asm october 2009

SCENEISSUE 63 - OCTOBER 2009

perspective • insight • people • reviews • pics • life

The men who conquered Afghanistan’s highest peak

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www.afghanscene.com Afghan Scene October 2009

Afghan Scene October 2009

Afghan Scene October 2009 www.afghanscene.com


Publisher: Afghan Scene Ltd, Wazir Akbar Khan, Kabul, AfghanistanManager & Editor: Afghan Scene Ltd, Kabul, AfghanistanDesign: Kaboora ProductionAdvertising: [email protected]: Emirates Printing Press, DubaiCover photo: Jean AnnequinContact: [email protected] / www.afghanscene.comAfghan Scene welcomes the contribution of articles and / or pictures from its readers. Editorial rights reserved.

SCENEISSUE 63 - OCTOBER 2009

AFGHAN

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Afghan Scene October 2009IntroductionContents

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7 Introduction

10 Cemetery sentryDavid Gill meets the man who has been tending to the graves of Britain’s fallen for 30 years.

14 Climbing for peace David James on an historic expedition by Afghan mountaineers to conquer Noshaq, the country’shighest peak.

20 The Four Tigers of the WakhanLouis Meunier’s blow by blow account of how four men went up a mountain and came back national heroes.

25 Inside the narco economyGregor Salmon lifts the lid on how Taliban from the south are using opium to buy guns from warlords in the north.

36 Restaurant review In her final review Rosemary Stasek samples some of the best food Kabul has to offer.

38 Remembering Rosy Afghan Scene looks back at the life and work of our long-serving restaurant critic, Rosemary Stasek

42 Book reviewRose Taylor checks out an action-packed page turning account of a CIA super spy in Afghanistan.

46 Be Scene A selection of the summer’s best party pictures.

54 Bloggers’ FAQs Scientists have invented things called “weblogs” designed to give struggling, out of work journalists something to do. PEEJAY TOBIA takes us through the plusses and pitfalls of blogging.

61 Farewell Scene Legendary British journalist Tom Coghlan reflects on the good times and bad times.

66 Afghan Essentials A super-sized directory of the best restaurants and hotelsin Kabul.

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“I wonder how much longer Gordon Brown can last...”

Farewell to aScene stalwartI

t is only fitting that this week’s Kabul at Work feature is about Kabul’s British Cemetery. It was there on a sunny afternoon late last month that around fifty

people from all walks of Kabul life gathered to remember Rosemary Stasek who died on September 24 after suffering a heart attack related to the early stages of multiple sclerosis from which she had been suffering.

Readers will know Rosemary as this magazine’s tireless restaurant critic. With dollops of wit and endless enthusiasm for Kabul’s often dubious culinary output, Rosemary had actually managed to review every eaterie in the city which was prepared to be featured in this magazine. Her final review on page 36 of Sufi sees her returning to a restaurant she first scrutinised long before.

But, as the deeply moving stories told by those who attended hermemorial ceremony showed, she was much more than just a food critic. Her formidable list of achievements include serving as city mayor of Mountain View in North California and internet entrepreneur as well as running her own charity called A Little

Help. She first came to Afghanistan in 2002, focusing most of her attention on improving the lot of this country’s women and girls taking her case, on one occasion, to a personal meeting with President Karzai.

Afghan Scene’s thoughts are very much with her family and her many friends left behind in Afghanistan and across the world. And, most of all, with her husband Morne who she first met and fell in love with in Kabul, a city she evidently loved almost as much. �

[email protected]

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Afghan Scene October 2009Farewell scene

ContributorsAfghan Scene Magazine is proud to showcase work from the best photographers in Afghanistan

Almost all of the photographs and cartoons featured in Afghan Scene are available for sale direct from the artists. Most of them are available for commissions, here and elsewhere. If you would like to contribute to

Afghan Scene, or if you can’t get hold of a contributor, please contact [email protected].

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Scene Team

Harry Cole is a cad and a bounder. A former guards officer in the British army he’s now a raconteur, wit and man about town who juggles security and

logistics in between scribbling Scene’s pocket cartoons.

Jérôme Veyret, 29, arrived in Afghanistan by car in 2003, at the end of a roadtrip from Bordeaux. He works as a journalist for international TV channels,

making full-length documentaries. The most recent one covered the Afghan Kyrghiz who live in the Pamirs at an altitude of 4,000 meters. Jérôme has also

covered a story for the magazine “Grands Reportages” called “The oasis of Wakhan, a sanctuary for the wakhi and Kyrgyz peoples”.

www.noshaq.com

“Of course, it’s the children I feel sorry for...”

David Gill is a British writer, photographer and videogrpher focusing on a social documentary and overseas development. His current book project

Kabul, a City at Work is a selection over 100 original portraits.web.mac.com/shot2bits/work





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Kabul at work

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Kabul at work

However the place is so peaceful as we sit drinking tea, poured by one of his 30 plus grand children, amongst the gravestones of fallen British soldiers. As the gravedigger sets about his task, he recounts stories of a visit from Mullah Omar during the time of the Taliban and about how he offended him after unfortunately cracking a joke about being blind. The Mullah only has one eye! The story is 18 years old and he tells it like happened last week. When pushed further for more exciting anecdotes he volunteers, with a wry smile and a chuckle, that

Rahimullah is a beautiful bearded old Afghan man and caretaker of the British cemetery in Kabul (aka - adire gora- white people’s cemetery). He’s

been working here for nearly 30 years. It’s a wonderfully serene, reflective place and it’s as far away from the madding crowd as you can get in this hectic, dusty city. The week I visited him the murdered aid worker, Gayle Williams, was about to be buried, following her assassination in Kart-e Char. October 2008 was a busy month here.

there. This seems like a bargain and I make a note to reserve a space or three. If the Taliban’s offensive continues next year I am sure there could be potentially a massive rise in business. The grave hedge fund starts here. �

none of the Kharijees (foreigners) have come back to haunt him and err… that’s it.

His main focus seems to be getting a pay rise via me. He is currently paid by $140 a month by the British Embassy, which is roughly the same cost as getting buried

GraveTender

The

Kabul, A City at Work is a selection of over 100 original portraits from the capital. It’s authors describe it as a window into Kabul’s soul. For more information visit www.web.mac.com/shot2bits/work | www. kabulatwork.com

DAVID GILL meets the man who kept the British cemeteryin Kabul through 30 years of war SIX FEET UNDER: SIX FOOT UNDER: Grave diggers prepare the ground for a new occupant | David Gill





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two of the climbers finally reached the highest point in the country to light a beacon for the whole nation and the world to see.

“We just want people to know there’s more to Afghanistan than the Taliban, opium and roadside bombs,” said Amruddin, “We want mountaineers to return to Afghanistan to experience for themselves how hospitable the Afghan people are.”

This historic feat took place in July which was also the bloodiest month for NATO troops serving in Afghanistan. With big questions being asked about the international community’s strategy in Afghanistan maybe it is time the world stopped focusing on the military problems and started focusing on the Afghan solutions.

