Afghanistan on $3.84 per Day per Person - Part 2
by
Ray and Hannelore Heizer
November 12, 1967 - Kandahar to Kabul
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We left Kandahar at 7:45 a.m. with the same bus. The trip was about the same as yesterday except more and more villages were seen the closer we got to Kabul. Lunch ($.38) in Gazni was very good and totally native - like Iranian shishlik, 3-4 sausage sized pieces, bread, and tea. We saw more nomads along the road today with their things piled on camels or camped with their big black tents. Very picturesque, another world entirely. We arrived in Kabul too late to contact the Peace Corps for a hotel reference and were first taken to Hotel Noor, a hippie establishment, by some well-meaning taxi drivers. Finally, we ended up at the Ziba Hotel. The hotel was full, but they rented us space on the floor of their party salon ($2.08). We had a huge room filled only with chairs, tables and a small stage - and it had a nice view! We had a very good dinner ($2.41) at the Spinzar restaurant, right across from the Ziba, and went to bed early, about 8 p.m. since we were exhausted from the last five days of nearly constant travel. |  Loading our bus in Kandahar. Simple people in the Middle East always travel with cloth bundles instead of suitcases. |
November 13, 1967 - Kabul
Kabul is a good-sized city surrounded by mountains. The main part of town is located on a plain in a small valley. The Kabul River runs through the valley. The center of the city has Western influences like all capital cities since the foreign embassies are there. This means we can find restaurants where we don't have to eat goat or lamb, and people from different western countries to talk to. Most of them are working in the embassies or working for western companies which had contracts from the Afghans.
Afghan kids watching Hannelore viewing Kabul. They were very friendly as were all Afghans in 1967.
The main center of Kabul. The city is surrounded by mostly bare mountains. All the embassies and government
buildings are in the main central area.
An Afghan and his friend, a dog, view Kabul. The Afghans like dogs more than other Moslems do.
Mohammed said dogs are unclean.
View from one mountain to the next. The Kabul River divides the mountains.
Kabul River is used to wash clothes, rugs, and you name it. Most houses have no running water.
There is no irrigation. Toilets are just a hole in the ground.
But we also have run into a lot of Hippies, who looked dirty, with long uncombed hair and clothes which hadn't seen water in months. Most of them have a distant, dreamy kind of look on their face, which means they are experimenting with opium or hashish. It can be bought on any street corner for pennies or it can be traded for western items.
Some of the houses in which people lived are built up the mountain where we hiked up to take pictures of Kabul. From the distance the houses look like caves. We were told that our impression was right, many poor people live in caves. But there are also some very pretty houses built on the hills around Kabul.
Kabul. Most houses are built into the mountains. There are many caves in which people live.
We spent the morning doing business. First we went to the Afghan Peace Corps to get information about Kabul and traveling onward. Then to the Police for an exit visa which turned out to be not necessary. The Pakistani Embassy was next for a visa application. Finally, we got bus tickets to Peshawar ($1.35 each) for the day after tomorrow.
We checked out of the Ziba and into the Spinzar across the street in order to enjoy a couple of days of better living ($7.50/night). Lunched there ($2.50) and then Ray took a nap while Hannelore washed clothes. About 4:00 we went out to the Post Office and to the money changing bazaar. We wanted to exchange $400 to Indian Rupees on the black market which would save us about 50% in India. We were taken down many dark alleyways and up some stairs to a dimly lit room filled with about 10 Afghani men and with a big table in the center. We sat down and gave them our dollars and they gave us about 4,200 Rupees notes, each worth about 9 cents! We felt fortunate that all they took was our dollars. The only problem now is how are we going to smuggle 4,200 pieces of paper across the Indian border! ... a story for another time!
We met two nice guys from Alexandria, Virginia, and Canada, and went with them and some of their friends to dinner ($2.46) at the Khyber Restaurant. Later we had a good discussion of East-West cultural differences at the Spinzar Bar with two middle-aged, globe-trotting artists.