Archive for the ‘Afghanistan’ Category
Flights to Kabul
How to find flight information – Flights to Kabul and Flights from Kabul
I went to Afghanistan back in September 2008. Back then there were only two airlines flying to Kabul – Ariana – Afghanistan’s State owned airline and KamAir – a commercial airline, also from Afghanistan. I flew in with KamAir. I booked my ticket online, received the booking ID, then I had to send it to a friend in Kabul where he went to KanAir head office and paid my airfare in cash.
Flights to Kabul – KamAir
The web site I used was www.flykamair.com It’s been updated, but I doesn’t look like it accepts payments on-line, still. There is another KamAir web site that appeared since – www.flykamairline.com – not sure why two web sites, but the latter seems to accept credit cards.
Flights to Kabul – Ariana
FlyAriana web site: www.flyariana.com I haven’t used this site of flown with Ariana but I heard that flights are often cancelled, if the aircraft is used by some Afghan official. On the day I flew to Kabul from Dubal – the timetable display said that all Ariana flights from Dubal to Kabul were cancelled that day.
Flights to Kabul – Pamir Air
Pamir Air – www.pamirairways.net – another private airline in Afghanistan. It was the first to receive the Air Operator Certificate from the Ministry of Civil Aviation of the Islamic Government of Afghanistan. It appears that you can book online and pay by credit card.
Flights to Kabul – Other Airlines
I think, the best way to fly to Kabul is from Dubal. It’s only a 2.5 hr flight and Dubai is a major connection point. I found that the best way to find what airlines fly to Afghanistan and when, is to go to Dubai Airport web site and see the list of today’s flights to and from Kabul. So, go to www.dubaiairport.com then, go to “Flight Information” > “Arrival-Departure”. Then, select Kabul in the “Destination/Originated From” drop-down menu. Leave all other fields blank and click search. The result page will list all flights to or from Kabul and the departure/ arrival time too. It will also show what airlines are flying in to Kabul. You can then go and Google them for more info.
Goog luck. If you have people in Afghanistan, it’s always best to check them them first, what airline they think is best at the time. More info – visit http://www.ausbusiness.net/review/flights-to-kabul/
More info:
+www.flightstokabul.com
Afghanistan again
Where your heart goes, there your feet will go. Afghan proverb
Having spent a week in Afghanistan doesn’t make me an expert on the current situation. There is no explanation to the killing of Gayle on Monday – but it is a sign that the situation is getting worse. NGOs in Afghanistan are an important part of the country’s development process and (I read it somewhere) combined, form the largest employer in the country. The Taliban are playing a scare technique, now inside Kabul, to distabilise the situation and possibly drive out the foreign nationals out of the country. The killing of an aid worker in Kabul is obviously having a great psycological effect, outstretching the real consequences. They want the locals to belive that the aid workers are a there to undermide the country’s values and impose the western beliefs. Maybe it’s also an attempt to demonstrate that the military forces occupying the country are not even able to protect their own nationals (not that the two related). It’s an attempt to scare, destabilise, blocade. It’s a war of perception. Taliban are trying to win back people’s trust, “defending” what is at the very hart of every Afghani national – their culture and religion. (We’ve seen it before. In Russia. Once being dismantled and declared illegal in the arly 90’s, the communist party is back in full swing, with a strong following of people claiming that the “old times” were better than present). It reminds me that verse from the Big Book: “Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not wise to ask such questions.” (Proverbs 7.10).
We have dear friends working in Kabul who are going through tough times. Should they stay or should they go? We obviusly want them to be safe, but whatever decision they make we will sure support them.
And now I want to state something very obvious, which I feel I just need to say: Most, the great majority, of people living in Afghanistan are good, nice people. These are the people our frieds are helping.
And here is that “Clash” song for Phil..
Darling you got to let me know
Should I stay or should I go?
If you say that you are mine
I’ll be here ’til the end of time
So you got to let me know
Should I stay or should I go?It’s always tease, tease, tease
You’re happy when I’m on my knees
One day is fine the next is black
So if you want me off your back
Well come on and let me know
Should I stay or should I go?Should I stay or should I go now?
Should I stay or should I go now?
If I go there will be trouble
An’ if I stay it will be double
So come on and let me know…
To Kabul, without guns
I’m thinking about my trip to Kabul everyday since I left, and now that I’m in Russia, it’s interesting to see mixed reactions when I tell people here that I went to Afghanistan. Given the previous military history between the two countries, people don’t understand why I went there, to say the least. And obviously, family and friends are happy that I am safe. I previously wrote about the good and the beautiful about the country – it’s scenery, people and culture. Now it’s time to mention the other side – the political and civil unrest, insecurity, poverty and growing social class inequality.
Afghanistan is not safe. Flying into Kabul, safety is on everybody’s mind. Even the pilot of KamAir flight felt the need to reassure the passengers that “there was nothing wrong with the airplane”. I’m sure while I was in the country, many things were not said and a few risks taken.