According to CIA World Fact Book Afghanistan has a population of 33 million. According to the Afghan Minister of the Interior just 10-15,000 of them are Taliban fighters, that’s less than 0.05% of the population. Yet

Amruddin fumbled with the zip of his jacket. His frozen fingers still covered by two sets of gloves closed numbly around the neatly folded flag. Malang

quickly grasped one corner to stop the icy wind blowing it from unfeeling fingers and in an explosion of colour the red, black and green of Afghanistan unfurled above the cold white summit of mount Noshaq. The two climbers had just earned their place in history as the first of their countrymen to stand on the 7,492m summit of Afghanistan’s highest mountain.

But the expedition is about so much more than mountaineering. It is about a small flame of hope that has been lit in the far north east of the country, protected from the winds of war by the impregnable Hindu Kush mountains. Four Afghan climbers had set off from the village of Qazi Deh in the Wakhan Corridor carrying with them the dream of a better future. By battling against unseasonally deep snow and high winds

ClimbingPeacefor

Former soldier DAVID JAMES on how an historic climb byfour intrepid Afghans offers glimmers of hope in a war torn land

ENTOURAGE: Day one in the Wakhan | David JamesSLOG: Onwards and upwards | Louis Meunier





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here.” In fact just a few days after returning from Noshaq Gorg Ali led an expedition for British trekking company Wild Frontiers into the Little Pamir near the border with China and Afiat Khan led a French expedition to Lake Zorkol.

Tourism may seem to be a frivolous activity in a country riven by war but it serves a strategic purpose. First it challenges the world’s perception about Afghanistan. “When I told people I was going to Afghanistan they said I was crazy,” says French mountaineer Jean Annequin “everyone said ‘It’s too dangerous, you’ll get killed’, but crossing the border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan was like crossing the border between France and Italy. It is like there are two different countries; the Wakhan is definitely not the Afghanistan you see on the news.” Secondly this paradigm shift along with the developing tourism infrastructure will provide the business community with the facilities and confidence to visit north east Afghanistan which is rich in minerals, precious stones and other natural resources. At the moment it is almost impossible for local Afghan businessmen to develop the distribution channels necessary for international trading. Trekkers and mountaineers are often well connected professionals with high levels of disposable income. Therefore tourism offers

this 0.05% of the population dominates the international community’s consciousness and resources. The four Afghan mountaineers represent the other 99.95% of the population who are just trying to get on with their lives and hoping for a better future. To get their voices heard above the media’s thirst for war they literally had to climb to the top of the highest mountain.

“Life for people in the Wakhan is very hard,” said Malang, “if more tourists come then life will get better. We hope that Afghans from all over the country will start to climb and maybe one day mountaineers will return to every part of the Hindu Kush.”

“Afghanistan is covered in mountains and mountaineering is a sport that all the Afghan people could excel at,” said Gorg Ali another of the four climbers. “We’d like to see Pashtuns, Hazaras, Tajiks, Uzbeks and Wakhi people climbing together in joint expeditions as an act of friendship amongst the Afghan people. We are Wakhi but first we are Afghans.”

But isn’t the idea of tourism in Afghanistan just wishful thinking? “It is very safe here,” says Afiat Khan another of the climbers. He was a former Mujahedin fighter who took up arms to defend the Wakhan during the Taliban era. “We have had many visitors coming to climb and trek in the Wakhan. There are no problems

“We just want people to know there’s more to Afghanistan than the Taliban, opium and roadside bombs”





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David James is a former television news cameraman who joined the army in April 2001 at the age of 28. He served on two tours of Afghanistan and was awarded the QCVS for the second. His military experience convinced him that economic development not military force was the route to success in the county. He is now the director of Mountain Unity International a social enterprise dedicated to providing economic opportunities to the people of the Hindu Kush and Pamir mountains. Found out more at www.mountainunity.org.

which he called Oxus: Mountains for Peace. At the time Carlo’s modest objectives were to show solidarity with the Afghan people who had been so hospitable to him in the 1960’s when he made a number of first ascents in the Hindu Kush and to return Noshaq to a pristine state by removing all the refuse left by previous expeditions. However that expedition became the genus for a programme of training Afghan mountaineers and developing the tourism infrastructure which has now culminated in two Afghans climbing Noshaq, the country’s highest mountain.

“We wanted to help the four climbers do something that would be a source of pride and hope for the whole country,” said Louis

both the opportunity for direct sales to the international market and the chance to build relationships, that with some support, could develop into long terms export opportunities.

“What the Afghan people need is jobs,” says Amruddin. “If people don’t have jobs they can get angry and that’s when trouble starts. For us and for many of the other people living in the mountains in Afghanistan climbing and trekking is the only chance we have for working, so I encourage everyone I know to get into these activities.”

Mountaineering has provided a ray of hope to the people of north east Afghanistan since 2003 when Carlo Alberto Pinelli organised the Mountain Wilderness expedition to Noshaq

successful and the Afghan people and our government will be proud too. Our dream is to see the Afghan flag flying above Noshaq the highest mountain.”

Perhaps the greatest achievement of the expedition was that in a year dominated by bad news four Afghans managed to give their countrymen something to feel proud about and to share with them the dream of a brighter future. �

Meunier who helped the Afghans organise the expedition. “We had a dream to see an Afghan reach the top of the highest peak and we have achieved that. We hope this expedition will give other Afghans the confidence to achieve their own dreams.”

“We are doing this for the whole of Afghanistan,” said Malang prior to the expedition. “I am very proud to have this opportunity and God willing we will be

GRAND PLANS: Intrepid Afghan climbers discuss details of their historic assault on Noshaq UNFORGIVING: At base camp the team had endure the cold and discomfort of the high Pamirs





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constantly battered by powerful and freezing winds, and access to the summit is blocked by a daunting 200 metre unstable rock barrier. Anyway, Afghans were rarely given a chance; they were employed as high-altitude porters by western adventurers but they were not allowed to accompany them to the very top. This time, it was different: This was an Afghan ascent.

From the idea of climbing Noshaq to the expedition itself was a gigantic step. It took over a year to put the project together. Rallying support was a huge challenge. We had to face rebuttal and sarcasm from people telling us that we were mad and that Afghanistan was not a place for such adventures. Besides which, we had to identify and hire two qualified mountain guides, wise enough to accept the idea that this part of the country was safe. We were lucky, Jean and Simon proved to be the best.

Afghans are tough and rough mountain men, but they are not mountaineers. The Tigers were not familiar with the techniques of rock, snow and ice climbing. Thus, we also had to organize a training course in the French Alps in order to enhance their skills. Facing the red tape and organizing the logistics for the expedition was another snag. But finally we had managed to set off. Together with a group of 68 porters, we had crossed the minefield – approximately 640 antipersonnel mines had been laid in 2000 to prevent a Pakistani incursion – and installed the base camp. It seemed we had to climb Everest before aiming at Noshaq.

