What a wonderful place to relax and unwind. I have to second jcravens' comment about the shakes being to die for... I can't remember one I've enjoyed more back in the states. Put Chaila on your "must do" list for in Kabul.

Just some pics from Afghanistan

Shewa is the traditional summer grazing ground for the Kuchi nomads of Northeastern Afghanistan. It is located in Badakshan Province about three hours east of Faizabad. The Kuchi caravans go up in May and stay until the first part of September. They camp in family groups in black tents made from goat wool and spend the summer watching their animals, making milk products and heading back and forth to a nearby town to trade meat and yogurt for supplies. The valley itself takes about three hours to drive across. The altitude is roughly 8500-9000ft and ends near the alpine Lake Shewa. Multiple streams and rivers criss-cross the main and side valleys. It is possible to do fly fishing and day treks from a central base. The Kuchis are open to receiving visitors but take them something to repay their hospitality. From Faizabad you will drive about 2 hours east along the Kookcha river and then turn off to the north and climb roughly 5000ft very quickly. The road is driveable the entire way but do be careful....there are ample shells of vehicles to remind you what happens if you are not. You will need to stop in Faizabad at the Ministry of Information, Culture, and Tourism to get a letter that will introduce you to the local authorities of Shewa. In Shewa the district capital is at a place called Pi-Lo and you will need to check in with them before setting up camp. It is roughly a one hour drive from the beginning of Shewa. The mountains surrounding the valley remain snowcapped year around and can be walked to easily. Marmots have colonies throughout the valley. You might want to observe where they are living and camp there in order to observe them. They become used to humans quickly if you don't mess with them. Take fishing gear and ask the locals where the best place to wet a line is. They will try to get you to use one of their throw nets but will watch with wonder as you cast a lure. The main species is some sort of trout. It is quite bony but makes a decent meal. Lake Shewa is located at the northern side of Shewa and remains iced in until quite late in the season. This year (2007) the car road did not open until the middle of June. It is a high altitude lake of incredible blue. All of Shewa is an incredible green through the summer with lots of alpine flowers. Be sure to bring sunblock as there is barely a tree in the entire valley and with the altitude you burn quite quickly. The nights can be cold through the summer and there was frost through June on our trip. There is a small market in Pi-Lo but you will want to bring most of your supplies from Faizabad in order to have more than the basics. You will need to be mostly self-supported but you can buy a sheep or goat for meat. You will probably have to butcher it yourself or have someone else do it in exchange for the pelt and organs. You could set up a base and hike out of there everyday or move further up the valley with your camp as you have experienced the sites in one area. Get there soon if possible because the traditional lives of the Kuchi is changing. Many of them bring their families up in vehicles and it won't be long until they have satellite tv set up in their tents and bring their herds by transport truck. The Kuchi Caravans may not be nomadic much longer.

Khosh Valley is about two hours from Faizabad, Afghanistan, in Badakhshan Province in the Northeast part of the country. You will need to stop in Faizabad and visit the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism to get a letter of permission to present to the local authorities in Shohran, the head village in the valley. There are a couple of places to camp. The first is the Garden of Shohrani. It is near to the village of Shohran. You can also camp in the "Iloq", or summer grazing grounds of the valley. The locals move up to the sides of the mountains in the summer to graze their animals, make yogurt and watch their crops. Their is not much to do in Khosh other than hike, chill with the locals, and drink 'shur-chai' or salt tea. The area was never under contest throughtout the years of war so there have been no mines laid. There are a couple of high peaks surrounding the valley, the highest of which is called 'Cargasi Piozi' or the Black Onion in Uzbek. The are would be termed 'trekking peaks' since the can be climbed without technical climbing abilities or gear. One contact in Shohran is Noor-Aga. He runs the local phone call center and drug store and speaks enough english to be helpful. He could probably even arrange a homestay. The languages of the valley are Dari and Uzbek.

This time my idle ramblings are inspired by my recent all expenses paid trip to Afghanistan. Which brings on yet another episode of time traveling adding an additional two and a half hours to my world, but minus an hour for daylight savings. Life on a former Russian base is interesting especially walking through the buildings and the fact that it is not nearly as sprawling as the post in Kuwait. In its simplicity it is marvelously efficient even moreso given the base's slight modern makeover. Seeing tall and majestic pines, the alpine ski lodge-esque USO after leaving the arrival terminal all complimented by snow capped, cloud-ringed mountains and chilly mountain air almost makes one feel like there is no war going on at all. Of course that's until the jets, cargo planes and helicopters roaring down the runway and up-armored vehicles start moving down the main road.