On arrival you’re faced with numerous gunned-up road blocks and dark-green police utes with mounted machine guns. War victims, disabled people sitting in the middle of a street begging for money. Poor kids playing with sticks in a heap of dust. Older kids exhausting themselves carrying canisters of water up the mountain or pushing loaded carts instead of a horse. You can’t look at Afghan kids without feeling the pain. You can’t avoid their adult-like eyes.
It’s obvious that the foreign forces currently occupying Afghanistan don’t really care about the future of the country. This country has one of the highest (20%) children mortality rate. Kids who survive often die because of lack of food or clean water. We complain about our hospitals, but how about having one doctor per 50,000 inhabitants? And what happened to education? And what is being done about the unemployment (40%+)? The country is rich with resources – it’s probably the richest area in the region, but it’s all being developed and mined by foreign companies, heavily guarded against any Afghan involvement.
Kabul is like a large bazaar. It’s full of same sores that filled Russia during the Perestroika. Little kiosks, dwarf supermarkets, video salons, clubs, “New Afghans” driving expensive cars. The country is absorbing the bad and the ugly of the western imperialism. The country is loosing its unique identity. You see kids shouting english words at you. You see shops selling shiny western junk. It is a sad state.
It’s easy to become discouraged by working in Afghanistan. What difference can one person make in such a vast and insecure mess? But… there is definitely a place for people like Phil in this country. Someone needs to tell the locals that it’s ok to be just who they are. Someone needs to tell them that it’s not ok to experience what they do.
People who choose to work in Afghanistan care about the future. They care about today. They may change a life of one person. That person may change a life of the whole country.
As Phil mentioned elsewhere, the country is soaked in grief.. God Bless Afghanistan.
The first day you meet, you are friends. The next day you meet, you are brothers.
The first day you meet, you are friends. The next day you meet, you are brothers. (Afghan proverb).
I’m sitting here at Kabul Airport, and trying to collect some thoughts. It’s about two hours before the departure of my flight (the flight it 1hr late), there is nothing else to do here. So, here we are.
Today is my last day in this country. I had a great time here. There is nothing like seeing the country with your own eyes. There is nothing like saying hello to locals. I had a truly amazing time.
This morning we decided to clime one of the mountains. There are a lot of mountains or very large hills around Kabul and we went for a walk. The friend who suggested that we do that, had done it before and he described it as a “light walk”, that was “fairly safe”, and that it only took 40min of light walking. So off we went. Up the hill. Up the stairs. And up the hill again. And then more. And then more. I didn’t think we would make it to the top of the mountain, but we persevered. The views were breathtaking. Hey, maybe that’s why we were all out of breath.
There is an ancient wall that goes along the ridger of the ranges, an old fort, an old wall. Aparently it was build in the 600s (or 1600s? need to confirm that). Just when we reached that wall, we noticed a group of AF soldiers following our steps behind us. I think they would be about 500m away.
We kind of thought that it would be better to somehow to avoid them and we pushed on. At the top of the mountain we met a bunch of US muscle guys with a lot of large guns. Apparently they were from local embassies and just want for a “walk”, same as us. After taking some pictures with them, they quietly warned us “Hey, you be careful there. They’re talking about a lot of kidnappings”. And off they went. It was interesting to see a very polite greetings exchange when they walked pass those AF soldiers that we were trying to get away from. We pushed on, making some lead time before the AF soldiers would catch up with us.
We walked along the wall on the ridge of the mountain and now we started to walk down. I have to say, it’s much easier to go down than climbing up. Now, the soldiers just got to the top, when we were about 100m down the mountain and they started to shout. “Hey, you” etc etc. What do you do? We decided to ignore them and continue on on our way. Apparently, as my friend said, they won’t shoot unprovoked. I hoped we didn’t provoke them by ignoring them!
Very often, soldiers or police (all heavily armed) would try to stop our car at a road block, but more often than not, we’d just ignore them and keep on driving. Amazing really. There was once, when one of those soldiers wanted to stop our car by pointing his gun at us. But hey, after saying “Salam Aleikum” we were able to drive by, also, without stopping.
Walking down the mountain we encountered a group of army people, now, of a different type. They were marking an area that had land mines. They used rocks that were painted two colours – white, pointing to the safe side and red pointing to the mined site. See some photos below. It wouldn’t be the most pleasant job to do by any means.
Then we we met a bunch of kids, from a hut nearby. They chatted for a while with Phil. And after I gave them some money they went back to their mother back at the house. I have no idea what these people do for food. How does their mother feed her 5 little kids? The hut is so high up, to walk “down the shops” would really be walking “Down” to the shops. And then up. Just imagine (for those who are in WA), to live at the very top of Bluff Knoll. I don’t know. They must have it really tough.