And here we are now, at the foot of the rock barrier. The joke launched over the cup of tea seems far behind, and we would give anything for the warmth of a cup of tea. The fierce 200 metre rock wall is taunting us. Will

Camp 3. 6,700 m. Dawn, a day before summit

Malang, his hands covered with thick gloves, folds the tent uneasily, clamps it under his arm and opens his rucksack. Suddenly

a powerful gust of wind blasts the surface of the mountain and rips the tent away. Helplessly, we stare at the yellow piece of fabric flapping away in the distance.

We now have only one tent left, leaving room to four climbers only. No need to speak, we all know what it means: Two of us will have to descend. “Ba nam e Khoda, in the name of God!” It looks like the fortune is against us.

Yesterday, Afiat Khan and Gurg Ali suffered altitude sickness and had to descend to avoid a potentially deadly lung oedema. What’s next? Will we ever manage to plant the Afghan flag on the summit?

The adventure had started over a cup of tea, almost like a joke: “Why not go up Noshaq?” The question sounded simple and the idea titillating. Doing it soon became an obsession. Mount Noshaq, the highest peak in Afghanistan, had never been climbed by an Afghan citizen. Amruddin, Gurg Ali, Malang and Afiat Khan were ready to take the challenge. By scaling Noshaq, the four Tigers of Wakhan - as they call themselves - would earn a place in history and open the way for more expeditions in this stunning, safe and remote corner of Afghanistan. Above all, they would send a message of hope to their fellow citizens.

There are a couple of reasons why no Afghan had ever reached the top of Noshaq. First, it’s a serious mountain. At 7,492 meters, it is the second highest peak of the Hindu Kush; it is

The Afghan AttemptConquering Afghanistan,

A team of Afghan climbers overcame prejudice, poverty and ice cliffs to scale the country’s highest peak for the first time in history earlier this year.

Adventure filmmaker LOUIS MEUNIER was with them





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they can’t rest. Indeed, the place is blown by a glacial airstream, and one has to keep moving to stay alive. The progression is slow because of the deep snow surfacing the mountain. Amruddin realizes he has left his pickaxe behind. In order to maximize the success of the expedition, Simon gives his one to Amruddin and stays back.

Finally, on July 19th at 2.30 pm Amruddin, Malang and Jean, reach the summit and unfurl the Afghan flag, entering history and giving reason to the Afghan proverb: there is a path to the top of even the highest mountain.

A word for Gurg Ali and Afiat Khan: Although they did not get as much recognition as Malang and Amruddin, they deserve their share of honour for what they have undertaken.

And another word for our main sponsors, without whom this adventure would not have been possible: The French Embassy in Kabul, the Aga Khan Development Network, Millet, and La Guilde du Raid. Thank you.

any Afghan overcome it? Will the Afghan flag ever float above Noshaq, or will the mountain remain virgin from any Afghan footstep? What to do with only one tent left? I have been suffering from acute bronchitis, so I have to go down anyway. Jérôme comes with me, leaving Amruddin and Malang with the two mountain guides, Jean and Simon. We say a brief but emotional farewell and put all our hopes in their hands.

The next morning, the summit team leaves Camp 3 and attacks the rock barrier at 7,000 metres. At this altitude, oxygen is scarce; the climbers have to move in slow motion. They ascend gradually, inch by inch, placing their hands and feet inside fragile fractures in the cliff. Occasionally, they skid, prompting stones to fall down and threatening to drag the next climber. A few shivers and a couple of hours later, they reach the plateau safely. This is not the top. The summit looks like another mountain far ahead. The mountaineers are exhausted but

Amruddin

Gurg Ali

Afiat Khan

Malang

Louis Meunier, 30 has been living in Afghanistan since 2002. A pas-sionate mountaineer and outward bounds enthusiast, he has equipped various rock-climbing trails in the Panjsheer valley, and has success-fully led a group of 18 members of the Mountain Wilderness associa-tion for a one-month long trek through the Pamirs and the Wakhan in the summer of 2007. Louis has also crossed Afghanistan by horse in the summer of 2005 and plays on Kabul´s buzkashi team, the country’s national sport.

The ANA is gradually taking over some of theoperational duties currently undertaken byNATO and US forces





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That’s him,’ said Bashir, my fixer. A stocky man was walking towards the car with a shawl draped over his head. He got into the back seat and

we all said hello. He and Bashir talked. To say the Taliban commander talked is not quite right. He spoke at such volume you’d swear he was addressing a rally. I tried to refrain from blocking my ears. The guy was uptight. The two or three times I turned around to look at him - dark-skinned, chubby, bearded - I could clearly see so.

His eyes didn’t rest on me, or elsewhere, for long. He looked like a man wondering if he was trapped. As we headed further west through the streets of Kabul we passed a police checkpoint, positioned there because a suicide bomb had gone off up ahead a few days earlier. The commander said something to Bashir in a voice that could split bricks.

‘

Australian journalist GREGOR SALMON on the personal risks he took on investigatingAfghanistan’s narco economy

DrugsGunsfor

Trading



www.afghanscene.com





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‘He is scared,’ said Bashir. ‘He said, “I am now in enemy territory. You must take care of me.”’

We came to the house where we would conduct the interview. We were shown into the common room and sat down, the commander positioned beneath a pump-action shotgun hanging on an otherwise bare, pale-green wall.

He went by the name of Shukra. He said he had around 500 men under his command in Helmand. He’d joined the Taliban when they first came through Kandahar in 1994, because there were ‘tribal conflicts’. His motives for fighting had expanded: ‘Since the [US-led] bombardment we are trying to protect our country and our people. It’s like a revolution of Pashtun people, because we don’t have enough part of the government.’

‘What’s the role of opium in funding your effort?’ I asked.

The commander started snickering like a schoolboy.

‘In this business, not only the Taliban are involved,’ he said. ‘About 80 per cent of the government is involved. The governor’s involved, the police chief. How? I will tell you the process. Look at my tribe. We are 400 families, so we are all growing poppies. The Taliban get their zakat and that’s it. They aren’t even encouraging the farmers or protecting them. Our 400 families collect 100,000 Pakistani rupees [$1250] each. This forty million [$500,000] goes to the district governor, to the police chief - to the people in charge. They are protecting these fields. They are encouraging people to grow because they are getting a lot of money out of it. That’s the process.’

‘What do you do with the teryak [opium] you collect?’

‘We buy weapons and ammunition from the north. They have a lot, so we buy bullets, AK-47s and machine guns for our jihad and bring them to Helmand.’

‘Where do you buy your weapons?’‘In Kunduz and Takhar provinces from

Northern Alliance commanders. You can come with me and I will show you the business. People make a lot of money out of this business, this exchange of money and drugs for munitions.’

‘The Taliban are dealing drugs to the Northern Alliance? The Northern Alliance are supplying weapons to the Taliban?’

