Welcome back to part 2! In case you have missed part 1, I was spending a few months working for HALO trust, a de-mining charity in Afghanistan in 1993, based at two locations; initially in Jabel-os-Saraj and then Pol-e-Khomri. Before I moved to Pol-e-Khomri, Simon (another Doctor) and I had the chance of a road trip of a life-time to collect two brand new long-wheel based diesal turbo charged land rovers that had arrived in northern Afghanistan from the Uk in a container via train!
We were driven by one of the HALO ex-army guys on the long trip north along the Salong highway, through the high attitude 1.6 mile Salong Tunnel and down the northern slops of the Hindu Kush Mountains, a stop in Pol-e-Khomri to see the other HALO team for coffee and on north we went to Mazari -i-Sharif the capital of the north with a stunning blue mosque – an amazing mosaic of blue tiles and flock of white doves.
The Salang Tunnel is a 2.67 km tunnel at the Salang pass in the Hindu Kush mountains, between Parvan and Baghlan provinces completed by the Soviet Union in 1964 to connect Kabul with the northern Afghan cities, the only pass open year round and cutting travel time from 72 to 10 hours. It reaches an altitude of 3400m and is only just over 6m wide at the base with maximum height of 4.9ms. It was the highest road tunnel in the world until 1973 when the Eisenhower Memorial Tunnel was completed in the Rocky Mountains in the USA.
The Salong Tunnel was a crucial military link to the south in the Soviet-Afghan war and yet was to prone to ambush by the Mujaheddin. In 1982 a fire killed 64 Soviet soldiers and 122 Afghans apparently after tanker truck blew up the tunnel. After the withdrawal of the Soviets in 1989 maintenance suffered in the course of conflict between Afghan northern alliance and the Taliban. In 1997/98 the tunnels entrances, lighting & ventilation systems were destroyed. There was also the high risk of avalanches blocking the entrances and instances of people suffocating in their vehicles from engine fumes rather than freezing to death.
I went through four times during my time in Afghanistan and it was quite a memorable experience each time, approaching up the winding dirt road, increasingly barren, stony and snow covered mountains and along sections with concrete covers and balustrades to protect against avalanches. The tunnel was unsealed largely and water dripped through, freezing and making the unsafe tunnel road icy and treacherous in the narrow tube like tunnel. To pass a heavily laden truck coming the other way in a confined space was a fairly tense close encounter. We also came across a large herd of sheep and goats being herded rough the tunnel by a shepherd in the pitch black, quite a surreal experience!
We drove north to the border with Uzbekistan, where there is a bridge crossing from the Termez. We found this container park in the middle of nowhere. Nearby there were lines of 100s and 100s of rusting fuel tankers abandoned by the Russians after their retreat. We walked up and down the lines of stacked containers in the incredible heat looking for our container number.
It was there and opened for us revealing the two clean white brand new long wheel based turbo diesel landrovers – Simon and I had one each to drive back – what an opportunity. Initially taking it easy, they were amazing to drive and perfect for the road and terrain. There was also a slight anxiety as they were full of new kit for de-mining and had $10,000 in cash under the drivers seat – this meant keeping our fingers crossed as we went through the various check points. Driving these incredible vehicles through the Hindu Kush mountains was an exhilarating and memorable experience – definitely a road trip of a lifetime. We delivered the landrovers safe and sound.
After about 6 weeks, Simon and I were transferred to the other operating centre at Pol-e-Khomri a city in northern Afghanistan on the main Salang highway and the capital of Baglan province. City is perhaps an exaggeration, small town is more appropriate. To get there we had another amazing road trip north and through the spectacular Hindu Kush mountains and through the famous or infamous Salang Tunnel.
