Nomads?

Nomads?
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho

This is one of the many times I have been confused; I was told these people are not nomads but they don’t have homes and they do travel around… go figure.

One of the things that caught my eye was the yurts they used; here they are using a combination of tents that the west is familiar with and Mongolian style yurts. I have also learned that “modern” nomads often use trucks to bring their livestock to central Afghanistan to graze on the “readily available” vegetation… and these people have vehicles… but they are not nomads, go figure.

Later I was informed that some villages make a yearly exodus to the grassier areas to let their livestock graze so just a few people stay in the village and the rest head out so that could be the situation here (yes, I was told these people have no home but I am regularly given contradicting information so its possible).

Afghan Nomads?

Afghan Nomads?
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho

Actually I have no idea if these people are nomads but we were easily 10 miles from the nearest encampment (and further from any established villages, at least any visible villages, there could have been a village tucked away over/between one of the hills/mountains).

I just wanted to mention the nomads though, here called “Kochi” (pronounced Koochee). I am still trying to figure out the difference between Nomad and Kochi, usually when I mention kochi people think of the nomads that were just coaxed out of central Hazarajat after killing almost 15 people over land disputes (and weren’t even punished, I don’t pretend to understand this), people here aren’t too fond of them so at first I think they are a specific group of nomads but I am told that “no, kochi just means nomad” and there are several nomadic groups in Afghanistan and they aren’t all as seemingly evil as the ones in Hazarajat (to give you an idea of how despised they are in Hazarajat I heard one old man compare the Kochis killing of Hazara to the Israelis treatment of the Palestinians… and trust me, there is no love for Israelis here).

Kamaz Trucks

Kamaz Trucks
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho

Pronounced “Kah-Mahz” I think. This is a Russian truck manufacture that I think has been around since the soviet days. To me these trucks just look menacing and uber industrial.

The history of the kamaz in Afghanistan is interesting (ok my knowledge of it is short) but I believe it was introduced while the soviet union was here (makes sense) and was widely used but when the soviet union left the remaining Afghan government forbade private individuals from owning these vehicles, only government could. Either during (or more likely after) the Taliban private individuals and companies started buying Kamaz trucks and now they are pretty much ubiqutus here. I get the impression that they are kind of the VW Beatle of trucks here in that they are practical, cheap, and easy to fix. I am not sure about how often they break down (my guess would be often but I am basing that on the 15 year old soviet trucks I would see in Eastern Europe) but they have to be fairly sturdy on the outside to endure afghan roads (or the lack thereof) and Afghans seem to think pretty highly of them.

Example of nowhere

Example of nowhere
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho

I find myself taking pictures of scenes that look particularly representative of Afghanistan even if they are middle of nowhere type pictures. Because all the projects in my program are in central Afghanistan (and due to safety) that is were I go most when going out of Kabul, but this area is also pretty remote and mountainous with small roads (this one is more or less an afghan highway) going through narrow valleys (here), through mountain meadows, or along cliffs

The Eye of the Beholder Mannequins

The Eye of the Beholder Mannequins
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho

I was walking with a friend through one of the shopping centers in Kabul when we came across these mannequins. We werent quite sure whether we should be repulsed or laugh but if I was a kid I would have peed my pants.

I swear whoever made these Mannequins had to be a fan of the twilight zones The Eye of the Beholder (11/11/60) episode.

Afghan Bike Bling

Afghan Bike Bling
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho

I have noticed in various countries that bikes are the American lowrider car equivalent, that is, they get dressed up with all sorts of non-functional “bling”. Another observation is that the grand majority (there are of course always exceptions) of the bikes in a given country are all from one place. This bike is pretty (really) standard and I am told it is probably either Chinese or Indian (most manufactured things here are either Chinese, Pakistani, or Indian) and as usual some color has been added which can take the form of ribbon, stickers, or in this case stars and reflectors and even a light with a mini-generator (back wheel).

Cheaper by the dozen

Cheaper by the dozen
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho

Ok, so I am not sure our host had a dozen children but I would bet that he had close if not more than 12 kids. Every child here is his and I know that it is not all of his children (for example the girls were not allowed to come out) and for every dish that was brought out it was a new child, geeze. You would think a condom manufacturer could make a killing here but nope, the large family sizes are in part due to the lack of a governmental safety net, the reasoning is that if you have a large family then you will have many children to take care of you when you are old.

