I would love to visit Kabul - apparently quite a few pakistanis have been wondered if anyone here has? Do tell your experiences.
Footloose, NOS, The News International
Kabul – a city of myths and dreams and wary peace surrounded by an unending war, but above all of amazing hospitality
By Zahrah Nasir
Certainly not everyone’s idea of a travel destination, the ancient city of Kabul weaves a magnetic spell around those who dare to tread the merciless dust of its ravaged streets, which are rising from the ashes they have been buried under for the last 30 years and counting. Nothing is like as it first seemed, other than the wide smiles of returning refugees struggling to make new lives. And the survivors who think they have already seen and felt the worst. They hopefully seek a better future though they’re unlikely to resurrect the fondly remembered days of ‘hippidom’ – the days when caravans of young westerners travelled these historic highways and byways on their overland route to India.
Façades of once proud buildings waiting for the Afghan version of ‘Spaghetti Westerns’ to be filmed still line the roads of outlying city districts whilst pretentiously arrogant villas a la’ Pakistan rub cement shoulders in more desirable locations where each and every square inch of land is an exorbitantly priced commodity.
Yet, despite the rattling echo of bullets slashing through the clear night air as they are wont to do, the near-enough-to-touch stars are just as big as they ever were, Chicken Street with its tourist trap stores is still sharply operational, the traditional tea of welcome still flows endlessly and the aroma of fresh tandoori nan and fragrantly hot kebabs hangs lusciously heavy on every corner in town and the people talk… how they talk and smile and extend the handshake of friendship.
“Eat with us” called a group of young women wearing jeans, long shirts and hijab. “Come home with us; spend the night so we can talk. We are all students at the university except for this one here, she is our professor.”
I regret having to refuse in the face of such open hospitality.
My taxi whizzes dangerously, seemingly sideways through one of the three daily traffic jams. So often the rush grinds to a frozen halt when convoys of foreign troops in armoured vehicles ominously dominate the tarmac and every other form of transport must momentarily breathe in, become invisible. Just in case a bomb goes off, a suicidal maniac decides to hit, a sniper fire. Then, just as suddenly as they appear, the menace is gone and the very air is allowed to heave a huge sigh of relief until next time.
The worlds have always collided in Kabul, the tribes congregated, traders traded, invaders have occupied, merged or been driven out and nothing much has altered in this respect but life, particularly picnics, continue as usual.
Babar lived and picnicked here, created the extraordinary Bagh-e-Babar, now completely renovated including a magnificent outdoor swimming pool and his tomb in this Mughul garden is a place of pilgrimage for historians, the garden itself a beautiful picnic spot for Kabulis by the score.
Kargha Lake, a manmade attraction nestled against the foothills of the Paghman Mountains just outside Kabul wasn’t around when Babar ruled the roost, is one of the most popular picnic spots to be found and hundreds of people throng to its shores at weekends and on holidays. Families brew tea on primus stoves, heat up pilau, children fly kites, adults try their hand at fishing, and elders tell tales of the pre-ward days.
These days, though, the nomads have a hard time clinging on to survival. Numbers and herds diminished, traditional migration routes and grazing mined or devastated by drought. They are increasingly being forced to try and settle down in one place that goes against their ancestral custom and culture. Once open borders are now closed to them, lands of plenty become scarce and the colourful clothes of their women transformed into upper class fashion statements. Every Kabuli wedding party inevitable sports a few well-to-do imitation nomads…the real thing wouldn’t be allowed!
Kabul, with its five-star and no star hotels and restaurants, its smiling people and a ubiquitous sense of mystery and danger, has always lain at the fascinatingly addictive crossroads of empires…. it always will.