Our accommodation in Pol-e-Khumri was a two story white painted building on the outskirts of town. Again surrounded by high fencing and a gate. In the courtyard was an unused de-mining tank with a rotating drum with chains projecting out in front that would precede along roads to detonate anti-tank mines. A good idea in practice but tragically not long before I arrived a British Halo Trust de-miner and two Afghan colleagues were using another de-mining tank and detonated a mine with the rotating trailing boom but the mine had been booby trapped and connected to a huge charge directly under the tank – destroying it and killing the occupants. As a result the remaining de-mining tank lay unused in the courtyard.
It was incredibly hot in the northern plans of Afghanistan reaching over 40 degrees by mid afternoon. This meant we would get up extremely early and would be driving to the village or site we were working at at dawn and work until about midday, driving back to base to take shelter indoors during the extreme heat of the afternoon, without air conditioning or fans!
There was a local Mujahideen leader who was quite a character – he had been educated at a British public school and had a taste for ZZ Top. It so happened that one of the HALO army guys had a ZZ Top greatest hits video that we played every evening at dinner! The Mujahideen leader heard about this and came round to watch it! Quite bizarre.
In reciprocation, he invited us to his place for dinner, an invitation not to be refused – he had a large and substantial house and dinner was in a large room with a huge rectangular table around which at least 20 of us (4 of us for HALO Trust and everyone else was Afghan). There were others standing around with AK 47s presumably his body guards. Quite a feast was provided which was a real treat after the rather monotonous and restricted menu I had had until now. My appetite was not 100% as I was recovering from a second bout of dysentery and was treating myself with a course of high dose metronidazole.
Presumably because of the host’s English public school eduction and taste for ZZ Top he did not comply with all the Islamic practices – there was a prolific amount of Russian vodka being served with accompanying toasts. Metronidazole has a well recognised anti-abuse effect with alcohol. It can cause reactions such as rapid heart rate and blood pressure changes. I was vaguely aware of this at the time but the level of ‘peer pressure’ to drink was extremely high!!
The room had a large wall of windows looking out over countryside and at some point between courses the window panel was removed and the entertainment commenced. This involved some of the body guards taking out some rocket propelled grenade launchers and firing them out of the window to explode on the hillside – rather surreal mid feast entertainment. As the meal came to a close – large quantities of Afghan hashish was produced and passed round to smoke. By this time I had consumed a large amount of vodka and was I was in no state to refuse the hashish!!
The time eventually came to leave after an extraordinarily surreal evening. I found I was unable to get up! The other HALO guys came to my assistance walking me out to the landrover and some how one of them must have driven back safely to base. I was walked in and sat upstairs in the sitting/dining room and was left there while the others went to bed.
I was in a state of high anxiety, my heart was racing so fast I was convinced that if I moved, even a centimetre my heart would stop! So I did not move, reminding bolt upright all night! When the others got up in the morning they found me exactly where they had left me! Finally and gradually my heart rate and anxiety began to subside. For anyone who might find themselves in a similar position, don’t whatever you do take the alcohol while taking metronidazole however much peer pressure you are under!!
Towards the end of my time in Afghanistan, the end of Ramadan ( the holy month of fasting) Eid holiday arrived. A few days holiday break was planned to visit the Buddhas of Bamiyan. They were two 6th century monumental statues 35m and 53m tall) of the Gautam Buddha carved into the side of the cliff in the Bamiyan valley in central Afghanistan at an altitude of 2500 m.
We set off (HALO ex-solider, Simon, another doctor and me with our Afghan interpreter and his young daughter) in one of the smart new long wheel base turbo diesel land rovers. Driving up and along the valley was beautiful if rather bumpy, along the rocky and pot-holed roads – proper pot holes. We stopped for lunch at a ‘road side cafe’ and ate it sitting on the roof with a large crowd of spectators. A puncture and tyre change later we rounded a bend in the road to find a raging swollen river we had been following had completely washed out road! Completely impassable and still too far to walk on foot and leaving the landrover would not have been an option anyway. Sadly and reluctantly we had to about turn and retrace our route back down the valley. It is a regret to this day that I did not get to see the statues because in March 2001 they were dynamited by the Taliban, on orders of the leader Mullah Mohammed Omar after the statues were declared idols.