Afghan soldier's graves

Afghan soldier's graves
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho

In my travels (here in Afghanistan) I have seen tons of these “graves”, sometimes they are intricate little mausoleums other times they are a pile of rocks, but they always have green flags (or rags) flying for those killed during combat (bystanders that are killed apparently don’t count). One kind of gets accustomed to seeing all these graves but if you stop to think about it then it becomes pretty sobering.

More soviet kitsch

More soviet kitsch
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho

I have not posted all my photos in chronological order for various reasons (not the least of which is personal disorganization) but if you have been following my postings you will have noticed at least a few photos of soviet tank remains and a picture of a stone wall that has tank wheels incorporated into it so this photo is a continuation of that theme. Here the roofline is lined with soviet mortar shells which I admit is an eye catcher compared to most of the architecture I have seen in other parts of Afghanistan (i.e. mud).

Chill'n in Panjshir

Chill'n in Panjshir
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho

We had been invited by a resident of Panjshir (who also owns a house across the street from my organization’s office) to come to his house. They setup a cloth, cushions, etc for us to sit on right beside the river (big river). So we chilled on the cushions until the food started coming out.

Middle of nowhere?

Middle of nowhere?
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho

This was a fairly common kinda scene while driving to Band-e Amir, lots of nothingness. Being from the southeast USA I get a feeling of Agoraphobia when I go out to these wide open expanses of land. These spaces, to me, feel more like the middle of nowhere than forested places, not sure why though. In Afghanistan there are lots of open spaces some more desert like than others. While it appears to be pretty barren there always seemed to be some lone person(s) around, I often wondered where they were living, to look on the map you see a ton of villages but when you are out there you hardly see any.

Buddhas of Bamiyan

Buddhas of Bamiyan
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho

I remember hearing about the Taliban destroying some 2,000 year old statues of Buddha and just feeling sick. It is a story that is repeated throughout history destroying cultural or historical works or places for defunct reasons (such as religious or to demoralize conquered populations). When I saw the statues it was even worse than I thought, I jut cant imagine people being so stupid and ruthless as the Taliban.

Band-e Amir at 4am

Band-e Amir at 4am
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho

Ok, so this picture wasn’t taken at 4am (more like 4:50am) but that is the time I got up. It was a night of 40F temperatures, a blanket that was a few cm too short and a bed/mat that had a wet spot so needless to say I got up early (plus there were some afghans yelling across the campground at around 3:50am.



So I got up early and after eating a bit, walking around, etc I decided to take advantage of the fact that there were very few people up and walking around (or walking after me) and take some pictures. This is the first place I photographed and I am very sorry I didn’t take another picture later when there was more light.



This is the sides of a lake, apparently over the years this was “created by the carbon dioxide rich water oozing out of the faults and fractures to deposit calcium carbonate precipitate in the form of travertine walls” (wikipedia). I don’t know how to describe the area, it was pretty surreal, especially at 4ish in the morning. There is one main structure there with a few smaller structures (first aid amazingly enough) but mostly there were tents for “tourist” (I didn’t see any other tourist around and only heard about a Ukrainian guy floating around somewhere) and vacationing afghans. There were a few vendors setup in tent-shacks that had an array of things from toilet paper to bottled water to various hardware.

The even lesser seen part of Bamiyan

The even lesser seen part of Bamiyan
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho

Here is one of the many reasons it is good to not only have an Afghan with you but to have a Hazara Afghan (the ethnic group from the Bamiyan province, actually they are descendant from the Mongols) with you. Our driver was from the area and took us to a part of Band-e Amir which the few tourist that come there rarely see. I don’t think this picture does it justice, it was really beautiful and kind of reminded me of Yellowstone National park in the US.

The Beauty of Band-e Amir

The Beauty of Band-e Amir
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho

I am particularly proud of this Panoramic photo (it took awhile to take and I was really afraid that the glare of the sun would screw it up). The previous night we met a person who told us that there was a path going up to a plateau above the camp site and that there were some phenomenal views so when a college of mine got up about an hour after me we decided to hike up there. The guy from last night was right, the views were quite amazing…

The Band-e Amir resort

The Band-e Amir resort
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho

The first picture this way was the walls of the lake from the ground but that panoramic wasnt 360 degrees and this picture isnt perfect in that it is a shot from the back but it still gives one an idea of the area.

