What does one do on the weekend in Kabul, you ask? Well, first of all the weekend falls on Friday and Saturday ... something which throws our normal rhythms a bit of a twist.

 

So normally, we try to sleep in. I remember my first Friday in Kabul when we were all rudely awoken by a large explosion which shook the house. Turned out to be a suicide bombing at Masood Circle, which killed a large number of people. Fortunately, most Fridays didn’t turn out that way. Once your ears get accustomed to the call to prayers, you can usually sleep through it. Otherwise you get awoken at about 0400 hrs, hopefully to a mullah with a good voice.

 

However, other than shopping, lunching, visiting with friends, there are not many places in the city that are easy to visit. There was a place that I was shown by my driver when I was in Kabul on my first visit, and that was Qargha Lake.

 

On this glorious day, Marjan (housemate) and I decided that we could just not hang around the house or do the usual things. We determined that we would get a driver to take us out to Qargha so that we could walk around like normal human beings for a change. (Remember, we can’t walk around easily in Kabul for security reasons).

 

We got ourselves ready and got a car and driver. We first made a trip out to the “PX” and checked out some carpets. We then went out to Qargha. We asked the driver to wait for us at an intersection in the park and walked a bit. There was a lovely hill that I had visited the first time from which there was a beautiful panoramic view. The road was slick with mud and as Marjan had just returned from California where she had lower back surgery, we had to pick our way up the hill very carefully. As we approached the top we saw a group of men doing, well doing something unidentifiable. It looked like some sort of outdoor meeting. We observed them from a distance for a few minutes but decided it would be prudent to walk back down the hill.

 

From there, we walked around the grounds of the restaurant and along the shore of the lake. There is a small lodge with guesthouses, and we stopped to inspect the guesthouses to determine their suitability for future use. They were as yet unfurnished but had potential. But the prices (remember we are in Kabul) were a bit too high for our liking at $140 per night. Considering that many Afghans are earning about $100 per month, it was obvious that these guesthouses were not intended for the average national.

 

We walked along the road for a bit and admired the view. All in all, it was a nice afternoon getting some fresh air and a wee bit of exercise. Not to mention, girl talk ... which we won’t go into here :)  

 

Stay tuned for more.