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Archive for June, 2008

Snapshots from Mazar-e-Sharif and thereabouts

( travel )

MAZAR-E-SHARIF – Posted later and back-dated.  Here are some more images from our road trip through Mazar e Sharif and down to Kabul.  In no particular order…

Standing at the summit of the Salang Pass, outside the mouth of the longest tunnel.  The tunnel has a dirt floor in most places, water pouring from the ceiling […]

A brief swing through Masar-e-Sharif

( travel )

At the Mosque and Tomb of Caliph Ali in the centre of Masar-e-Sharif.
MASAR-E-SHARIF — We arrived in Masar after a day’s drive from Dushanbe, across the new bridge at Nijny-Pyange/Shir Khan Bandar and south through Kunduz and Pul e Kumri.  The road from Pul-e-Kumri was new to me and afforded some wonderful new scenery.  A lot […]

Dissed by Her Britannic Majesty

DUSHANBE – Yesterday, the United Kingdom marked Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday.  Here in Dushanbe, the British Ambassador hosted a shindig at his residence.
Naturally, the handful of actual Brits in town were invited.  Also invited were many Americans — citizens of a country that so hated the British it went to war against them to overthrow the […]

Badakhshan Border Patrol Pt I — getting there

( travel )

We arrived in Khorog by Tajik (aka Tragic) Air from Dushanbe on June 5.  In Soviet times this was the only scheduled airline route for which air crew received hazard pay!
KHOROG, TAJIKISTAN — I travelled last week to Khorog with two European Union policemen from Kabul to participate in the handover ceremony for our three, […]

At long last… a Milestone in Badakhshan

( Politics and travel )

On June 5, BOMBAF handed over three new Border Crossing Point facilities, identical to this one in Shegnan, to the Afghan Border Police in Badakhshan province.
SHEGNAN, AFGHANISTAN — This is posted late because I’ve been lazy.  And, travelling.  Not necessarily in that order.
On June 5, our multi-million Euro BOMBAF project accomplished something of a significant milestone.  […]

A simile too far…

DUSHANBE — Admittedly, Craig Dirgo, author of the new Clive Cussler thriller Sacred Stone (which I began reviewing just over a week ago) had to make some difficult choices.  For example — as the central crisis of his new book should the heroes have to save the world from:

Arab terrorists who have purchased a decaying […]