A Walk Through Kabul -Travel Journal

Name speaks for itself

A Walk Through Kabul.
When you’re told by your boss that he’s sending you to Afghanistan to do a journal piece on the city of Kabul, there are only a few reactions you can have:
1 .Do I have time to write a will?
2. I don’t suppose you’re supplying the bullet proof glass?
3. What did I do to you?
As it turned out, even my weeks of panic and preparation could not have prepared me for the two days I had in store.
As expected, it is necessary to find yourself an escort (or preferably an armed guard) before arriving in Kabul. The Taliban’s presence lingers in the air like smoke mingled with the fear and oppression forced onto the citizens of this jaded city. Walking through Kabul is like stepping in and out of alternate universes, one second you are strolling through a well-developed city, enormous shadows cast by tall glass buildings filled with appropriately dressed business people with ties and briefcases. Coffee shops inundated with prospective writers and people talking furiously on their mobile phones, just like you would find in any other country in this day and age.
However, you can turn a corner anywhere in this conflicting city and find yourself on a street plagued by poverty and on-going destruction brought on to these innocent people by a war they were born into from long ago. The dust fills your lungs and makes it difficult to see where the road ends and the street begins. It is so bizarre to realise while walking along a street that today, in 2013 that for a country in the grip of a commercial bloom, paralysing fear could be such an ordinary part of everyday life. Even more disturbing is that children in the streets, playing with their friends who have to try to maintain their innocence in amongst the cruelty and desolation do not even flinch when a mortar bomb goes off, close enough for me to duck and scream but far enough away for every Afghan in the area to turn and stifle a chuckle at the tourist who can’t handle the phenomenal pace of this constantly changing place.
When in a different country whether it be for work or pleasure, everybody knows you should always respect its culture and tradition, especially when the people holding these traditions are living in such tense conditions. However, it’s an uncomfortable feeling that churns in your stomach when you see women completely covered in long dark burkas and veils in the blistering heat and knowing that many of these women would choose Christianity over Islam if they were considered worthy of opinions. Or their rights for that matter. It’s terrifying to think that the majority of these women will be born and die without ever knowing the taste of the freedom we so readily take for granted because of the still present influence of a force gone from their midst.
Despite all of my pre conceived notions of the people of Afghanistan, I have to admit that the people of Kabul are gracious and hospitable hosts. Anything you could need, whether it be directions or advice on the most interesting sights is given to you in an instant with a welcoming smile. It’s a strange feeling, when you are torn between accepting the bright smile of the man on the stall in the market and wanting, desperately to ask him how he can smile at the British journalist, who has a successful career, a home of her own and her independence, without guilt. While his small daughter is standing to his right, knowing that she will be married off without need of her consent when she hits her teenage years, and that she is not equal to her brothers. I am left wondering how parents can let their children be stripped of rights they would be given without consideration in most other places across the world.
Although the Taliban no longer rule Afghanistan, its influence is a very present authority figure in Kabul. I would have to say that the longer you spend there in that stunning city the less terrifying it becomes. But the beauty of the place is obvious before you’ve even begun to resist the temptation to get into your bullet proof car and hide. Looming over this suffocating place is a black cloud, I call it oppression, the Taliban call it law. It’s shocking to think that these wonderful people have bowed under the power of their extremist puppet masters for so long and retained so much dignity and grace along the way.
After careful consideration I would have to say that Kabul is beautiful mostly because of its resilience. Only a city of this strength could bounce back so quickly from an on-going onslaught of destruction. Incredibly modern buildings sprouting up amongst the wreckage of homes, schools and places of work destroyed by decimation of awe inspiring magnitude.
Although Kabul may not be in the top ten holiday destination for the sun seekers of Britain, if you’re looking for a holiday that will make you truly understand culture in its rawest, Kabul is the place for you.