Afghanistan on $3.84 per Day per Person - Part 3
by
Ray and Hannelore Heizer
November 14, 1967 - Kabul
After breakfast ($1.32) we walked for about 2-1/2 hours through Kabul's endless bazaars. Carpets were very inexpensive. We had lunch at the Khyber Restaurant ($2.05) and ran into the Popenoes again by chance! After lunch we wandered towards the Pakistani Embassy to pick up our passports. On the way back we looked at Afghani hippie coats, but found none of interest, though we did see some beautiful fur spreads of fox, weasel, etc. [Note: Later, in Katmandu, we finally did buy a 6.5 x 4.5 ft. Afghani spread (blanket?) made from 36 fox furs from a "down and out" hippie ($20). It is still hanging on the wall of our family room today.]
Bazaar in Kabul. Metal shop for household items.
Meat market. This picture shows how the poles are used to hold tent like covers to protect the meat from
the sun, the dust and the rain. The flies are not included, they get to the meat anyway.
A Moslem woman with her baby in front of a meat store. The Moslem women in the mountains and in the
countryside do not wear the traditional dress. In cities the women cover themselves from head to toe in black.
The mesh face mask is sewn into the fabric.
Baking bread, always done by men. The oven is under the floor where the man is reaching down to pluck a finished round of flat, unleavened bread from its walls where it was put while still damp enough to stick to the wall and then baked.
Bazaar storefronts in Kabul. Cleaning the street.
Woman in her Moslem dress, the Shatri.
Since the woman is unveiled, this must be tribal people camped on a Kabul street.
Afghan travelers ... a hitchhiking family.
Hannelore took a nap while Ray wrote some letters. Then we had dinner in the hotel ($2.50). Afterwards, Hannelore went to iron clothes while Ray talked for an hour with two female Peace Corps Volunteers from Herat who gave him a good overview of Peace Corps life in Afghanistan.
November 15, 1967 - Kabul to Peshawar, Pakistan
Up at 6 to pack and get down to the bus station. There was some confusion upon checking out of the hotel because of some added expenses and the lousy exchange rate they offered for the extra money we had to exchange in order to settle up. We left in a huff.
The Kabul bus station. The most common cars in the Middle East are Mercedes. They are the most
reliable ones and do not break down as frequently as all other types. They are often used as overland taxis.
From Kabul we went down through a gorge to the plain below. It was a magnificent sight. The road snaked back and forth. How they were able to build it we will never understand. At the bottom the vegetation was completely different -- almost tropical.
The border crossing was not difficult, but it was a bit confusing. Then on to the Khyber Pass, not as awe-inspiring as the gorge, but still a strong wall between East and West. We arrived in Peshawar at 3:30.
The East has begun!
Notes:
1. Many thanks to Scott Jordan for converting our slides to jpeg format.
2. Bonnie Granat's doing the HTML work is much appreciated.
3. For an update on Oliver and Laura Popenoe, click here.