This is a country that conjures up many images to different people, in the west mostly with images of Taliban and the Russian invasion. When I was informed that I was to go there for business, I thought it was a great opportunity and very much looked forward to it. The country lived up to all my expectations. I was very very interested to see what it was like, how the people were and what the current situation was. So I flew into Dubai and got my visa. I thought I may have problems with the visa but it was one of the easiest I have had to obtain. The guy even had the cheek to ask for 10 Dirhams, additional fee, which I had to pay to get the visa the same day (on top of the 30 USD fee). I am sure this went straight into his personal development fund.

My flight was with Ariana, the national airline, which I was NOT too excited about given the stories. Once again, the stories were a bit over the top, however I dont think the maintenance quite reaches western standards!!! The seating is random haha a pet hate of mine so I went into rough Steve mode to get a good one haha ended up down the back so am practicing my rough steve persona for the next trip and a good seat heh. The flight was packed, and Afghans seem to be like Africans and take everything including the kitchen sink on the airline.

Coming in over Afghanistan, the scenery is spectacular rugged mountains with streams and little lush valleys. You can see some of it in the photos, although they did not turn out to well due to it being only a digital camera (really thats the real reason!!). Landing in Kabul is very speccy as the mountains are snow capped surrounding the city. The landing is semi tactical due to the recent SAM fired at a US aircraft, and the airport customs was a little bit chaotic, but nothing too bad.

It was here that I met with Ed, our company guy who had been there for 3 or so months already. He took me on a little tour and my first impressions of Kabul were very positive. It was relatively clean, far less chaotic than I imagined and, after Sudan, the temperature was great!! Our little villa was in the main expat area of town, right near to the famous (well famous in Kabul) Lai Thai restaurant awesome food!!. which was very handy.

I did not get time to do the exploring that I wanted due to work commitments, but my brief insight was a fantastic experience. The city is a little drab in areas and quite up-market in others; flowers and trees dot the streets and the roads are a mix of trucks, cars, bikes, vendors and the walking many. You can see the old Russian apartments dotting around the place and yes they do live up to their reputation of being extremely drab!! I have included some of Eds photos to show what it is like in the winter all snow covered.

The people of Afghanistan (in Kabul anyway) are very very friendly and accommodating. They made us feel very welcome, were polite and generally interested in us as foreigners. Most I met seemed excited about the future of the country and were very positive generally. They let fly with a few titbits about life under the Taliban and I am glad I was not there ha or that I was not raised like that very scary stuff!! The life is very very traditional and while women can go to school et now, they are certainly very restricted in what they can and cannot do with strongly enforced protocol (I know - big word for me haha). Most women are covered, even young girls, which, with the adults often fully covered (see photos). Foreign women, usually wear very modest clothing and the headscarf. I think they are almost treated as honorary males in the society but I may be wrong not sure if that a good thing or not hehe

The markets etc are bustling, although off limits to most agencies (ie UN NGOs etc) due to recent events, and would be awesome to wander around for a few days. I didnt see any foreigners in chicken street at all in my time. The arts and crafts are amazing; the carpet of course, old Russian treasures etc I ended up with some great silk carpets!! Which are now on their way back to Australia!!

There are many restaurants and places to have a beer if you want. One mentioned already, the Lai Thai is great. Nice staff great food and a drink of beer of you need it. There are many others around of high quality and I think the elbow lounge (may have name wrong) has a wee party type thing on Thursdays. Keep away from the Chinese restaurants as I found out they double as places of ill repute, and if there is ever a place besides a military barracks in Kabul that would be a bomb target, I think that is it!! In addition to the restaurants, Balal cooked us some traditional meals (cant remember proper names sorry ), which were very tasty especially the local bread (see photos to see how it is baked). He was a great guy and if for eg I wanted to get something, he would sprint past to make sure he did it for us. I am one for carrying my own bags (as long as they are not too heavy hehehe), doing my own stuff etc and he made it very difficult.

Many people have asked about security in Afghanistan. Not once did I feel personally threatened or in danger in my time (two weeks) in Kabul. The international military keep a very low profile and most security I saw was the Afghan police and Army. That being said, I was very careful about where I went and what I did while it feels safe, I was not taking any unreasonable chances (haha Mum does my definition of reasonable chances match with yours hehe) due to the kidnap attempts and some insurgent type of activity (trust me though it is no Iraq). I think a fair bit may happen behind the scenes hat is maybe not reported!!

