Afghanistan

27 December 1977. Najib hotel, Herat.  The sun is out again, the temperature around freezing, the hotel almost empty. This is our sixth and final day in Herat, and it’s been a good rest stop for all. I’m traveling with a slightly mad Englishman of about 55, named Pip, owner and driver of Humphrey, a lovely old silver Ford transit bus, equipped with furniture, kitchen, and sound system. Fellow passengers include another Englishman, a New Zealander, a Canadian, and a Dutch girl. I feel somewhat outside their circle of warmth and intimacy, but not so that it’s a problem. I’m enjoying being alone. I’ve plenty of time to get it on with other travelers, if my mood changes.

We are paying 2500 rials (about $35) for the trip to Kabul - a bargain, since were the bosses on how fast we go, where we go, and how long we stay in one place. It took us three days to drive to Herat, passing south of Masshad because of the festivities there (everybody walking around, hitting himself with a chain, etc).  I slept out in the desert each night, in both sleeping bags, and loved it. Lovely country to drive through - dus, great, empty planes, brown mud villages, looking just like the - too bad it was overcast most of the way here.

The Najib Hotel is a lovely, two-story building one block off of Herat's main street. Pip sleeps in his truck while the five of us passengers shared a room for $.75 a night each. There is a wood-burning stove to heat the room, but we’ve only rounded up wood, enthusiasm, and fire-starting skills twice. We take our meals, drink tea, and chat in the common room, usually with a dozen or so tourist and Afghanis. To no one’s great surprise, we found and smoked a large amount of hashish our first few days in Herat, but we’ve calmed down  - everyone kind of deed night, and spent the next day in bed, hung over, coughing, sniffling, feeling miserable. I read Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance, worked with my past book of chess, and sat around a whole lot. Not much happening in - lots of looking people, some tourist, shops, selling coats, leather goods, carpets, a nice mask, and plenty of open space in all directions.

The trip from Herat through Kandahar and onto Kabul was mainly smoking hash and sitting around in cold rooms not doing much of anything. I spent a lot of time reading up on chess, and played several games with Afghani opponents (turns out to be a popular game in the country!). Pip, the leader of our six person group, finally got on my nerves to the point where continuing alone after Kabul was preferable to continuing in his company. I guess I hate being bossed around, but in any case, the van was no great deal: cold, hardly usable for cooking or washing, and I had to sleep out. The worst offense was Pip's, lack of adventure: he’s got the only means getting off the main roads, and he doesn’t take advantage of it. With a few exceptions, I saw hardly more of Afghanistan by van than I would have by public buses. 

Pip had some marvelous stories which he told with expertise, but he didn’t know when to stop, and certainly was not in the least interested in what the rest of us had ti say - such monologues tended to become uninteresting after a very short while. His blatant anti-Americanism was no fun either, and though I think I’m less pro-American than most of my felloiw countrymen, I felt very indignant and nationalistic in response. My only regret was to have swallowed it all and not fought back a bit.  At the time I considered my restraint admirable, and fighting back a useless negative exercise that might’ve spoiled the fun for everyone; now I think just the opposite: I should’ve straightened him out early in the game instead of holding back and rationalizing my cowardice.

So what about Afghanistan? A beautiful land of deserts, mountains, remote cities, clean air.  Kabul has a bit of the hustle now, and should become unbearable in short order. The trunk road is lovely to drive, and the Kyber Pass east of Kabul was appropriately impressive, but I didn’t get to see the really good stuff: Mazar-i-Sharif, in the north and Band-e Amir in the center.