After kidnapping

Some days ago our foreign community of Kabul was alarmed: a German lady was kidnapped from a small fast food restaurant. This place is close to parliament and to my husband’s working place. Only fifteen minutes earlier my husband Andres bought bread from a bakery, just around the corner.
Although the Afghan police’s operation succeeds – the kidnappers are captured a day later – I feel quite uncomfortable. There are some rumors that some other foreign ladies have been targeted as well. Maybe those rumors are produced by fear? Was it only one gang or are there some more criminals who got now a bright idea how to earn money?
Yes, at the moment we are saturated with kidnapping stories – there are no news about nineteen Korean or a German engineer -, but those incidents happened outside of Kabul. Last kidnapping in Kabul took place two years ago. Until recently I have been quite relaxed about walking around alone here.
I remember what we were told during security training just after we landed. Is it good news that statistically I have 60% chance of survival? Or the fact that mostly the kidnappers are interested in men– but last incidents show that kidnappers are have started to target females. I have followed the basic rules: always be cautious and not to walk the same streets at the same time. But I have ignored the recommendations about going out alone or not walking in dusk.
It is for the first time - after one and half year – which I am sitting voluntary behind walls, reading books and feeling, bored. I need to wait for some more days to be sure that the crisis is over. But the worst thing is that you never know. It is Afghanistan. Things just happen here.

Walking in dusk

Before going to Afghanistan, I had the same dream for many nights. I walked alone in darkness in the middle of narrow quiet streets, surrounded by high walls. Somehow I knew that it is Kabul. At that time I had no idea how the streets of Kabul look like in daytime, not to mention the night time. I remember clearly my feeling of despair after security training: it seems that there is no possibility to walk around. Fortunately, we overcame our fears shortly.
My husband and me, we walk quite often at sunset time: to visit friend, for shopping or to go to restaurant. It has been a little bit dangerous not because of criminal gangs, but because of undeveloped city environment: there are no streetlights and deep canalization ditches edge the streets. In addition there is breathtaking stench, those ditches are truly terrifying: one can easily to step into sewage water or even break a leg.
Huts of chaokidars’ (guards in Dari language) block the sidewalks, so one has to step on motorway. Usually there is some light coming from their cabins: guards are looking at their TVs. I really wonder when this idiotic practice will finish that an army of young Afghans spends their days “guarding”, i.e. lazing in their huts, drinking tea, watching TV or playing with their guns. We have seen how bored guys just hurl their guns in the air – like a circus artists do.
Summer nights in Kabul are somehow charming as heat of the day is gone. The wind weakens and breathing is easier. There is some illumination at the vegetable and fruit stalls and windows of bakeries. Hurrying clients buy last pieces of naan while the bakers are preparing for the night, brushing cheap carpets. They sleep where they work.

Holidays in Kashmir

Why are you planning to go to Srinagar? It is unsafe like Kabul, said one Indian guy. Other colleague of my husband – a young guy from Pakistan - remarked that Srinagar is “occupied territory”. Well, I have never seen so many men with guns as in Kashmir – far more than in Afghanistan. And there were four security checks at a small building of Srinagar Airport before we boarded our plane to Delhi.
Most of foreigners working in Afghanistan have their short holidays in Dubai, because there are two flights a day and you can do those things what are almost impossible in Kabul: shopping, swimming, sunbathing, drinking. Personally I do not like Dubai, it seems to me like a weird Arab style Disneyland. So we decided to go to northern India. Srinagar is quite close to Kabul – same distance like Mazar-e Sharif. But we had to take two planes, because there is no possibility to travel directly.
We found some similarities, but lots of differences as well. First of all, there are lush green landscapes: lots of trees, lakes and rivers. We stayed on a boathouse on lake Dal. It is an extraordinary lake with islands, countless birds and more than thousand houseboats for every taste and price level as well. Boathouses have funny names like Aristoteles, Miss America, Hollywood etc. Our houseboat name was Chicago – it was hard to imagine a more unsuitable name for such a lovely carved piece of art.
I was surprised about local wooden architecture: it reminded me old houses in Europe. We took a rides on water taxis – shikaras – in order to see locals’ marketplace in the early morning in the middle of lake and to admire lotuses and floating gardens. And a fort built by an Afghan governor towered on the hill on the other side of lake.
There are marvellous gardens next to the lake. Indian Moslem lords – moguls – used to build terraced gardens with fountains, flowers, maple trees and garden pavilions. Gardens are opened to visitors. Ladies frolic around the fountains, such kind of behaviour is out of question in Kabul.
Although the Kashmir is mainly a Moslem region, ladies do not cover themselves with burkas. Instead there are colourful veils and dresses. The atmosphere in Srinagar is relaxed.
Our boathouse manager advised us to go for trekking in the mountains near Pahalgam Valley. I have done a lot of hiking during in my life, but never in in such a luxury. We had three horses, two horsemen and a guide who was also a cook. There were two tents and lots of food on horsebacks. Even two chickens were taken along with us. And water pipe was important for our guides, as we discovered soon.
The people look similar to Afghans, especially men. Women’s scarves are more colourful but otherwise they are quite reserved and do not like photographing. They have small huts up in the mountains where they pasture horses, cows (for milk) and sheep.
We had some sort of intellectual game to find familiar words in Kashmiri and Dari languages. Kashmiri language is influenced by 14 languages, so we heard often similar words: sardi (sard – cold in Dari), garmi (garm – warm is Dari), bacha (guy in Dari).
It was like a journey to paradise: we walked under high old pine forests. Trees were so tall and strait that reminds me of redwood trees in northern California. There were lots of wild flowers along Liddar River. And I stop worrying about possible mines around on the second day of our hike.
PS. More images can be found on website Kabuli päevik http://qnne.blogspot.com/ (August 2007)