Upon arrival with our new unit I got a tour of the perimeter where you can see the local Afghanis going about there day: Boys going to school by bike or foot, cattle and goats being herded and small children being watched over by their fathers. Randomly placed are signs telling people not to give anything to locals, "Do not feed the locals" in a sense. At the same time our driver the senior-most enlisted Soldier in the unit endorses that which we've read. The RPG attack on the base the week prior as well as a mortar attack. Not to mention the fact that the bazaar where the locals came and sold goods, very cheaply,  was stopped because of the suicide bomber who detonated himself at the gates, coincidentally on the same day as VP Cheney's visit.

So much contrast. Fast forward a few days later and the initial shock of entering an entire new part of the theater wears off and it becomes a small Soviet era base lacking any kind of pinnache; looking at three hundred and sixty degrees of white-maned mountains crowned with fluffy white clouds and a big blue sky never gets old. What a wonderful world indeed, Mr. Armstrong. A year away from friends and family isn't the greatest but my experiences in the past 7 months have helped ease the pain. Til next time.

The Salang Tunnel just north of Kabul is one of the most beautiful drives you can make anywhere in the world.  The tunnel at the top of the pass is the highest driveable tunnel in the world, and Gabriel had fun counting the galleries leading up to the tunnel and out of the tunnel.  The tunnel itself takes several minutes to drive through, so we decided to not hold our breath for the length of the tunnel.

On the other side, we came out to see the high mountain glaciers on the north side of the Hindu Kush.  We drove down through a series of Ismaili villages, down to Pul-i-Khumri, and then on to Surkh Kotal, the ancient monumental five-layered staircase built by Kanishka in the third century AD.  The staircase goes up the side of the mountain, and looks better from a kilometer or two away, rather than right up close. 

After Surkh Kotal we drove further to Takhta-i-Rustam near Samangan which is an ancient Buddhist Stuppa from the time of Christ.  The cylindrical monument is carved out of a stone mountain, and has amazing views of the surrounding valley.  On top of the cylinder is a small temple carved out of solid stone.

Late that afternoon we headed to Mazar to spend the night at some friends home.  We had a great visit with them that night.

Don't go there! If you haven't heard there is a WAR going on! And seriously what's up with countries that are 30 min different in time zones. Can anyone explain that one to me?

I blog about many of the different places I've been, including Afghanistan, on my own web site

I cant say ive done everything but i can say ive done the limbo at 2a.m.  next to an old soivet out post postion in the middle of the Afghan plains :)

I just love waking up in the morning to find there is no water in the block, meaning i have to wash, shower and shave with bottled water. And this isnt the first time and im sure it wont be the last time before i leave here.

The kids out here seem to ask for the same thing first, its not water or sweets but instead its pens. A good example, yesterday we parked up on some open plains, the nearest village was bout 2km away and as we were watching the village we saw a kid runnig towards us (and this was during the hottest part of the day). when he got to us he refused water and food and just insisted on having a pen. And yes we did give him a pen and in the end he took some water and food

At no point did i expect to wear waterproof jacket and troussers on a summer tour of Afghan, and yet we've just had monsoon weather while out on patrol. well like many times before, i was wrong and im sure it wont be the last

At no point did i expect to wear waterproof jacket and troussers during a summer tour of Afghan. well lke many other times before i was wrong and im sure it wont be the last

Looking back it was one of the most beautiful places Ive been. As dangerous as it is I would be very happy if someday I can return on my own, sans military, to travel and again feel the same sense of culture, humility and hospitality I felt before. Kandahar is not a very pretty, nor clean, city. But the mountains northwest and northeast are beautiful. I got to see what I thought to be an ancient buddhist monastery somewhere northeast of Kandahar, Opium and Marijuana fields dot the landscape with roads carved straight into cliffs with roaring rivers below. I was told by the locals some of the villages could be more than 500 years old around Kandahar. The southwestern corner is extremely hot and dry-wouldnt advise casual travel there. Never got way up North but I heard it was awesome. Be extremely careful about landmines and unexploded munitions as they are EVERYWHERE, not to mention those pesky insurgents and warlords...

pass through this warzone on my way back to an undisclosed location in southwest asia