Turkey to India - Brainaddict takes the interesting route
- Thread starter Brainaddict
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Cool posts, Brainaddict. This journey has always been one of my dream routes. One day, one day...
Brainaddict
slight system overdrive
Today I went a-wandering in a small village of no significance on the edge of a small and not very significant town 70km from Yazd where I'm staying. I spotted it from the bus and jumped off to walk around, and everyone I met kept asking where I wanted to be, completely sure that I couldn't possibly want to be there. It was a cool place though with lots of ruined mud-brick walls and houses abandoned and turning to dust. And then someone invited me into his house for tea, and then made me eat lunch too, even though I said I didn't want it. It was nice.
No post in more than a day!
Invited in for tea, 'made' to eat a laced lunch. He's been kidnapped
Invited in for tea, 'made' to eat a laced lunch. He's been kidnapped
He called me last night and was safe and well. Then, anyhow. He was at a party in Tehran. By now he will be at the airport - to take his flight to Kabul...Stanley Edwards said:No post in more than a day!
Invited in for tea, 'made' to eat a laced lunch. He's been kidnapped
/ Brainaddict
slight system overdrive
Something ricey with green bits in it. With bread.trashpony said:
What was lunch?
Brainaddict
slight system overdrive
I'm in Afghanistan! Woohoo!! It's been great so far. Today I went from Kabul to Mazar-i-Sharif. The scenery along the way was stunning. Outside Kabul, along the riversides in the green valleys that wind through the mountains, there were loads of picnic spots in shady places by the glacial water, which are rented out to picnicing families for a small amount of money per day. Somehow the picnic spots of Afghanistan never make it onto the news 
We did also pass the warlord of Mazar on the way, in his very nice Mercedes with three truckloads of heavily armed policemen around him. Thankfully he's a good friend of Kharzai the Prez, so he he's just fine with honest travellers like me wandering through his lands.
We did also pass the warlord of Mazar on the way, in his very nice Mercedes with three truckloads of heavily armed policemen around him. Thankfully he's a good friend of Kharzai the Prez, so he he's just fine with honest travellers like me wandering through his lands.
Do you feel like you're in a country that is obviously at war? On home turf like. Not like the UK at war away. Is it obviously wonky or, does everything seem hunkydory?
Brainaddict
slight system overdrive
Things tend to just go along as normal. I'm in the north now though which has been peaceful for a while. In the south it may be different. There was a curfew when I arrived in Kabul because of the recent demonstrations after the American army had some trouble with their driving, but hopefully that will be lifted by the time I get back.Stanley Edwards said:
Brainaddict
slight system overdrive
Last night we went out for a late night walk in Kabul. The flat I'm staying in is in a concrete apartment block built during the soviet era - one of nearly 300 almost identical blocks in this district of Kabul. Unlike in other places it is considered quite high class accommodation and a flat can go for US$100,000. We wandered over to another block where another of my friends' relatives lives and found a bunch of very bored young people hanging around outside. They took us into the rose garden beside their block (one of the few restored to it's original state - though still somewhat sparsely planted) and we sat around and chatted. It turned out one of the guys lived in the UK for five years. He used to be a bus driver in Wolverhampton and his English was good. He isn't here to work though as there are no jobs. His brother has a business but that is failing because of the ongoing security problems here. He seemed very sad about the whole situation - like a lot of people you meet here.
A bus driver from Wolverhampton. Excellent. I had no idea anyone from Wolverhampton could speak good english.
Sounds a bit gloomy there. Any optimistic signs?
Sounds a bit gloomy there. Any optimistic signs?
Brainaddict
slight system overdrive
I'm in Herat today, which is a thriving city, but with the increase in taliban activity lately no one can be sure what's going to happen next and foreign investment is sinking to almost nil. And the Afghan people are disappointed with Kharzai for failing to deal with the corruption and bureacracy that seriously inhibits any new enterprise. So, no, sadly notStanley Edwards said:
Brainaddict
slight system overdrive
I've been having a weird but interesting time here in afghanistan. I went to an Afghan film premiere (a badly directed but interesting film about the history of the wars) and I've been to an Afghan wedding (a bit boring as men and women are kept separate and there is no alcohol - some good pashtun dancing though) and I'm currently staying at the house of some Afghan Germans. They've come here to run a business but don't seem to like Afghanistan much - or even Afghans....
Brainaddict
slight system overdrive
I met an English guy at the airport coming back from Herat - he has a very thick neck and works for HM Prison Service as a warden. He has been seconded to the UN to check that prison conditions in various parts of the world meet minimum UN standards. I asked him how Afghan prisons were, assuming they would be pretty bad - but he said that they're not as bad as you might expect and his job here is like a holiday compared to the nine months he spent in Iraq. He only got to look at the Iraqi prisons though - wasn't allowed near the US prisons there.
You just spoke to Vixen on the phone.
I can seeeeeeeeeeeeeee you
I can seeeeeeeeeeeeeee you
Brainaddict
slight system overdrive
skyping from afghanistan is not ideal though We managed one conversation, then tried again later and the connection slowed down too much Back to PMs it is.
We managed one conversation, then tried again later and the connection slowed down too much Back to PMs it is.Brainaddict
slight system overdrive
Afghanistan has fantastic mangoes Also, the cardamom ice cream is amazing. And good streetfood too. It's the little things that count 
Also, the cardamom ice cream is amazing. And good streetfood too. It's the little things that count Wow just found the thread
I tried that route to India in 1990. The Plane took off half an hour after we landed at Kabul and it flew to Karachi!! To this day I will never know the full story but it was pretty scary!!.. Enjoy the brilliant trip.
Best to always look on the bright side.! Cardomon Icecream sounds yummy!Brainaddict said:Afghanistan has fantastic mangoes
I tried that route to India in 1990. The Plane took off half an hour after we landed at Kabul and it flew to Karachi!! To this day I will never know the full story but it was pretty scary!!.. Enjoy the brilliant trip.
Brainaddict
slight system overdrive
Today I went for a walk in a village next to the ex-buddhas in Bamian and we met an old guy my guide knows and he invited us for tea and lunch in his mud house. The meal was like a savoury rice pudding with onions. It was good, but there was a weevil in my bread.
Brainaddict said:
I'm really not sure I know you well enough to ask anymore.
What kind of weevil?
Agent Sparrow
AGENT TRAITOR; fools 8 year olds
While I am nicely envious of this trip in many ways...
Wild hamsters!* That's pretty
Where exactly in India are you now Brainaddict?
Vixen - are you going over just before the rainy season or just after it starts? I think you told me but I can't remember.
*simple pleasures, me
Now I'm really jealous!Vixen said:
Wild hamsters!* That's pretty
Where exactly in India are you now Brainaddict?
Vixen - are you going over just before the rainy season or just after it starts? I think you told me but I can't remember.
*simple pleasures, me
