THE AFGHAN SERIES, DAY 15 & 16
KABUL – GHAZNI – KANDAHAR
Sandstorm, bricks & cramps; Kabul to Kandahar. Today we were back on the road and began our 12 hour road trip to Kandahar.
THE TOILET TRIPS HAVE RETURNED AGAIN
I don’t know what it is about roadtrips in Afghanistan but they are excoriatingly long and sap every ounce of energy from you. The scenery is magical but by the time you arrive you are royally f**ked.
WHERE IS GHAZNI?
Ghazni
GHAZNI
But first we had a stop in Ghazni to check out a few minarets and some more soviet tanks. After getting our approval along with some photos for the local tourism office we were given a government official to guide us during our time in Ghazni.
I’ll be honest here and say he did little guiding and spent most of his time on his phone showing us his interview on national television. I also noticed some under cover Talibs who were keen to follow us around and pretend to be Afghan tourists. They wouldn’t have fooled a blind man on his horse.
Sandstorm, bricks & cramps; Kabul to Kandahar
DAILY INFO….
- HOTEL – Kandahar Continental ($50 7/10)
- FOOD –
Shawarma
Nutella & Bread - ATTRACTIONS –
Ghazni:
Taliban tourism office and government official
Undercover talibs
Minarets of Ghazni.
Grave yard of destroyed Tanks of Russian
Balahisar of Ghazni – old city
Kandahar:
Tomb of Ahmad Shah Baba.
Khirqa Mubarak – Cloak of the prophet
Tomb of Mirwais Neka – across from Taliban checkpoint
And before 40 steps but 40 steps was closed
Baba Wali shrine.
House of Mola Mohammad Omer.
Red Masque.
Old city of Kandahar.
Brick factory
Chihilzena - STEPS – 9,800 & 6,100
SOVIET TANK CEMETERY
I am shocked at the amount of money left behind by the Americans (on behalf of their poor taxpayers), whether it be weapons, vehicles or infrastructure. But I cant believe the same from the soviets. Of course it’s not as blindly obvious but you don’t have to look far to see a reminder. Out of pure luck we have seen 2 fairly large soviet tank cemeteries in Afghanistan, and there are probably countless more hidden behind the many high walls and compounds around the country.
Sandstorm, bricks & cramps; Kabul to Kandahar
RELATED READ: THE GATES OF HELL
RED MOSQUE
We done the usual this morning, a few mosques and a few shrines but it was the red mosque that interested me the most. Both Mullah Omar and Osama Bin Laden would have prayed here during their years before the US invasion. We also passed Mullah Omar’s house which is just a short drive from here and the birthplace of the Taliban, when the end of the soviet war created a power vacuum and then begun the infighting between the Mujahideen. It is now said to be the home of the current leader.
Sandstorm, bricks & cramps; Kabul to Kandahar
WHERE IS KANDAHAR?
Kandahar
BRICK FACTORY
I love anything construction related and just a few weeks prior made the trip to Northcot Brick Factory in England. It was an eye opener to see how these bricks were made and would have shocked anyone. However, here was a completely different league. The dirt, dust and heat all made the conditions absolutely dire but the rate these guys worked just blew me away. They didn’t stopped for a smoke break or to catch their breath they just went on and on.
Everything was lifted and laid several times by hand. First the clay was mixed by hand and then thrown into the moulds. After drying they were put into make shift wheelbarrows and moved into the kilns. These kilns had to be built before everytime they were used. 2 workers would go around and ensure the kilns were stocked up on coal for the next 24hours before they bricks were removed and loaded onto a lorry one by one!
FACTS ABOUT KANDAHAR:
- Excavations of prehistoric sites by archaeologists such as Louis Dupree and others suggest that the region around Kandahar is one of the oldest human settlements known so far.
- Kandahar is one of the most culturally significant cities of the Pashtuns and has been their traditional seat of power for more than 300 year.
- From the mid-1990s until its overthrow in 2001, the Taliban, an Islamic fundamentalist faction that controlled much of Afghanistan, had its headquarters in Kandahar.
TODAY’S YOUTUBE VIDEOS
If you want to see today from a different perspective, and catch a few different stories from the front row, then check out today’s YouTube videos below.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I have no doubt I will go back into my bubble once I return home but I didn’t expect it was possible for people to work so hard. We’ve been softened.
NEXT UP
Fun meeting locals on the road to Helmand, the Valley of Death!! Click to read.
SAFE TRAVELS, DS x
159/229
This post was part of The Afghan Series, for the entire series click here or for episode 1, click here.
To watch the video of my trip, head to my highlights on my Instagram.