So, the walk down the mountain was very enjoyable, to say the least. We were very sore, but now, we had a chance to walk though the “real Kabul” – all those little mud huts, donkeys and lots and lots of kids. As we walk down, everyone is smiling. It’s amazing how much Afghanis smile at you. It’s amazing to exchange “Salam Aleikum” with a total stranger, shake hands and just wish each other good luck. Afghanistan is a nation of smiling people.
At the bottom of the mountain I bought a kite (!) and we then caught a taxi home. My bags were already packed and here we are, sitting in the waiting hall, ready for boarding my flight to Dubai, together with KamAir.
The process of getting through the passport control and security checks deserves another blog post. But big thanks to Phil to was able to walk me through the most checks and convince most guards to leave the contents of my bag alone. Thanks brother.
This concludes my journey to Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. This trip gave me a lot of food for thought. Let’s see where this experience takes me in the future.
When God gives, He doesn’t ask whose son you are.
When God gives, He doesn’t ask whose son you are. (Afghan proverb)
Since I arrived in Kabul Phil is introducing me to his friends as “Guennadi, a friend from Australia”. Yesterday, on the way to the city, the driver, an Afghani man, asked Phil, “Is Guennadi Russian”? “Why?”, Phil asked. “I recognised him by his name, Guennadi is a Russian name”. He then proceeded telling us that a number of years back he used to work as a mechanic for a Russian Automotive company. And his Russian boss, Peotr (Peter) really liked him because he was a hard worker, and each weekend the boss would bring him a box of chocolate. Saying that he had a huge smile on his face and he said that those were good times… I then asked him what it was like when the Soviets were in the country. On that he said, “I didn’t have anything to do with the military, so I don’t really have anything to say..”
Here are a couple more photos from my trip to the city.
Guns, nuts and amazing views.
Here are some more videos. The first one is in a shop in Chicken Street. With lots of guns. Most of which 100 years old. A good one.
The following video is of a boy the nutcrucker. He’s job is to crack wallnuts. I’m not sure if he’s allowed to eat them!
And this video is taken from a taxi – a drive from downtown Kabul to a cafe on the other side of the hill. Amazing scenery there.
Kabul Fried Chicken in Touristical Kabul
Kabul Fried Chicken – Clean and Tasty! Today Phil and I went to Chicken Street, it’s kind of like Hay Street Mall in Perth or Arbat Street in Moscow – with lots of shops on both sides of the street, with a lot of interesting things. There is a lot of soviet trophies, like samovars, russian money, belt buckles, matreshkas, as well as more interesting things like rifles from the British times (early 1800s), pistols and other stuff like that. It’s a pity that you can’t take these out of the country – all of this would be priceless outside of Afghanistan. It will be sad to see it all go, as the western rubbish overwhelms the country – probably most of these shops on Chicken street will be gone in the next few years. Does anyone have ideas how to take these riffles out of the country? Please let me know.
We then went for a walk through the city, dropping by a video store, walked pass “KFC – Kabul Fried Chicken” and then caught a taxi back to Chila cafe where we had lunch and a cup of coffee.
Here are some photos and a couple more videos.
Kites, kites and more kites
One of the beautiful parts of Afghanistan culture is kite flying. There are kites everywhere. Every day we go somewhere we see lots of kids flying kites, lots of kites in the sky. There are traditional competitions where kite flyers entangle the string of their flying kites with each other trying to cut the string of the other. The winner’s kite remains flying while the loser’s kite string is cut loose, drifting free with the wind until it falls to the ground. Kids then run after these cut kites to try and capture them when they come down. Usually whoever captures a cut kite can keep it.
Here is a video of a couple of kites in the sky.
Kabul Streets – videos
Here are some videos taken from our car as we drove along Kabul streets.
When man is perplexed, God is beneficent.
When man is perplexed, God is beneficent. (An Afghan proverb)
I’ve had a few conversations here with people who moved to Afghanistan to work, and as it happens to be, most of them have little kids. I am trying to find out what drives people to come here and how they can justify bringing their children here. I’m sure a lot of people would think that this is very inresponsible. It’s bad enough to risk your own safety, not talking about that of the little children. And, me being me, I asked people this exact question. The answers that I got from different families were pretty much the same and these conversations made me see it all in a different lilght.
These people don’t fool themselves or pretend that Kabul (or any other place in Afghanistan) is a safe place. And at the same time they don’t pretend to be superheros who can deal with any situation that may arrise. They are careful and caution people. They are just ordinary people like you and me.
Living in the west we tend to worry about every little thing, up to the very ridiculous point, such as… I don’t want to even start! People who live in developed countries are actually afraid of more things than people who live in places like Kabul. People who live here realise that there are things in life, including life iteself, is out of our control and it is completely in the hands of God. Including the lives and safety of children. We have to let go of our fear. We have to let go of our controlling nature. We have to entrust our lives to God. This, and only this will make us free.
