassy staff on a trip to the Panshir Valley. I look very much forward to that!!
At the Airport...again
Well, getting out of Dubai was not easy! When my wake up call rang at four o clock I had just about fallen asleep and felt like anything but going out of bed. No matter, got up and got ready, met my colleague and took a taxi to the airport. Not the nice fancy airport we arrived to from Europe, but to a much smaller terminal where all the flights to nice places like Kabul, Kandahar, Peshawar, Bagdad and Teheran leave from.
Take a pick for your next tourist destination!
We had to be there two hours in advance so we arrived at five for the flight that was supposed to leave at seven. Therefore we were not thrilled to learn it was delayed until ten. We considered to go back to the hotel, but as we did not really feel sure about the flow of information we stayed. It was a long stay. First they said nothing, they it was 11:30, at 12 we boarded and then sat one more hour in the plane before take off. We taxed for so long I was almost wondering if we were about the drive to Kabul.
The whole flying experience was quite interesting. Just watching the kinds of people who travel to those places is truly fascinating and can keep you busy for a long time. Especially I was wondering about a big group of Bosnian men in their 50.s. And also flying Pamir Airways was an interesting experience, if not recommendable for people who are afraid of flying. The food was good though!
Take a pick for your next tourist destination!
We had to be there two hours in advance so we arrived at five for the flight that was supposed to leave at seven. Therefore we were not thrilled to learn it was delayed until ten. We considered to go back to the hotel, but as we did not really feel sure about the flow of information we stayed. It was a long stay. First they said nothing, they it was 11:30, at 12 we boarded and then sat one more hour in the plane before take off. We taxed for so long I was almost wondering if we were about the drive to Kabul.
The whole flying experience was quite interesting. Just watching the kinds of people who travel to those places is truly fascinating and can keep you busy for a long time. Especially I was wondering about a big group of Bosnian men in their 50.s. And also flying Pamir Airways was an interesting experience, if not recommendable for people who are afraid of flying. The food was good though!
Bright Big City Lights
Haven’t seen much of Dubai, but already love it. I simply love big, modern cities in hot climates. Love Bangkok, Shanghai, Manila… and Dubai?? What the hell am I doing in the shitty Small Town??
Maybe I should try to get a stopover here on the way back…
What I don’t like however is to have to get up at four o clock in the morning again. Especially as it is now 1.30 local time and I have lost three hours and can not sleep…
Maybe I should try to get a stopover here on the way back…
What I don’t like however is to have to get up at four o clock in the morning again. Especially as it is now 1.30 local time and I have lost three hours and can not sleep…
Work and travel
Sometimes I find it frustrating to travel in my work. Ok, it takes me places I would most probably not go to if it was not for my work. On the other hand it makes me get a taste of places but never gives me the opportunity to really explore them the way I would like to.
More or less for fun I have been reading the Lonely Planet guide over Afghanistan, although I know we will not have time nor opportunity to be tourists. The way the guide describe things make you sometimes oversee the hassle to go there and the risks and the non existent infrastructure etc and you feel you would really like to travel the country. We also seem to get there in interesting times. Now is the last month of the Afghan year and we are approaching Nauroz, the Afghan new year. I think we will actually be I in Kabul then. According to Lonely Planet that is a time for festivities all over Kabul, the last buzkashi game of the season is taking place as well as kite running festival. It sounds so exciting. I’d love to go out to see it! But I am afraid I will be locked up in the IMF guest house or in meeting in different UN compound I could imagine trying to cover up as well as I can and try to find me a driver and a guide to take me there, but I can see the face of the embassy staff if I would mention it to them and I am not sure the consultant with whom I will be working will fancy the idea either. (Or maybe he would, he has been working in Afghanistan before.) And generally I don’t think most people would see this being a good idea, as Nauroz, as well as other holidays is also an occasion when insurgents and attacks generally increase…
Stupid people with a strange idea of fun!!
More or less for fun I have been reading the Lonely Planet guide over Afghanistan, although I know we will not have time nor opportunity to be tourists. The way the guide describe things make you sometimes oversee the hassle to go there and the risks and the non existent infrastructure etc and you feel you would really like to travel the country. We also seem to get there in interesting times. Now is the last month of the Afghan year and we are approaching Nauroz, the Afghan new year. I think we will actually be I in Kabul then. According to Lonely Planet that is a time for festivities all over Kabul, the last buzkashi game of the season is taking place as well as kite running festival. It sounds so exciting. I’d love to go out to see it! But I am afraid I will be locked up in the IMF guest house or in meeting in different UN compound I could imagine trying to cover up as well as I can and try to find me a driver and a guide to take me there, but I can see the face of the embassy staff if I would mention it to them and I am not sure the consultant with whom I will be working will fancy the idea either. (Or maybe he would, he has been working in Afghanistan before.) And generally I don’t think most people would see this being a good idea, as Nauroz, as well as other holidays is also an occasion when insurgents and attacks generally increase…
Stupid people with a strange idea of fun!!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
At the Airport
Airports are interesting places. Right now I am at Copenhagen airport waiting for my connection to Frankfurt, so I will see plenty of them today. I spend some of the time looking at people and trying to figure out where they come from and where they are going. The ones coming back from Thailand are easy ones. Not only because they are suntanned, but the way they dress reveals them from other holiday travellers and the final proof is the orchids they are carrying somewhere on their clothes or bags (which also proovs that they travel Thai Airways).
If someone would try to do the same thing with me, I think I am a hard nut to crack. Not that I know what a Swede going to Kabul, via Dubai looks like, but I don't think I would have spotted me. The flak jackes I have checked in and the two satellite phones and other strange stuff I am carrying does not really show.
I am not sure if I will have time to wrtite from this journey, but if not there will be a report here afterwards. Inshallah!
If someone would try to do the same thing with me, I think I am a hard nut to crack. Not that I know what a Swede going to Kabul, via Dubai looks like, but I don't think I would have spotted me. The flak jackes I have checked in and the two satellite phones and other strange stuff I am carrying does not really show.
I am not sure if I will have time to wrtite from this journey, but if not there will be a report here afterwards. Inshallah!
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Entertaining Reading
The other day I was searching some literature on Afghanistan on the internet, when I stumbled on something I did not expect. I found the Lonely Planet Afghanistan, issued 2007!! That is so unreal!! The country no one wants to go to (recruiting for Afghanistan is pretty hard) and when you tell people you are going there they think you are crazy, then you find it presented in a guide book as any normal country!! I mentioned this to your security advisor as a joke more or less, and then another colleague, overhearing us, simply picks the very book up from her desk!! Now I have it at my place and have started reading it. It is great! It makes Afghanistan seem like a normal country for tourism.
Although it is sometimes a little too harsh; most of the literature on Afghanistan is mostly political or somehow analytical, but here they just show a picture of a boy and a girl in a poppy field with the text: “cutting and scraping opium poppy in Badakhshan”. Not a word on child labour or Afghanistan being the world’s largest opium producer. Or under a picture of a truck full of burning cargo driven down into a river you find a text calling it “Firefighting Afghan style”. Hmmm, when you know something about the status of the rescue services in the country it is a bit difficult to find it picturesque.
Although the book is sometimes funny. Still I have to say; I find it hard to read Lonely Planet and take it seriously after having read “Molvania”.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)