The area was made up of some buildings and tents, the row of shanties are little shops selling various things like water, snacks, etc (for a fairly reasonable price considering). The big white tent cut off at the bottom was where we stayed during the evening to eat socialize. To the left you could walk up and eat breakfast (and presumably other meals) while looking at the lake or the fiberglass paddle boats (kinda took away from the beauty but whatever).

Little Buddha

Little Buddha
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho

It was around 5am now and I saw one of my favorite field staff, Zargham (I routinely mutilate the pronunciation of his name). He is the regional manager of the Hazarajat region (I guess the field equivalent of my HQ job), in his 50s, is native Hazara (very laid back) but can be quite the spry one if he wants. He speaks very little English and I speak very little Farsi but he took me to a few places to snap off some photos including on a temple looking building that was overlooking one of the lakes. I thought it would be nice to get a pano with Zargham in it so this is what I got

I once made the observation that he looked like Buddha and the American with us (who speaks Farsi) came up with Buddha Koochek, Little Buddha.

GPS Rox!!!

Well I *finally* got around to incorporating GPS data into my pictures, first I had to get my hands on a GPS device then some software that could match the time stamps of the photos to the times that each coordinate was taken (Turn on tracking on the GPS device) and viola! The Latitude and Longitude data is embedded in the JPEG photo. I know most people are like “so what” well with this you can see exactly where you took the picture. There are softwares that use online maps (IDimager, Picoplo, and WWMX to name a few) and there are online services that will automatically place the pictures on a map. I use Fickr.com and they have this service so if you click on some of my newer pictures and then select “map” (on the right under “Additional Information”) it will show you where the picture was taken on a map, nice!

Jesus on a Tanker?

Jesus on a Tanker?
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho

This is an example of one of many psychedelic vehicles in Afghanistan. I don’t know if it is Afghan or not but it does remind me of the many Pakistani trucks that can be seen on the Afghan roads. The Pakistani trucks are usually painted with loud colors and intricate designs and pictures and you can pick them out from a mile away. I find the trucks amusing and I have heard that the drivers are regularly stoned which would go a long way towards explaining the designs.

Middle of nowhere?

Middle of nowhere?
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho

This was a fairly common kinda scene while driving to Band-e Amir, lots of nothingness. Being from the southeast USA I get a feeling of Agoraphobia when I go out to these wide open expanses of land. These spaces, to me, feel more like the middle of nowhere than forested places, not sure why though. In Afghanistan there are lots of open spaces some more desert like than others. While it appears to be pretty barren there always seemed to be some lone person(s) around, I often wondered where they were living, to look on the map you see a ton of villages but when you are out there you hardly see any.

Solar power in Afghanistan

Solar power in Afghanistan
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho

I recently found out that my organization recently finished a project dealing with solar power though I am not sure that had anything to do with these panels on the roof of our other building. Actually, I am assuming these panels are solar but they don’t appear to have any pipes (solar water heating) or cells (electricity generation) but then again this was from a distance.In my three plus weeks here I have seen two rainy days and was informed that they were pretty rare so I can say that Afghan weather is pretty darn sunny (though in Kabul the weather is not that bad, I have certainly experienced hotter feeling days in the southeastern US). With all the power outages in Kabul and the general lack of electricity in the rest of Afghanistan I am surprised that solar power generation projects are not more common here. Something to look into, one of the people here who tries to talk with me quite a bit (with limited success due to my lack of Farsi and his rudimentary English) worked with the solar project so he would probably be a good place to start.

Mountain Houses

Mountain Houses
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho

Nothing spectacular here, though this mountain is *in* Kabul (it just seems odd to me for there to be mountains in the middle of cities). The reason I took the picture was for the houses, on the mountain, if you look closely you can see lots of rectangular structures (sorry, I am limited to a 3x zoom lens). Apparently Kabul real estate has become pretty expensive so poorer individuals have been “driven” up the mountains in and around Kabul. I have been told almost none of these homes have running water and are forced to ferry water up the mountain on a daily basis, and don’t be fooled, these hikes are not for the meek, you can take a good 30-45 minutes of walking up these twisted streets and if you are carrying 5-15 gallons of water I would imagine that it gets pretty rough.

