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This was originally published on BootsnAll Travel Journal #4 THE TRIPLEGEM AFGHAN EXPEDITION-SUMMER 2005 12/August/2005 – Kabul, Afghanistan Friday – the Islamic day of rest – I had breakfast at the Mustafa, naan, omelet, hash browns and coffee. Breakfast at the Mustafa was eaten in an open, marble-paved courtyard on the second floor. This was where we’d had the barbecue the night before. There I ran into another tourist. He was an Aussie named Peter… Read More
This was originally published on BootsnAll Travel Journal #2 THE TRIPLEGEM AFGHAN EXPEDITION-SUMMER 2005 8/Aug/ 2005 – Peshawar, Pakistan I was at the Afghan Consulate when it opened at 9:30, but they only take visa applications on Tuesdays and Thursdays. To get it you need 1 photo; a photocopy of the main information pages of your passport; and $30 US cash. I had everything ready for the next day. I stopped at a cyber-cafe but… Read More
This was originally published on Bootsnall Travel Journal #1 THE TRIPLEGEM AFGHAN EXPEDITION-SUMMER 2005 5-7/Aug/2005 – Peshawar, Pakistan I flew into Lahore from Bangkok late on the night of the 5th, it was raining – hot muggy rain. I stayed at the notorious Regal Internet Hotel. It reminded me of the Paragon Hotel in Calcutta; freaks on the roof – Japanese, Scotch, German, – and dorm-style accommodations. I slept on a mattress on the floor in… Read More
Peshawar -پشاور When I was on my way to Afghanistan in 2005 I stopped in Peshawar for a few weeks to get my visa and see my old friend Attaullah, who still lived there as an Afghan refugee. One afternoon he took me on a stroll through one of the oldest neighborhoods in the old city. Beautiful hand carved woodwork evoked ghostly images of the British Raj. It was an area seldom visited… Read More
Back in the 1970s, when I lived in Kabul, one of our favorite night’s out involved dinner at the Green Hotel and an evening of live Afghan music played by the rebab master Amir Mohammad Jaan. When I was in Peshawar in 2006 my Afghan friend Attaullah Khan told me that Amir Mohammad Jaan was in town and that he was coming to Attaullah’s penthouse carpet shop on the top floor of… Read More
(1977)
THE ARDENT ENTHUSIAST 