As I was checking in for my early morning Ariana Afghan Airways flight to Kabul at New Delhi's airport, I recall thinking that I had never seen people checking in so much baggage for a flight. Baggage trolleys were piled high with cartons containing stereo systems, microwaves, pressure cookers and all sorts of other household utensils. I wondered how people could afford to pay all the excess baggage charges, but I didn't see any money being handed over. Maybe they just loaded it all on and prayed the aircraft was not ... (more)