‘It’s like a friendship. Even in the time of Taliban, the Taliban used to buy munitions from the Northern Alliance. They got new munitions freely supplied by Russia.’

After the interview, we began talking about the prospect of heading up to Kunduz to meet Shukra’s weapons dealer. Why would he offer to do this? Why would the people he introduced me to trust me? What was to stop them from just killing me - and Bashir? It was a nerve-racking decision.

‘In a direct fight,’ said commander Shukra, ‘if I arrest or detain an American soldier, I let him go back. But if I find a spy, I’ll kill him.’

I don’t know why he said this. Maybe to give me a hint as to what he thought about double-crossers. My mind was working overtime, trying to weigh everything up. I decided if Bashir was cool with it, we’d go.

‘Bashir, do you trust this guy?’ I asked.

‘One hundred per cent,’ he said.‘Okay, I want to go.’

***

Bashir called to tell me he was outside.When I appeared, Commander Shukra

got out of the passenger seat and climbed into the back. I got in and was introduced to a Tajik guy named Massoud. He was to be our ‘car minder’, Bashir told me, employed to make sure no one put a bomb under the vehicle while we weren’t watching. I suspected he just loved an entourage.

We set off north. The sun was warm and the air crisp. Shukra was in a far more relaxed mood than our first meeting, keeping Bashir and Massoud constantly amused.

HIGH CALIBRE: Security enroute | Gregor Salmon





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When the first protracted silence fell, he said, ‘I hope we are not boring you.’ I assured him I was well enough entertained. I was with a Pashtun fixer, an out-of-work Tajik and a Taliban commander from Helmand driving from Kabul into northern Afghanistan to meet some gun dealers, but the vibe was that same cruisy, escapist feeling that I knew well from many a road trip up the east coast of Australia.

Passing through the Shomali Plain, the commander said grimly, ‘If the foreign forces pull out of Afghanistan, this will be a battleground in ten days.’

Okay, so we were a long way from Byron Bay.The drive through the Salang valley

was the prettiest I’d experienced - it was the prime of autumn. The landscape was beautifully alight, the sapped leaves of mulberry trees coating the valley with a praline glaze. The river was reduced to a trickle, leaving its white, rounded stones exposed. Further on, when we reached the fields, men winnowed great piles of wheat while children played chasings in rings of hay. Donkeys trotted along, camels ambled, all saddled with ludicrously huge loads of fodder.

Pats of manure were stuck on walls to dry into fuel for the winter.

In Kunduz we took two rooms at the Ariana Hotel. After dinner, Grease was on TV with Farsi subtitles. With his eyes glued to the set, Shukra couldn’t contain his delight. He stared joyfully at the small screen as guys skidded across the floor and girls bent this way and that, their skirts flying like matador capes. ‘I like dancing,’ he said, his voice pitched high with glee. ‘I’d like to be doing this dancing.’

‘You’re Taliban. What are you going to do with this if you get back into power?’ I said,

gesturing towards the screen. He knew I meant music, dancing, television - the lot.

‘It will stay,’ he said, trying to be earnest, like he’d actually have a say in the matter. After dinner we sat around chatting about more serious topics.

‘Where does most of the Taliban’s money come from?’

‘I receive a small amount from teryak from smugglers. The biggest source of our money comes from Arabs. The Arabs give the Taliban commanders very small diamonds to keep in their pockets and sell when they need to.’

SCORED: One of the millions of poppy bulbs in Helmand that helps the Taliban pay their bills | Gregor Salmon CASH CROP: A farmer from southern Afghanistan with a crop nearly ready for harvesting | Gregor Salmon





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‘Diamonds? In Afghanistan?’ I was, to say the least, sceptical. It was only later that I learned how al-Qaeda had anticipated having its accounts frozen post-9/11 and had converted tens of millions of dollars into another stable, convenient form of currency.

***

In the morning, we took a short drive and arrived at a very comfortable home belonging to Shukra’s weapons supplier, a handsome man in his sixties named Tofan. But within thirty seconds of the interview starting, I learned I’d been sold a dud.

‘He’s not in the drug business,’ said Bashir, almost into his collar. I could tell he was in a difficult position.

‘He’s not in the drug business,’ I repeated.‘No, and he’s not a gun dealer,’ said Bashir,

avoiding my eyes.‘He’s not a gun dealer?’ I stared at Bashir,

not sure what the hell was happening. It now seemed our friend Tofan had had a change of heart.

‘He can talk about what’s going on, but he’s not part of the business,’ said Bashir.

‘Right.’I had to force myself from walking away

from the interview. But I had to keep my manners.

‘What’s going on, Bashir?’‘I think he’s nervous.’‘But he’s the guy we came for?’‘Yes.’I set my indignation aside and began to

ask my questions. For a man ‘not involved in the trade’, Tofan appeared to be quite dialled in.

The story he told resembled that of the south. The militias of several commanders were now registered as police but still did their masters’ bidding, and these gangs of untouchables ran the trade of exporting heroin to Tajikistan and bringing weapons in. They could do whatever they wanted, even daylight murder in the streets.

Local officials had complete control of the long border with Tajikistan; the drugs and guns were simply ferried across the river in small rubber boats. There were few, if any, small traders now.

‘You need the official contacts to do this business,’ he said. �

Gregor Salmon is an Australian freelance writer based in Sydney. He has written Australian publications including the Sun-Herald, Inside Sport and Readers Digest and Playboy. He spent eight months in Afghanistan in 2007 investigating every layer of the drug trade. Poppy is only available online order booktopia.com.au and gleebooks.com.au.





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Sufilicious

SufiShar-e Naw Butcher Street, Street 2, Turn right 0700-210651Open everyday 11-3 and 5-11http://www.sufi.com.af

New restaurants in town are almost always fun but it’s nice to head back to old favorites too. Sufi was the first restaurant in town to bring

top-quality Afghan cuisine to the international community and it still does it right.

Back in 2003 Sufi opened what was at the time the classiest and most romantic restaurant in town in Karte Parwan. When I first made it there, it was the first time I had Afghan cuisine at an international quality outside California. It was a revelation and a delight. Major construction in the area and a desire to be closer to more of their customers led Sufi to relocate into central Shar-e Naw in 2006 and they’ve been a much-loved spot ever since.

On a recent visit my goal was to find different things on the menu apart from the usual line-up. It was a moderate success. One of the classic frustrations in so many Kabul restaurants is the 50-50 rule. There is only a 50-50 chance they’ll have the item you first choose on the menu. If you’ve been eating in town for a while, you know to always have a choice B ready. Sufi is no exception. My first choice of dolmai morch, stuffed bell peppers was a no go, so choice B was the domai karam, stuffed cabbage. It was tasty and a bit spicy. A nice change from the usual mantu and ashak, which are both great appetizers nonetheless.

