FLYING HOME

I have left Afghanistan but there is still so much to say ...

Getting to the airport is an experience - and if possible, one I'd never like to repeat! The security is laughable - you drive in through a checkpoint - the car drives straight through but passengers have to disembark and go through manual security checkings. I noticed people were dragging their suitcases with them - I was too lazy to do this so when I climbed back into the vehicle and was asked at the next security checkpoint whether or not my bags had been checked, I just said yes and they waved us through. Very, very concerning!

You then have the pleasure of waiting in a queue for two hours - and noticing how the people who know someone or who've presumably rubbed the palm of an airport staff members, just get waved through. I was standing next to this British journalist and the two of us were getting more and more angry. As he said, being British and all, he doesn't get nearly so worked up about global warming or Afghan politics as he does about people pushing in queues! Quite a sight that - him and me directing Afghans to the back of the queue and asking them in English if they thought we were standing there for our health!

When we finally made it to the check-in counter, we were told not to worry because the plane had been delayed by "at least an hour" - how reassuring! Then the two cameramen were told that because they didn't have visas for Frankfurt they couldn't leave. It made no difference that we explained they were merely in-transit there - and that they'd flown exactly the same route to Kabul via Frankfurt from Moscow - with no problem. I marched off to the head of immigration (imagine doing that in another airport!) and he spoke in fluent Russian and said no, his staff was right, we needed a visa, end of story. We continued to argue - for another two hours (so you can imagine just how delayed the plane was!) when finally we landed up back in the same guy's office. I'm not joking, but he turned around and said "I like this woman (ie me) and because of her you can fly!" I then took his card to show to the check-in staff who said they didn't believe me and proceeded to try and get hold of him on his cellphone for the next twenty minutes. To say that I was happy to finally get out of there is an understatement!

The in-house flight magazine is something special! You know how they showcase all the attractions one should visit in the country to which one is flying, well, there was this write-up about Kabul Zoo. The biggest attraction, it said, was the one-eyed lion. How did he get that way? Well, during the civil war there had been lots of bullets flying in and out of the zoo and his enclosure was very damaged as a result. One day a Talib jumped into his cage (he was presumably running away from someone). Predictably, the lion attacked and killed him. The next day - wait for it! - the victim's brother came back seeking revenge, jumped into the cage, and tried to kill the poor creature. Hence, the one eye. (The article doesn't mention what happened to the brother though ... ) So that my friends is one of the attractions in Kabul city!

Am feeling a little sad to leave - although I realise I haven't been exactly relaxed here (understatement again!)

Last week a Canadian journalist, Michelle Lang, was killed, along with four Canadian soldiers on a routine patrol along what was regarded as a safe road. They were killed by a landmine. We went on many such "safe patrols" ourselves - and the unit she was embedded with was the unit we had applied to go with. It makes me ask the same questions all over again - is it fate that determines what happens to us or are we really in control of our destiny?