Unlike the American contractors (mostly that nationality - sorry) who seem to love driving around with 9 weapons pointed out of each window, driving the locals off the streets, making the local population think they are w#$%%#$ (the merits of a hearts and minds campaign hasnt quite sunk in yet) and generally looking like a large target, we went very low key; locals cars drivers etc. We didnt walk around to much and stayed generally in our house at night good precautions that I think ensured our general safety (note I am not indicating things are fine and for tourists to start packing their bags and hanging in chicken street). Many western expats have very low-key security, who are there and ready, but not obvious, which I think is a good way to travel if you have to have security.

If you go to Khandahar (ex Taliban stronghold) or Garmiz south of Kabul, then the security changes dramatically. It is still apparently quite bad their through both military action and banditry.

I had the opportunity to travel to many parts of the city; from the industrial area yeah exciting hey to the fruit markets, general markets, government areas and outer city limits. I asked our driver Balal, to take me to the old British front, which he did. You can see it in the photos and it has a great view of the city. The Russians had used it as a base during their invasion, and the shells et they used are still in location. It is comprised of underground tunnels and bunkers and was very interesting. This is where I got my first scare (did I say that), but I am glad it happened as it made me far more aware. We were on the top and I started to run off the path to get a photo. The Afghan soldiers yelled at me quite vigorously to come back. Balal translated they were concerned about me stepping on land mines. Now, I knew the country was heavily mined but I would never have expected that in a tourist destination in the city it still was not cleared. A good eye opener for me and made me far, far more mine aware metal detector coming on my next trip haha.

Speaking of mines, I managed to get one trip out of the city. This was heading North, to Bagram. The scenery is a fantastic, field, with the mountains behind (did I mention snow capped!!) and farmers with their crops houses, life ec unchanged for centuries. The one thing that was striking was the little white sticks everywhere. These were on buildings, and little flags that indicated an area is cleared. This stretch for miles and miles god knows how many mines were laid, how many have been cleared or not cleared. Quite scary definitely no pee stops of the side of the road. The mines were apparently laid between two warlords. I would hate to count the number of nomads (you can see them in the photos), or other Afghans that must step on these (in fact an Afghan stepped o one that was missed near to the entrance of Bagram base while I was in country)

The scenery, so I have been told gets more and more spectacular as you head further North, past the Salang pass (main route through for the Soviets) and it would be amazing to get up there to see it maybe next time. I have seen some photos and there are amazing things to see in this country.

Kabul seems liberal to the life outside the city. Once we left, we did not see one woman without a burka and the people seemed very much to live as they had for centuries with the modern weapons etc. I didnt get time yet to read etc about their life, but I think it would make an interesting story. In Bagram, I met the local warlord, who controlled the area, and provide guards etc for the company I was seeings project. He had apparently absolute control over the area who came in and did what, his own people etc. He was actually an old man, who you would not give second notice too if you saw him alone, but he did have nasty looking guards (dont get scared Frosty!). When he told them to do something it happened quick smart!!

Traveling to and from Bagram you see the nomads. They are the same tribe from which the famous picture of the Afghan girl was taken (on national Geo I think). They seemed very very interesting and very colorful in their dress. Got a few photos of their camps and have included some of eds for a close up with their camels.

I find the life and history of the Afghans very interesting; My little insight increased that and I have now got two books to try and give me an insight. The first is the bookseller of Kabul and the second The Carpet Wars. This should be an intriguing read. One thing I have learnt is DO NOT pee them off or do things that they consider disrespectful that is a good way to get your self killed. Their sense of honour is intense. Dont mess with the local women, dont screw them business wise, pay on time and ensure you know who it is who is in-control if doing business outside Kabul (oh and inside!!). There is the UN guy who was killed after having a relationship with a local, a prominent company who had to evacuate their staff member urgently for the same thing and others who have been run out. This is not a place to go lady chasing!!! My big hint for the day for those heading over!!

Definitely a fascinating and rewarding place to visit and somewhere I would like to go back to. Bit depressed now I am back in Khartoum hehe(dont worry am drying my eyes now hehe)