Got up early and went to Ariana Afghan airlines and booked our seats. That’s a relief because except for this flight today, all the others leave at 5am. Breakfasted on ham and eggs at a deluxe hostel – The Park – and paid deluxe prices - $10 – but it was what we were looking for. This was the first place that served “real” coffee, not instant. I miss it after our lovely Ethiopian coffee.
Caught a taxi to the airport. Had a rough flight over Afghanistan and Kabul was socked in. The captain said he would fly in and have a look anyway and I guess saw something because we landed safely. Kabul is ringed by mountains but the little bowl was clear in the center.
This article in the English language paper is about the area near Harar where we lived in Ethiopia.
Kabul is a fantastic city but chilly. People are friendly with the readiest smiles we’ve met all trip. The rainstorm we flew through had just stopped and mud and puddles are everywhere. Checked into a $20 hotel but can probably move tomorrow; now it is just nice to have a lovely large warm room, a hot bath, and a view of the mountains.
Kabul is definitely an ancient, people-watching city.
We took a stroll around as the sun set. Bryan says he can’t see much change in the 10 years since he was last here. People still dress in traditional style: men in cotton bloomers and long shirts tails out, women in chadri head to toe. Sometimes called burqas, the coverings have a mesh panel to look out of and are made of nylon. It has a shorter panel in front but they normally pull it together. However, the chadri aren’t black but a lovely pale blue, rust, darker blue and a mossy green. The top is like a built-in embroidered hat and even the mesh peephole is the same color. We saw only one or two groups of western-dressed women, students probably.
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