My Travels in AFGHANISTAN - Part 2 - Kandahar
Sep 27 '01 (Updated Oct 03 '01)
The Bottom Line Like stepping back into another century, in a one-of-a-kind country. Not possible to get into at present though.
I didn't even know Afghanistan had a desert reminiscent of the Sahara until I found myself crossing it on a bus, in the middle of drifting sand dunes, mirages, wandering camels, and nomad tents. It would've been like something right out of the movies except for the bus itself and the decently paved road. Not to say that it was well-traveled. We were just about the only traffic all day.
Readers of Part One will know that my traveling partner and I got to Afghanistan in the middle of making the overland trip across Asia and that our first stop in Afghanistan was hippy-popular Herat near the western Afghan border with Iran.
Wanting to cross to Kabul in eastern Afghanistan, we needed to first go south to Kandahar. On TV Kandahar is now described as the religious capital of the country, but at that time I read that it was the cultural center. Maybe it's both.
Since Afghanistan doesn't have any trains (not having any tracks), we had to go by bus. At that time (1970) Afghanistan had decent highways, some of which had been built by the U.S. and others in the north by the then Soviet Union (which they later traveled to invade Afghanistan). I say the roads were decent "at that time" because from what I've seen on TV lately, the roads seem to have been pretty well torn up by wars that've been fought over the last twenty-plus years in Afghanistan.
Anyway, we set out by bus a little after dawn. I thought the terrain would be flat, dry, and scruffy, but it was nothing like I imagined. Right away, there was drifting sand as far as I could see in any direction. As the sun rose higher in the sky, mirages of lakes grew wider all around us. I could've sworn there was water out there but it would disappear as fast as we approached.
Then there were the camels. Based on desert movies, if there were camels, I would've expected caravans of them driven by humans. Not so. The camels were just wandering around all alone. Considering that we had seen a camel for sale in Herat for $50 U.S., this seemed like a lot of money to just be wandering around in a desert, but maybe the value was in the taming.
The sun was blindingly bright so that I could hardly see without squinting, but the weather was comfortable and not scorching like I'd have expected in a desert. Of course, it was late winter. This looked like a place to avoid in the summer.
Well into the desert, we'd occasionally see a group of black nomad tents, plopped right on the side of a large sand dune. There were never any people to be seen. I couldn't figure out where they were getting food or water, because there was nothing edible in sight (camels?) and no water unless there were underground oases. Who knows.
We stopped at least twice at rest-stop facilities (no plumbing or electricity, of course). At the stops, the Muslim men would spread out their prayer rugs and bow down toward Mecca. I believe the custom was for them to do this at least three times a day. At least I've read that recently.
There were a few Afghan women on the bus, all completely covered, like black ghosts, with small eye slits covered with woven patches. Nowadays I see Afghan women on TV wearing these covers in pastel colors. Then they were all black. Of course, it was impossible to make any kind of contact with Afghan women, since they were completely hidden.
Just when I thought the sand was going to go on forever, I spotted greenery in the distance among the "water". As we drew closer, the "water" would disappear but the greenery got bigger. I'd half expected the green stuff to be a mirage too. Anyway, there were beautiful palm trees, very green grass, and a pond of real water.
This was Kandahar. Everything in Kandahar seemed much more westernized than Herat. Of course, that was only in comparison to Herat. If I'd been magically transported to Kandahar straight out of Texas, I would've freaked out, no doubt. As it was, after ancient Herat everything seemed more civilized, whatever that means.
For one thing, the hotel where we stayed actually had large white columns. I never thought I'd be impressed by columns, outside of Greece, but they were representative of what the hotel was like inside. Our room was huge, with solid old wooden furniture and a beautiful wood floor. (Maybe I'm remembering it better than it actually was, because of the comparison of what had come in the weeks before.)
One thing I know for sure. There was a large ball-and-claw bathtub right there in the bedroom. This was the first bathtub I'd seen since Europe and the only bathtub I've EVER seen in a bedroom, before or since. There was a reason for it being in the bedroom. It had no plumbing, except for a drain. There was an iron contraption in the corner. Every evening, the hotel man would come into the room and load wood and water (separately) into it. Then he would light a fire to heat water that he'd later carry to the bathtub. At the same time the fire heated the water, it also heated the room. Talk about energy conservation.
The food in Kandahar was an improvement over the Herat food I ranted about in Part One, but it was unmemorable. What I DO remember was the beer. In the Muslim countries we'd been to, only Westerners were allowed to drink beer, because it was apparently forbidden to local Muslims. The fact that this hotel even HAD beer was an indication of the quality of the hotel and that it was accustomed to well-to-do Westerners. Not that we were by any means well-to-do, but we should have been wealthy in order to pay the money they were charging for their beer. I don't remember what brands they had, but I do remember that we had Heineken's and that we spent more on beer than on the room and food put together during the time we were in Kandahar. Well, it was the first beer we'd encountered since leaving Istanbul, weeks before.
Besides, I was too sick to leave the hotel room during the four nights we were in Kandahar. No, it wasn't the Herat food. Remember that pickup ride we had to take around dusk to get beyond the Afghan customs building (in Part One)? Well, it was cold and drafty and I caught a cold.
There was one bus a day to Kabul, leaving early in the morning, and in order to take the bus, it was required to buy a non-refundable ticket the previous day. Starting the second day, we'd go buy tickets for the next morning's busride. Then come morning I'd be too sick to make the trip. This went on for three days, with us throwing away a total of four bus tickets between us before we finally got out of there. Oh well, easy come, easy go. Anyway, all four tickets probably cost about the same as one Heineken. I'm serious.
Finally, we were off to Kabul. Part Three next.
Address for My Travels in AFGHANISTAN-Part 1 - Herat:
http://www.epinions.com/content_40783548036
Address for My Travels in AFGHANISTAN - Part 3 - Kabul:
http://www.epinions.com/content_2219090052
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