So we came up with a plan B to drive up to the very north east of Afghanistan, towards the Wakham corridor, a thin strip of land (between Tajkistan and Pakistan) reaching to create a short border with China.
It was a beautiful but long and bumpy ride. Eventually we came to a town whose name I no longer remember in this remote region. Simon was suffering from diarrhoea and as soon as we stopped in the empty market square asked where the nearest ‘toilet’ was . He was directed to a dark doorway on one side of the square, part of a partially built building. It was early afternoon and incredibly hot. Simon had his sunglasses on and walked towards the open dark doorway.
The next we hear is a throttled scream and turn to see Simon re-emerging from the doorway covered to his neck in raw sewage!! It turned out that he should have gone up the steps at the side to the 1st floor, and used the hole in the floor to fill the basement sewerage pool as everyone else had been doing for a long time!! Sadly this was “lost in the translation”.
As Simon walked back into the square, slowly and in stunned silence, a circle of Afghans surrounded him but at a considerable distance because of the smell he was emanating was extraordinarily bad!! It turned out there was no running water in the whole town. Further enquiries established the best water source was a well at the Mujahideen leader’s residence a little drive away!
There was no way we were allowing Simon in the landrover so he climbed on to the roof holding tight as we drove the short distance. Our translator explained our situation to the guards at the leader’s home and after some time we were allowed to enter and directed to the well.
We then spent what felt like ages hauling up bucket after bucket of water for Simon to wash himself repeatedly!! Understandably! The Mujahideen leader donated a clean fresh shalwar kameez tunic and Simon’s clothes were disposed of. However, he was not willing to let go of his black Doc Martin boots which he repeatedly washed, wearing some slippers in the meantime.
Then dinner was laid on – eaten with the Mujahideen leader’s body guards – intimidatingly tall, bearded guys never without their AK47s more than a foot from them. Dinner consisted of the biggest mountain of rice I had ever seen with the obligatory vegetable ghee on top.
With my slightly subdued appetite I was hardly able to make any impression on the mountain. I heard from our interpreter I was being called ‘sparrow’!!!
At some point a man came into the room and spoke with the Mujahideen leader quietly. The leader looked serious and considered before replying. It was only later that our interpreter said the leader had passed judgement on a man who had been caught stealing and told the man to cut his hand off!!
After dinner we were invited to go out on an evening drive – more like a convoy – the Mujahideen leader’s jeep, his bodyguards on an armoured personnel carrier and us in our landrover. The evening light was stunning as we drove with the mountain back drop – quiet, remote countryside – shepherds with their sheep – long shadows, horses and carts. On returning to the town we stopped at the ice cream shop and were treated to an ice cream – pistachio favour I think?
Back at the residential complex we were shown to a first floor room, nothing but a wooden floor with 10 or so bodyguards laid on the floor to sleep. They had their guns next to them and not much room between us – definitely the most unusual room mates and night’s sleep I have ever had!!
In the morning we said our farewells, thanking the Mujahideen leader for his hospitality which I felt was genuine, demonstrating their culture of helping strangers but definitely with an edge to it, with an awareness that any wrong steps would have serious and swift consequences!!
Making the long drive south back to Pole-e-Khomri with Simon back in the landrover but his boots tied to the roof as they still smelled awful, indeed every time we stopped with the window open the smell seemed to drop down from the roof to the inside!
It had been a wonderful opportunity to see a little more of the beautiful country of Afghanistan, stunning scenery, rural lifestyle and hospitable and friendly people! A week or so later I was driven to Kabul, spent a couple of days there – time to buy some souvenirs – hats and a couple of rugs before taking an Aeroflot flight that was en-route from Delhi to London – I was the only person who got on at Kabul, and the other passengers seemed surprised anyone was getting on at all!
Farewell Afganistan! Until next time.