For the main course my first choice, fish kebab, was a no, so choice B was kecheri

Sometimes you have to wait and occasionally you will struggle to get a table, but ROSEMARY STASEK says Sufi is still oneof Kabul’s finest restaurants

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quoroot, mung beans cooked with milk rice and dried yogurt. I got the vegetarian version and was surprised how tasty and filling it was. This is a terrific choice for vegetarians and that got me looking at the menu for more veggie options. I have to say that Sufi may be one of the best places here for the no-meat team. Sabzi chalaw, kachalo chalaw, the hearty bean soup mashawa, pakawra, boulani, ashak, veggie soup, eggplant borani, pumpkin borani, qurooty, shoula. You can eat here often and not have the same thing twice.

Dessert kept the trend going and the first two choices of milk rice with saffron and milk rice with cardamom where both on R&R and the only option was firni. I was assured though that if I called the restaurant three hours in advance they’d make it for me my next visit. Three hours in advance? Deciding on a restaurant for the hubby and I normally involves making a choice based on which direction the car is parked in when we leave the house. Three hours is a little bit ambitious for our normal meal planning schedule.

The food at Sufi has always been some of the best in town and its thriving catering business reflects that. Sufi caters to all the big

time places if that means anything to you, but I’m recommending them because the Secret Sufi Special is one of the best options you have when you need to impress a bunch of out-of-towners at an event. I call it the Secret Sufi Special because although you can have it at the restaurant, it’s not on the menu and you can’t count on the waiter to tell you about it. If you want a massive pile of food with just about every classic Afghan dish on the menu for $16, this is the one for you.

And talking about the catering. If you’re heading to Sufi, you’ll want to hope they don’t have a big catering gig that night. The night I was there they had a 70-person Iftar for someone very important and they pulled most of the waiters off the floor to head over there. That left 2 waiters in the restaurant to serve a packed house. It took us 30 minutes to coax one of them to take our order for a main course after our appetizers. And the rest of the night wasn’t much better. Hire more cousins as catering waiters. But who am I to say how to run a restaurant. I just want good food in a nice atmosphere and Sufi has always been a place you can count on for both. �


COSTUME DRAMA: Sufi’s Arif in Afghan styleAL FRESCO: Outside dining is an added draw






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Obituary scene

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Obituary scene

Rosemaryremembered

I first met Rose in 2006. A mutual friend of friends, I found her sweet and generous company and later that year she

became partly responsible for one of the best decisions I ever made when she drove me to Tigger House and I chose my dog, Blister. I think Rose was almost as delighted as I was. The next time Rose helped me out I needed a restaurant reviewer for this magazine. Although I and my friends had done our best we were clearly outclassed when Rose came on the Scene. A passionate foody with great local knowledge, Rose was a godsend. I was aware that Rose had suffered a major health scare some time before I left Kabul in 2008, but the last time I saw her was in La Cantina. Hand in hand with her husband, I had never seen her look happier. And that is how I shall choose to remember this remarkable woman.

Andrea Busfield

Rosemary was my friend from day one when I came to Afghanistan in May 2006. She guided me, embraced me,

loved me. She was never afraid of anything and most of all Afghanistan was her home. To say goodbye to Rosemary is one of my hardest things I have to do. Rosemary, you made a difference in my life like a light in the darkest night. I will always love you and think about you and pray for you and still continue to seek guidance and share my stories with you. For me you will always live.

Shqipe Malushi

I will never forget the first time she asked me if her dog ‘Tequila’ could come over for a play date, which turned

into a regular Saturday afternoon thing where we would trot off to watch the rugby at Global Country House and leave the dogs to have a wild afternoon of fun, until all the barking became too much for the neighbours.

The night that she met Morne and you could tell from then on that they were going to be a perfect couple!

After buying La Cantina and Rosemary coming in to review the new menu and as it always is Murphy’s law, what can go wrong will go wrong! Busier than ever and service completely falling apart, then a walk out in the kitchen. Luckily she knew the chef and so forgave us our problems.

Last night of La Cantina she reminded me of the fact that we had gone to the opening together and were now at the closing together.

Alison Rhind

Rosemary Stasek was an advocate for women- especially the women in Afghanistan. She wasn’t afraid to stand

out, set an example and speak out in order to challenge the norm and customs that Afghan women face daily. Rosey went out of her way to educate, provide and lead by example programs for women. I remember Rosey telling me about how she ordered a slew of midwifery materials and was heading herself to the provinces to deliver valuable and rare training in order to teach Afghan ladies to provide this service to women going through childbirth. Rosey did this through her NGO, A Little Help, with her own sweat, tears and passion. This is just a glimpse of the wonderful programs that Rosey led to better the lives of Afghan women one woman at a time.

Carla Borges

Afghan Scene’s long serving restaurant critic, Rosemary Stasek, diedof a heart-attack last month. Here some of her friends remember thewomen’s activist who first came to Kabul in 2002






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Obituary sceneObituary scene

of events that had happened to her: from her suitcase that went to Mecca instead of New York with some rather shocking contents that thankfully customs never got to see. To the confiscation of my copy of Vogue at New Jersey Airport. Her tales of taking her beloved pup Tequila with her always started to feel more and more like shaggy dog stories. They invariably featured obtuse officials too much money passing hands, and after, a great deal of run around Rosemary getting exactly what she needed. One thing that was a feature in all the stories she told, was that she was laughing at herself, but also always showing how she won out through blocks, problems and unpredictable diversions. She fell asleep one time at a US airport, losing her bags and ended up walking home for hours half comatose. She didn’t want to disturb anyone to ask for help. There was never any self pity in her tales, and like her restaurant reviews, and her real life comments she was rarely if ever negative or critical of other people.

My last memories of Rosemary were of our joint testing of Serena’s buffet, for what was to be, unbeknownst to either of us, her last restaurant review for Scene. We were there from 11.30am to 3.30pm and I can confidentially say that she sampled almost every single dish, whilst regaling me with her latest plans. I gave up after the sushi, but she continued on sampling and sampling, and enjoying with a particular relish the deserts. We did talk of her illness, which I had known about from the first days when she woke up in South Africa without feeling in her side, but she minimized it. She said she was adjusting, and trying not to do too much. I left, once again amazed at her positive energy, her ability to focus on the future, and her tenacious way of going straight for obstacles that would put off most of us. I am happy to say that we laughed a lot that day – and she looked, I thought radiant – with a beautiful gold necklace, and a white and gold embroidered Shalwar Kamez, that she said was the first she bought, in America.

I am sure that Rosemary leaves many legacies in all our lives. I know that as time goes on I will remember and miss more and more of her inputs to mine. I hope that we can find a way to continue her fund so that even after her death it can continue to support communities in Kabul.

Rachel Wareham

one stage she had been involved in setting up the fast food joint, to the staff of Cordaid, whom she recently undertook a gender review for. Kabul and the international community in particular has lost one of its key characters, whose tenacious irrepressible energy, projects, and laughter will rarely be matched.

