Back To Kabul
Wednesday, January 17th 2007 - 6:06 AM
I started writing this the day before yesterday, but my laptop battery ran out and the thing just went off and i lost it all...
The trip back to Afghanistan went well, with no serious delays or any problems, although it didn't look too promising at the start.
Fortunately i got to Gatwick airport 3 hours before the flight was due to leave, because i would have been considerably more stressed if i hadn't. My ticket had been booked by my office in Kabul, with instructions that i was to pick it up from the airline office in London. It was going to be a problem for me, having to go to London, so i emailed the airline and asked if i could pick it up from the airport. They said yes. But when i got to the check-in desk, they didn't know anything about it, and certainly didn't have the ticket there. They phoned someone else and told me he was going to bring the ticket and would be there in half an hour.
Half an hour turned into more than an hour, but i did eventually get the ticket in my hands. It turned out that it had only had to come from their office on the seventh floor of the building that check-in was in!
While i was waiting, though, i heard an announcement about hand luggage. You were only allowed one item of hand luggage and it had to fit into a certain amount of space. If you didn't comply with this, you wouldn't be allowed through to the departure gates.
Strewth! I'd been counting on taking my laptop, my camera, and a small bag with stuff i didn't want to risk losing by checking it in, and now i had to decide between them. In the end i had to put the camera in one of the bigger bags - which was mostly full of clothes, for padding - take really important stuff from the small bag and put it in the laptop case, and carry the laptop onboard. It was mildly stressful having to put my new Nikon digital SLR camera into the hold luggage, to say the least - but, even though it was more valuable, it was more expendable than the data on the laptop.
The flight to Baku was really good. The plane was clean and in good condition, the food was good and the cabin staff were friendly and helpful. There was also hardly anyone on board, which meant there was plenty of space.
We arrived in Baku a bit late - about 11.15 that night, Azerbaijan time. The first thing i had to do was get a visa so i could leave the airport. You can get them at the airport, but you have to pay for them. And you have to have two passport-size photos, which i didn't have, as they were in the bag i'd been forced to put in with the hold luggage.
However, there was a guy there with a camera who would take your photo for you - for a price. I had to pay him US$25 - and, of course, i didn't have any choice.
It turned out afterwards, though, that i did have a choice - there were some passport photos among the things i'd transferred from my small bag to my laptop case!
Eventually i got through passport control and got all my luggage off the conveyor belt. I was relieved to find it was all there and undamaged. Because there was so few people on the plane, and no other flights at that time of day, it was all quite quick and easy.
The car from the hotel was waiting for me, and i arrived at the hotel about midnight. As i had to leave again at 5.30, to catch a flight to Kabul at 8am, i didn't have long to try and get some sleep. I guess i got 3 hours in the end, as i didn't go to sleep very easily, because it was only the middle of the evening in England, where i'd just come from.
The Old City Inn hotel was pleasant enough, and comfortable, in a fairly old-fashioned way. It was in the old part of town, which looked like it would be really interesting to explore a bit, next time i'm there. The streets were all really narrow and winding, and it was on a bit of a hill. I think the hotel overlooked the Caspian Sea, although i couldn't see it from my room on the first floor.
But before i'd really had time to take much note of my surroundings (let alone sleep anything like enough hours) i was back at the airport again and boarding the plane to Kabul. This plane was a bit of a contrast to the modern one i'd flown from London on. It was an old Russian plane, with primitive seatbelts and a kind of antique feel to it! The obviously use the crap planes for the Kabul run. But it was clean enough and the staff were reasonably friendly and helpful, and the flight was smooth, with takeoff and landing being within the normal range of my experience.
My first view of Afghanistan from the plane was of snow-covered mountains - pretty much the same as my last view of it on leaving, a month ago. It was beautiful, i guess, but i wasn't impressed and i sort of inwardly groaned at the thought of more bloody snow!
The airport was relatively hassle-free, although it took a long time to get through passport control. I ran into Vanessa, another Aussie, who works for the same organisation as me, and was in the queue next to the one i was in. She had just arrived back from three weeks in Australia. We shared a work car which took us both home.
You can see some of my photos of Afganistan at
WillKemp-Photos.com/afghanistan