More Afghanistan Musings

Taking a break at the summit 8,514 9599 feet. A review of topographical map data showed the mountain was a tad taller than earlier reports...hence the correction.

How’s this for entertainment? We go mountain climbing. Ok, lots of people go mountain climbing, but do they do it with guns and on the lookout for insurgents? Kabul is at 5,900 feet above sea-level, which is supposedly the second highest capital city in the world or darned close. The mountains that ring Kabul are an additional 2,500 – 3,500 feet higher. We typically climb with our Brit buddies, some Afghans and some of our own troops. Now if we were being forced to do this as part of training, we’d bitch the whole way. For fun? That’s different.

This is the view of Kabul below with mountains ringing the valley.

Darulaman Palace and the Queen’s Palace were built around the turn of the last century by the Germans. Originally the plan called for linking the two palaces with a bridge that would span the beautiful gardens below. Unfortunately, WWI intervened and the Germans became somewhat preoccupied on other fronts. The beautiful garden is also long gone, destroyed like the palaces in the decades of war that have ravaged this country.

Darulaman Palace (The King's Palace)

The Queen's Palace

People selling things are everywhere. Produce vendors are on almost every street and for the most part the produce looks pretty good. I had some local melon yesterday at breakfast and I eat local eggs almost every morning. The tomatoes are particularly good.

Mellon Vendor

Kabul is crowded. The city has grown six times its prewar size. Prewar population was 700,000…current population is 4.5 million. These “cliff houses” are actually the more traditional form of Afghan housing. With almost everything on the valley floor spoken for, people have built up the steep hill slopes that rise from the middle of the city.

Cliff Houses

Goats. You see them everywhere, even in the middle of busy traffic circles.

More later. I’ve got a busy day of writing and visiting other blogs tomorrow. It was nice that our Muslim “weekend” coincided with our 4th of July Holiday this year. But for us it is just a single day off. On Saturday the new Muslim work week begins.