Leaving the hotel in Dubai with two of the group in Andrea & Fran the taxi ride was somewhat a silent one, maybe through excitement but more so through the process of the brain asking us all: WHY AFGAN
It was a question that was asked off me numerous times before I left to go travelling and I always answered “why not” I have done Pakistan, Antartica, Brazil & those places gave different challenges but my thought process when doing this stuff is “You only get one go on this floating rock and when your done your done”
Getting onto the plane and knowing I was on the way to a country that according to a few friends “be fucking killed there” I couldn’t help but laugh when my thoughts were “tell them I’m Irish not english if captured”
Landing in Kabul and being greeted by looks of amazement that usually falls on westerns when they visit countries so far away and ones that usually don’t see tourists was an interesting experience. After a small language barrier hiccup the full group were past security, bags collected and finally on the way to our first home stay in Kabul.
Had I not experienced Lahore in Pakistan before I think my mind would have being blown away by the sheer scenes of chaos that is Kabul & its drivers. I’m led to believe that there is road laws but looking at a truck driving at you on the same lane makes you wonder how true that is.
After we arrived in the guesthouse and dumped our bags, it was time to go on our first outing and it was to a HALO Site. Halo is a great nonprofit that works in over 10 countries that have experienced conflict & the work they do is to remove & destroy landmines, unexploded bombs, small arms & ammunition, this is the link to this great organisation - https://www.halotrust.org/
After a small lunch break which would not change much of Kebab, Rice, Kabauli, Flatbread it was time to explore “Chicken Street” which unlike the name is not full of chickens but more so shops, small antique stores which some had guns from 1816 and swords from even earlier. We found one place which sold carpets which had pictures woven into them of 9/11 & The Fall of Kabul, which the owner explained was at a time where certain makers would make them & tourists have and still continue to buy, that was an eye opener and especially for the one American in our group.
After an interesting chat with the locals on why we are here it was time to go and buy the local attire which would help us blend in with the locals and not to stand out so much after recent attacks but will give more info on that soon ;-)
Back in the guesthouse that evening and after more kebab it was time for UNO, our resident German friend Rob then announced he had a list of rules which was needed to follow - 23 in total I believe but that my time for bed and onto day 2:
Day 2:
Time to go and visit Guldarah Stupa which is based in the Mushy District in Kabul, What a beautiful place and a nice history lesson about Charles Masson. After a few hours there it was time to get back to our homestay as Friday is midday prayers and its not a good idea to be on the street during those hours whether your a foreigner or a local, Taliban government’s morality police will be sure to let you know if your doing anything wrong.
Once afternoon prayers was over it was time for us to head to Kabul Wall which was going to surprise us with the best views overlooking Kabul, to all of our surprise we had a member of the Taliban join us on the walk & it was to protect us but definitely was to keep an eye on us so we don’t do somethings stupid that would annoy them or cause an issue with the government.
After the excitement of climbing for half the day it was time to get back to the guesthouse and get our local attire ready for the days ahead!
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