We knew each other since 2002, when she first arrived in Kabul with a delegation from Global Exchange – at a discussion with the group she stood out for her enthusiasm, optimism and practical sense of things needing to be done and her clear sighted way to make them happen. I immediately recognized someone who had (in her role as mayor of Mountain View, California for more than seven years) and would make a difference. After that she stayed with me at my INGO, and as well as the many suitcases laden with medicines she always brought back for the needy in Kabul, she brought her bed – as part of a container shipment of even more medicines and other aid. It seemed she intended to stay. She asked me if there was something women in the prison needed, and I said – can you renovate their living space in the prison in central Kabul? With characteristic aplomb she set about visiting the Minister of Justice and the builders, it took less than three weeks from inception to finish. It couldn’t take longer, because she had other things to do. When we returned to the minister to say it was completed he was aghast – I didn’t expect it this year he said, no one from the international community ever says they will do something and then does it. Well she said “when I say I will do something I do it.” And over the years I found out how very true that was. Rosemary never once turned down a request from me for help, whether it was to fix the computers at GTZ Gender Mainstreaming, sort out the aid to women prisoners or to pick me up from my office when I was sick. She was a trooper.

The work she did for the women’s prison is recorded in ‘Kabul in Winter’ by Ann Jones. Rosemary, like others who make up the characters in the book, was asked what name she would like – she said “my own.” So that’s what she got, the rest of us in that book bar one other all carry fictional monikers, but I am pleased to say, that you can read about Rosemary without any mask. Following the volunteer work she did for Medica Mondiale, Rosemary took up the cause of the Kabul Beauty School with passion. Her lecture tours of the States were starting to become a regular feature of her life, and she was to continue them up to this year.

Rosemary came back from her travels not just with money for vital charitable projects which she was able to channel through the fund she set up, but also with hilarious stories

40

It is a bitter irony that less than a month ago I sat down to write a recommendation letter for Rosemary to

accompany her application for a MA at the Fletcher School of Management, and now I find myself writing of her life in the past rather than the future tense.

Throughout her life, Rosemary’s charitable work for the vulnerable of Kabul meant that she engaged with widest cross section of people – she seemed eventually to know everyone here – from the US base people, where at

Rosemary was one of the most cheerful, energetic and inspired people I have ever met. She was always full of

life, ready for action and as eager as a puppy for adventure and play. She was also an extraordinarily talented, organised and determined person, the kind of woman who makes you feel like you too can do anything. I will miss her in very many ways, as a close friend in difficult circumstances, as a colleague who I had known in several countries, and as a source of extraordinary inspiration for her courage and sheer joy of life.

She loved to drive around Kabul in her own car, which very few foreigners do. She was intrepid in that way. You’d call her and say let’s meet for a coffee and she jumped into her car – it sounds like a small thing but if you live in that environment it’s not. She was always looking for way to come back to Kabul, finding new projects to do.


HAPPY TOGETHER: Rosemary and her husband Morne enjoy a meal at La Cantina

For someone form a very nice town in northern California where life is plush and comfortable to come to a place like Kabul, where nothing is easy, says a great deal about her.

Pamela Constable




Afghan Scene October 2009Book sceneBook scene

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“I have to put in a quick word in defense of Baba G. Baba G is, of course, a fictional character but were he not I can guarantee you that if he drank 11 beers in one night there is no way he would let a guy he admires and respects as much as he does Brad find all empties. Baba G would spread them around like frigging easter eggs so no one guy could get the evidence and put 2 and 2 together. Baba G is way too sneaky to be caught operating outside the parameters of normal social mores – of that I am certain.”

Yeah, Tim. Right.For all that is an action-packed page-

turner, I suspect that those who will enjoy “The Apostle” most are other US patriots.

I did however enjoy Harvath’s dig at the CIA:“I think the CIA is trying to kill me,” replied a

voice from Northern Virginia.Harvath laughed: “Death by PowerPoint?”

“Worse,” said the voice. “Mandatory sensitivity training. They’re killing us with kindness.”

Only CIA , thought Harvath, would waste time and money putting its para-military operatives through sensitivity training. If it wasn’t so sad, it might actually have been funny. “My tax dollars at work.”

“Look at it this way,” the voice stated. “When I eventually kill bin Laden, I’ll be able to do it while embracing all of the differences between our cultures that make us both unique and special.”

Although The Apostle is the 8th book in the Scot Harvath series, it is the first one I’ve read. It was a good read, and if I can get past Harvath’s view that NGO workers are “pot smoking hippies,” I’ll probably read more. �

ROSE TAYLOR sorts the fact from the fiction in an enjoyable tale of kidnap, ransom and rescue

Brad Thor is a great name for a thriller writer spinning yarns about American patriots hunting down terrorists in Afghanistan. Brad conjures up corn-

fed, all-American wholesomeness, while Thor reeks of an indestructible viking superhero.

Brad Thor sounds like he could be the star of his own books.

But no. The hero of “The Apostle” is Scot Harvath, a former counterterrorism operative who is hired by a politically-connected mother to find her daughter, who has been kidnapped in Afghanistan.

The story follows Harvath from Washington DC to Kabul, Nangarhar and Kandahar as he undertakes an ill-advised rescue plan to break into Pul-e Charki prison and free the al-Qaeda mastermind the kidnappers demand as ransom.

“The Apostle” is a fun and easy read but what makes it stand out is the quality of the Thor’s research. The author visited Afghanistan in the winter of 2008 and his time here paid off. And for readers who know Afghanistan well

there is the added enjoyment of being able to identify places, characters and situations.

Anyone who has spent time in Jalalabad, will immediately recognize the fictional Shangri-La guest house as the Taj Mahal and Baba G (Harvath’s sidekick) as a certain Mr Tim Lynch (who oversees the Taj).

A description of the Shangri-La: Baba G “saw the compound as a great money-making opportunity and turned it into a guesthouse, complete with free WiFi access. Its garden tiki bar was the only international bar in the region and did a hell of a Thursday night business.”

