Capital: Kabul | Language: Dari, Pashto | Currency: Afghani | Religion: Islam | Population: 40 million

Afghanistan as a realistic destination hadn’t even crossed our minds back home, but suddenly there it was, between us and Pakistan.

Letting your guard down, or trying to: travels in southern Pakistan

We’ve been to Pakistan before. It felt familiar and comfortable. But I was too quick to let my guard down. Literally. The immigration officer reappeared and informed us that it wasn’t safe for us to travel alone to Peshawar. As foreigners we wouldn’t be allowed to spend the night there, either. And so we found ourselves in the back of another taxi, this time riding through Khyber Pass with an armed guard in the front seat.

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Sakhi Shrine, Kabul

Border to border: an unexpected journey in Afghanistan

So this was it. We drove slowly through the greyness over the Friendship bridge between Tajikistan and Afghanistan. There was no time to question the wisdom of our decision. I couldn’t think about it anyway, what with ‘I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus’ still stuck in my head.

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Letting your guard down, or trying to: travels in southern Pakistan

We’ve been to Pakistan before. It felt familiar and comfortable. But I was too quick to let my guard down. Literally. The immigration officer reappeared and informed us that it wasn’t safe for us to travel alone to Peshawar. As foreigners we wouldn’t be allowed to spend the night there, either. And so we found ourselves in the back of another taxi, this time riding through Khyber Pass with an armed guard in the front seat.

Read More »
Sakhi Shrine, Kabul

Border to border: an unexpected journey in Afghanistan

So this was it. We drove slowly through the greyness over the Friendship bridge between Tajikistan and Afghanistan. There was no time to question the wisdom of our decision. I couldn’t think about it anyway, what with ‘I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus’ still stuck in my head.

Read More »