Wednesday 15 October 2008

Expat life in Kabul - 15h October (cont....)

This evening William and I went out to a restaurant for supper. It is really quite extraordinary, the expat life here. You arrive at the restaurant and it is guarded by piles of sand bags and kalashinikov’d security guards in bullet proof vests. You knock on the door and a tiny window opens and you are inspected and let in to an inner room. There you are searched by armed security guards and then led to another door where another window opens and you are let in to another room before being let in to the restaurant.

Inside you find smoke filled rooms with bars serving any drink you care to have and French food is served at candlelit tables. There is a swimming pool out in the lanterned gardens, empty now for the winter, but just weeks ago any expat could come and swim here.

Just an hour away, you find roads blocked by the Taliban in Wardak and outside on the streets today our car was besieged by young street urchins, begging at our windows. I find it all very bizarre and long to leave Kabul and head for the North.

1 comment:

Chris Jaussi said...
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