Mr Lynch was very quick to deny any likeness to Baba G who is caught over-indulging, in a post on his blog where, incidentally, he writes as Baba T:

Afghanyarns

Ripping

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v

46

Party scene

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Be sceneShare your event or party pics with Aghan Scene. email [email protected]

SHAWLY NOT?: Emily looks quizzical with Tom and Gemmaat the AP soiree


www.afghanscene.comwww.afghanscene.com


TETE A TETE: Frenchies Clem and Rudolph at Holly’s birthday

MR FIX IT: Journo Nur kicks back after hours

NETWORK BLUES: CNN dream team Atia and Kevin Flower at the AP bash

TALK LIKE AN EGYPTIAN: Ben rates Sarah’s Cleopatra crop

CHEEKY GIRLS: Scene lovelies Karen and Fotini

ENGARDE: L’Atmo’s Esmat greets gun toting customers

ROAL’D OVER: Dahls surrounded at her party by Anna, Jon, Jerome and Leslie

NEWS TO ME: Kabul charmer Jules C chats to the lovely Elise

Afghan Scene October 2009 Afghan Scene Ocotber 2009

STEVIE’S WONDER: Tim strikes a chord wih Sarahat a fancy dress bash





OUT FOXED: Network news hounds Conor and Greg out on the town in election week

EYES WIDE OPEN: Julian, Nick and James at Coghlan’s leaving bash ENTENT UNFORGETTABLE: Herve, Jerome and Aurelia

AUTUMN LEAVERS: Vianni and Ridwan prepare to depart

REID ALL ABOUT IT: Scene lovelies Rachel and Leslie

MAD HATTER: Kabul lothario Coggers at his own farewell

KABUL NOT AT WORK: David and Reuters head honcho Peter relax at Chez Straz

KABUL SWEETHEARTS: Timur and Anna at Holly’s birthday

HACK AND FLACK: Journo Jon and US embassy spokeswoman Erin at the AP bash

HER INDOORS: Mrs Jason Straziuso keeps a hold of her husband at the AP party

PNHOM DE GUERRE: War corrs Ben and Michael fresh in from Cambodia

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www.afghanscene.comwww.afghanscene.com Afghan Scene October 2009






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BOYS FROM THE BEEB: Lady J feels the squeeze between BBC producer Richard and bureau chief Ian

FOR US THE BORE IS OVER: Kabul quitters Jo ‘Buckers’ Buckley and Julie Fossler flank Ash Sweeting

IF IT WASN’T FOR HER WE’D ALL BE SPEAKING ARGENTINIAN: Maggie’s men Nick and George welcome Tom back to London

LADIES NIGHT: Charlotte, Sophie and Paula pose for the camera



www.afghanscene.comwww.afghanscene.com Afghan Scene October 2009


INDY PEOPLE: Journo Kim with Scene’s favourite Dahls

REELING: French favourite Aurelia with Olivier at Tom’s farewell

TOP SNAPPER: Renowned photographer Tyler Hicks and Jason P Howe at the AP party

TIMES SQUARES: FT man Matt with Times of London supremo Jeremy at Tom’s send off

VIVE LE PRESS: Journos Jean-Pierre Perrin and Luc at Tom’s farewell

BOWLED OVER: Kabul lifers Belinda and Leslie smile at Tom’s leaving party





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55

Blog scene

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Blog scene

I blog,therefore I am

for opinions on counterinsurgency strategy, women’s rights issues and if I would “like to see photos of other singles in [my] area.”

But in addition to being talented, handsome and modest, I am also magnanimous. Though highly unlikely, there may be one of you out there, holding this magazine in your trembling, kabab besotted hands, who, like me, has the skill and great hair necessary to become a global blogging phenom. To this end, I have composed a brief list of how to’s, indispensable for anyone making a foray into the frenzied digital journalism landscape known as “The Blogosphere.”

About three months ago I was hired by a New York based media company called True/Slant to blog about Afghanistan for their website. These people were foolish

enough to pay me, and I rewarded their naiveté by creating Afghan Desk (www.trueslant.com/pjtobia), a site where I steal stories from wire services and add off-the-record quotes from the anonymous sources in my head. In the trade, this is known as “trenchant analysis.”

After launching Afghan Desk (www.trueslant.com/pjtobia), I immediately became a worldwide commentator of great importance. I receive dozens of emails daily from my adoring public. They ask

the only Afghans you come in contact with are the ones who bring you dinner. You have an understanding that surpasses experience because you live here! After enough insults, the big-league blogger will be forced to rebut your increasingly hysterical ranting and (cha-ching!) link to your nascent blog-site. Next, just sit back and watch the page-views climb while selecting your next target, which in no way should be Afghan Desk (www.trueslant.com/pjtobia).

3. Self Promotion and Afghan Desk(www.trueslant.com/pjtobia)

Until you have completed Step 2, above, nobody will have any idea who you are. The phenomenon that is Afghan Desk (www.trueslant.com/pjtobia) needed little by way of self promotion, because it is so excellent. Still, Afghan Desk (www.truslant.com/pjtobia) doesn’t market itself, and on rare occasions I’m forced to post links to Afghan Desk (www.trueslant.com/pjtobia) on my Facebook page, or write for low-quality expat rags that few people read in order to boost readership at Afghan Desk (www.trueslant.com/pjtobia).

4. Ignore So Called “Legitimate Journalists”

These guys are losers. They walk around all high and mighty with their “bureaus” and “expense accounts” and “real jobs,” generally looking askance at those of us on the cutting edge of media’s digital rebirth. They’re jealous and cranky because we put their work on our blogs without attribution. Lame. There’s this one guy in particular, I’ll call him Jon Moon. He’s one of these arrogant British types, and works for

1. People Are Stupid And Will Believe Anything

I really can’t overstate this fact. Your average blog reader is more interested in pictures of cats dressed like Hamid Karzai (so cute!) than actual news and information about Hamid Karzai. Unless you’re one of those unbearably dull policy wonks or do-gooding NGO hippies, this will work to your advantage. True story: I once posted a series of pictures at Afghan Desk (www.trueslant.com/pjtobia) of Afghan houses. Houses, people. In a matter of hours this garnered about 25,000 hits. The piece I wrote about election fraud, for which I actually made phone calls and attended press conferences? Or the video I posted of a colleague and I nearly dying in a gun fight? I think my mom read those. Maybe.

The point is, people like pretty pictures and light-hearted fare. Liven up that post about famine or the opium trade with some celebrity gossip or sports scores. Have fun with it! Your readers will thank you, because they don’t know better.

2. Pick a Fight

In prison, the surest way to gain respect is to walk up to the biggest, baddest customer on your cell-block and stab him (or her) in the abdomen with a homemade shank. In the prison yard that is the blogosphere, similar rules apply. Find a blogger with a large following, say, a million hits per day. Wait till he or she writes about Afghanistan and BANG! Stab them with the proverbial sharpened toothbrush. Write post after post exposing their alleged ignorance and explaining that unlike you, the pro-blogger has never lived here. Never mind the fact that you live in an armed compound and

Wannabe journalist PJ TOBIA gives Scene some tips onmaking it in the blogosphere




Afghan Scene October 2009Cartoon scene

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place, so ignore them at all costs.

There you have it, four simple steps to blog stardom. While I’m not optimistic about your chances of being as successful as I, I can now sleep at night knowing that I have tried to bring light to the darkness of your existence. See you on the web! (At Afghan Desk, www.trueslant.com/pjtobia). �

a Fleet St. paper. He seems unaware that nobody really reads newspapers anymore and, despite my international success, chooses to constantly deride the noble and fast growing blog community. If I listened to guys like Moon, where would I be? Probably gainfully employed at a respected news agency. But that’s not the point. The point is, taking the best advice of successful news professionals is the fastest way to never start a blog in the first

Blog scene

P.J. Tobia is a freelance journalist and blogger at Afghan Desk (trueslant.com/pjtobia). his work has appeared in The Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, and the Philadelphia Inquirer, but in never anywhere as esteemed as Afghan Scene. Editor’s note: Another great advantage of blogs is there’s no real word limit and no such thing as deadlines. This article was supposed to be 150 words in the September edition.





