And Then
..............laze about all day. During the evening, we would gather together in one room, buy some firewood and party all night. In the mornings one would think that it was Xmas, as the first sounds one would hear, would be the loud ringing of bells outside. This turned out to be the sound of horses and carts, that were covered in bells of every description.
The only vehicles we saw with engines, were brightly-coloured, wooden trucks. The designs on these vehicles were an art-form in themselves. This was folk-art at its finest.
It was difficult to leave Herat, as everyone was having such a good time, but the promise of even greater delights, drove us on to our next stop. The journey from Herat to Kandahar, even with an early start, took us a whole day and, as hotels were now very cheap.
I booked into the, aptly named, Mayfair Hotel, for 20 Afghanis per night. l ventured out for a late evening meal in a rather expensive, but good, restaurant and had boiled eggs and soup, before returning to my hotel for a sound sleep.. Next morning I awoke to find out that the other bus had arrived at 5.00.a.m. after driving through the night. Further inconvenience was due to some mad Afghanis shooting the back window out of the second bus. After the second driver had a four-hour nap, we left for Kabul. We were also to suffer considerable hardship as one of our front skylights had been shot to pieces. This meant we had a freezing 90 m.p.h. gale blowing through the bus en route for Kabul. We were also surprised to witness the startling evidence of a possible industrial revolution occurring in Afghanistan. ln Kandahar, we had been shown all the possible uses old rubber tyres could have e.g. black rubber shoes, water carriers, ,etc.,. Could Afghanistan be the future ecological capital of the world?
We arrived safe from any other sniper attacks in Kabul at 7.30 p.m. on Friday 14th. December. Hotels were luxurious, plentiful and above all, cheap. when I awoke, completely refreshed On Saturday morning, we had been away from home a whole month, and we celebrated this momentous occasion by having a hearty, breakfast that included; two fried eggs, toast, tea, jam and real butter. Equipped with all these extra calories, l was able to meander through cold, snowbound, Kabul streets. Feeling flush, I went on a mad spending spree. I purchased a fur hat (essential for this unrelenting chill) and swapped an old duffle-coat for a coveted, authentic Afghan coat. I may have made a crucial mistake in Kabul, as I recall buying kebabs in a street stall, perhaps this was where I picked up hepatitis germs. I would suffer for this error much later & I must admit that I was feeling unwell later that evening and I retired to bed early, falling asleep around 7.00.p.m. The next day I still felt strange, but I went out for a walk around town. lndeed there were lots to see and do in Kabul and I often deliberately lost myself among back alleys, only to come upon some friendly tea-house, where I would be made welcome.
On Monday night however, I visited some of the local tourist attractions, viz.,Siggis and Sammis. These restaurants had excellent, nutritious food and I remember sampling Weiner Schnitzel at Siggis, accompanied and washed down by numerous, glasses of terrific, sweet, mint tea.
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