Kabul. Bashed,Beaten,Bloodied,and Bludgeoned. The most common words that come to mind when thinking of the capital city. A name known to most now. Kabul is a city which had always been a focus of continous struggle for centuries between warlords and invaders. Kabul's infrastructure is beaten senseless, and is mostly a skeletal shadow of what it once was, rocked by continous shelling by those who attacked the city, and later again by those who had been ousted and were trying to re-capture it. Kabul did not suffer much during the Soviet invasion. Most of it's damage occured during the long civil war which overtook the country after the Soviet withdrawal. Yet,in 2003 the Afghans are moving fast and on the up. They've wasted no time in re-building it. Constant repairs are taking place, and people open shops within shelled out and obliterated buildings. Life goes on, and is extremely busy compared to the status of the town during the Taliban Era, where Kandahar became the new spiritual home and centre of government. Today, Kabul is a seething mass of trade and activity. We were shocked how packed and busy the palce was in the central areas. Carpet sellers,bazzars,you name it it was happening. This was our first 2 days in Kabul. We arrived around Sunset from the hot and dusty road from the Pakistani border, through Jalalabad and it's burning hot deserts, weery and sweaty. Quickly we had to search for a guesthouse and change money on the blackmarket in the markey area. Here are a few pictures taken during that time before heading to Bamiyan.We would later return to Kabul for a more comprehensive look and more interesting photos. Stay tuned to Worldisround.

Adam Smith - September 2003.