360 Panoramic of the Garden

360 Panoramic of the Garden
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho

This is the garden in my "compound" that I walk around in (circles?) quite often. The receptionist (part day guard, part receptionist) has quite the green thumb (which is helped along with inordinate amounts of water considering the climate) and these flowers are some of the more aromatic flowers I have smelled, which I believe is saying a lot considering my mother is a licensed florist.At any one time there are at least four vehicles parked here, so this was definitely a down day since sometimes there are so many cars that they park on the sidewalk as they don't seem to like leaving their cars on the street (I haven’t asked if it's for the sake of their cars safety or what, perhaps it is to avoid too much attention).There is a small spigot at the end of the sidewalk to the right, and pump to the right of it hidden by the bush. I will get a better picture of them later but everyday our organization lets the neighbors come and get water so they send their kids every morning.

360 Panoramic photo from my roof

360 Panoramic photo from my roof
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho

As I keep mentioning it isn’t a great idea for me to wander around in Kabul (though a Bangladeshi colleague of mine has said that going to the market that is not on the main road is ok, we shall see, perhaps after I get some traditional Afghan clothes) so I am not getting as many pictures as I would like (which might not be a bad thing since I fall behind on labeling my pictures pretty quickly).

On one of my days off I decided to climb up on top of the roof to take some pictures but of course there are no stairs for this, actually there is a tiny door/hole in the ceiling of the bathroom that is too high for a chair but we don’t have a ladder small enough to get up there so I had to hop on a chair, get a foot on the door knob, then balance on top of the door (while holding on to the edge of the door/hole in the ceiling) and hoist myself up… whew. Well that door goes into a shack on the roof that houses the water tank (since water is only turned on for a few hours a day most buildings have a tank that fills up while the water is turned on then it feeds the building for the rest of the day [with really low water pressure]). Anyway I got into the shack then slipped through a hole in the side of the shack onto the roof (I should probably make a video of this next time). Of course I didn’t take into account that it would be flaming hot (I was barefoot) so I got down, got my Tevas, and repeated the previous steps.From the roof I took this photo and a few other panoramic photos to give people an idea of what it looks like, at least from where I am.

Its not all that exciting but it is kinda representative of Kabul. I would love to hike up one of the mountains that are in and around Kabul but my afghan counterparts have advised against it (security again, and I guess they would know) but I am sure I could get some pretty phenomenal pictures. The satellite dish is actually for our whopping 64Kbps internet connection that runs around $300/month which really sounds criminal to me, and incidentally makes me appreciate (for a moment) the comparatively cheap prices of broadband access in the US (though when I see internet access in Scandinavia I cease to have any respect for American broadband ISPs). The little hut to the left of the satellite dish is where our water tank is housed, most houses (if you squint you can see a few others) don’t have their tanks covered and I would guess have perpetual hot water, like it or not. You can also see at least two buildings under construction as well, it amazes me that in this time of insecurity (admittedly less secure for me than for the average afghan) that construction would continue but it is, slowly but surely, as long as the aid money comes Kabul and the rest of Afghanistan will continue to improve, slowly but surely.

One of the many buildings that tell a story…

One of the many buildings that tell a story…
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho

Different parts of Kabul look pretty different. While I expected to see some areas that looked practically modern, new buildings good streets etc, well that didn’t quite happen (there are new buildings but sometimes they are on dirt or severely “potted” roads or have beggars right outside of them). The different parts of Kabul do have big differences but sometimes they are more subtle than one might expect. My neighborhood is an example of subtle differences. Some areas look like they are falling apart and I didn’t notice that some of them look like they are falling apart because they were shot up. It should be noted that the bullet holes in the side of this building are not from recent fighting (well not since the US invasion) but from the civil war. I am about a block away from a fairly large main street and apparently (as I understand it) two opposition groups were on either side exchanging daily fire/mortar and as you can see the buildings suffered (as did many of the people). Now a family appears to live next door with kids and all, and I would bet that the inside of the house looks a bit better than the outside, and probably doesn’t tell nearly as good of a story