Bamiyan

I got back yesterday from a few (one more than expected) days in Bamiyan. Although there were only dustings of snow in the surrounding mountains it was bitterly cold in the Roof of Bamiyan Hotel and the main topic of conversation was warmth, and how we would have enjoyed some.

I had dinner one night in the mess hall of the New Zealand 'Provincial Reconstruction Team' which was an eye-opener. A lot of people are critical of PRTs in Afghanistan and I must say that in this case one of their most obvious outputs is complete sets of paper and plastic plates, cups and cutlery thrown out after every person-meal. I would have thought that diswashing would create useful local employment.

Our work ended on Tuesday (our project will involve Monday and Tuesday training and panel discussions for 22 more weeks over the next year) and we expected to fly back to Kabul on Wednesday. We checked in at Bamiyan airport 'terminal' (which is in a shipping container) and then learned that the flight had been canceled due to a security issue in Kabul. Back to the Roof of Bamiyan.

I find our work rewarding but the best part is taking photographs. My colleague Saboor took us to nearby Dragon Valley which had wonderful scenery and fascinating bubbling geology. I also always like walking around, photographing people going about their lives. I've posted some photos here.