(Pic : Sunset over Kabul from Murad Khane) Although it’s only two days ago I left Kabul, it seems so long ago, especially flying into the modern metropolis of Dubai, apparently home of 20% of the world’s cranes. If only some of the building equipment here could be moved over to Afghanistan. Now I’ll never, […]
Here are some shots of the war carpets I looked at in Chicken Street, just before we left Kabul. Obviously the carpet shop owners weren’t going to let us escape without rolling out more rugs, but I had more than enough stuff to take back that my $7 sports bag I bought wouldn’t survive with […]
I never managed to venture further than the hammock out the back today. Terrible sleep, and things coming out of places you don’t want to know this morning. Seems like it’s my time to get Afghan belly. It sucked not being able to do anything, but despite feeling completely drained, it was kinda nice to […]
Yesterday was my last day in Kabul. We were lucky to get a free car from mid morning to take us to Chicken Street -the traditional hippy shopping street when the Silk Route was followed by many. Needless to say I had to buy a war carpet as a souvenir. There are different styles (all […]
Today was my last full day in and around Kabul….for this trip anyway ;-> It wasn’t quite as manic as some others but we stopped in past a couple of design houses in town before heading to Istalif, an hour north of Kabul. We went there to see some pottery projects to improve the quality […]
We headed out towards some coal fired brick factory to tie in with a potential architecture related story. Yes, I know it sounds a bit weird but it was quite funny as we pulled up at a random kiln outside town in our 4×4 and chatted to the workers through our interpreter, the CEO of […]
Like a few other things I’ve said Kabul is not like you ‘expect’…or more likely are lead to believe. I’ve hardly ever seen any military presence around the city, certainly not in an obvious manner. The most arms you see around the city are with the local police force, or private security guards. It is […]
Yesterday we tried to interview a successful Afghan businesswoman who has just been through some difficulties with her partner. When we turned up at the factory gate in the car, the guards (obviously armed, like most guards here) locked the gate in front of us. We slowly discovered they were employed by her ex business […]
I had hoped to do a walk along the Kabul city walls early one morning before I left, but unfortunately plans have been cancelled. Unfortunately some foreigners were shot at by people wearing Afghan police uniforms the other morning. This is the only report of an incident I’ve heard while I’ve been in Kabul so […]
We were fortunate enough to have a tour of Kabul with the Great Game tour company today, starting at Kabul Museum. We had a brief interview with the director there, then headed to town to tour around the markets in the centre. We stumbled across so many amazing sights there, and we were also a […]