56

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Farewell scene

BritishBestof

People said he would never leave but Kabul survivor TOM COGHLAN has finally moved to London

Best of times?

The years 2004 to 2006 were extraordinary times to be a young, struggling journalist in Afghanistan. We went where we wanted and did what we wanted, local people welcomed us and treated us with extraordinary hospitality and though it was dangerous enough to boast about, it wasn’t too dangerous.

I was able to visit all but four of Afghanistan’s provinces and to fall in love with a bleak but

striking country and its people. I never knew more about Afghanistan than on the day I arrived. Since then I’ve just been getting confused.

Worst of times?

In 2006 my driver and friend Sayed Agha was murdered and I’ve lost count of the number of Afghans I’ve known since who have been killed.That goes for a growing number of Western soldiers too. War can be exciting and fun, and I





63

Farewell scene

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Farewell scene

COMMANDO BLAGGER: Coggers in the the Kevlar, preparing tales of derring do, with which to woo LADIES’ KNIGHT: Costumed Coghlan makes shapes for the ladies

guess that is some of what pulls us all to Kabul if we’re honest, but these days it’s getting a lot less fun and all rather grimly war-like.

What will you miss the most?

I will miss the legion of heroes I was lucky enough to meet; extraordinary people both Afghan and expat. I’ve made friends I’ll take to the grave (which hopefully won’t be anytime soon). I’d like to single out my comrades at Altai Consulting for their unflinching determination to make Kabul a place of beauty as well as industry: that’s female, French beauty which I pursued relentlessly and largely fruitlessly for five years.

The expat life in Kabul is a sort of perpetual university freshers week and I will miss those Kabul parties where the drink has run out but

the dancefloor is still rammed and the sound system is so weak that you can hear your fellow dancers’ breathing.

Finally I will miss the wisdom, bravery and above all the wit of the Afghan journalists I have worked with. I don’t know how Afghans keep laughing amid the chaos, but they do and I love them for it.

What will you miss the least?

I think driving brings out the very worst in Afghan society. On Afghan roads drivers routinely display a complete failure to comprehend that if you are considerate to one another, wait for another car to go first, stay on your side of the road, display a modicum of patience, everyone will get to their destination more quickly. I have ground my teeth through

five hour traffic jams on mountain roads caused by nothing more than ego, stupidity and thebrainless decision to start driving down the wrong side of the road if your side is stationary. As an Englishman, I see orderly queues as the benchmark of a functioning society and though this sounds pompous, I’m still too pissed off to care.

Favourite place in Afghanistan?

I’m torn between Helmand and L’Atmosphere...

L’Atmosphere has been a place of unremittingly poor food and sublime good times. I arrived the week it opened and was there through many ofits finest and funniest moments. I stood shoulder to shoulder with Marc Victor during his immortal 24-hour hunger strike against the imposition of retroactive taxation by the

Ministry of Finance and wiled away many, many great evenings I can’t remember, so I must havebeen there.

As for Helmand, it’s an awful place of heat and dust and war and despair, but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

What happens next?

I am working in London on The Times newspaper covering Defence. This means that I still have my eyes firmly fixed on all things Afghan whilst enjoying all the cultural riches and amenities of a fading European Great Power. I raise a frothing pint of tepid English ale to my old comrades and wish you all the very best of British luck.

Cheers.





64

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Kabul Serena HotelFroshgah Streetwww.serenahotels.comTel: 0799 654 000

Safi Landmark Hotel & SuitesCharahi Ansariwww.safilandmarkhotelsuites.comTel: 0202 203 131

The Inter Continental HotelBaghe Bala Roadwww.intercontinentalkabul.comTel: 0202 201 321

Gandamack LodgeSherpur Squarewww.gandamacklodge.co.ukTel: 0700 276 937

Mustafa HotelCharahi Sadaratwww.mustafahotel.comTel: 070 276 021

Heetal Plaza HotelStreet 14, Wazir Akbar Khanwww.heetal.comTel: 0799 167 824, 0799 159 697

UNICA Guest HouseKolola Pushta, oppositeRoyal Mattress Tel: 0797 676 357

The International ClubHaji Yaqoob Square, Street 3, Shar-e Naw. Tel: 0774 763 858

Golden Star HotelCharrhay Haji Yaqoob,Shar-e Naw. www.kabulgolden-starhotel.comTel: 0799 333 088, 0799 557 281

Roshan HotelCharaye Turabaz Khan,Shar-e Naw.Tel: 0799 335 424

Restaurants

DeliveryEasyfoodDelivers from any restaurant to your homewww.easyfood.afTel: 0796 555 000, 0796 555 001

AfghanRumiQala-e Fatullah Main Rd, between Streets 5 & 6Tel: 0799 557 021

SufiMuslim Street, Shar-e Nawwww.sufi.com.af Tel: 0774 212 256, 0700 210 651

Herat RestaurantShar-e Naw, main road,Diagonally opposite Cinema Park

Khosha RestaurantAbove the Golden Star Hotel. Tel: 0799 888 999

Mixed/WesternThe LoungeLane 2, left, off Street 15, Wazir Akbar Khan. Tel: 0796 174 718, 0700 037 634

Fat Man/What-a-Burger CafeWazir Akbar Khan, main road, On the bend near Masoud Circle Tel: 0700 298 301, 0777 151 510

L’AtmosphereStreet 4, TaimaniTel: 0798 224 982, 0798 413 872

Flower Street CaféStreet 2, Qala-e Fatullah.Tel: 0700 293 124, 0799 356 319

Cabul Coffeehouse & CaféStreet 6, on the left, Qale-e Fat-ullah Tel: 0752 005 275

Le BistroOne street up from Chicken Street, Behind the MOI,Shar-e Naw Tel: 0799-598852

Red Hot Sizzlin’ SteakhouseDistrict 16, Macroyan 1, Nader Hill Area Tel: 0799 733 468

Le Pelican Cafe du KabulDarulaman Road, almostopposite the Russian Embassy.Bright orange guard box.

Tex MexLa CantinaThird left off Butcher St,Shar-e NawTel: 0798 271 915

LebaneseTaverne du LibanStreet 15, Lane 3, Wazir Akbar Khan Tel: 0799 828 376

The GrillStreet 15, Wazir Akbar Khan.Tel: 0799 818 283,0799 792 879

Cedar HouseBehind Kabul City Centre, Shar-e Naw Tel: 0799-121412

TurkishIstanbulMain road, on the left, between Massoud Circle Jalalabad Road Roundabout. Tel: 0799-407818

IranianShandizPakistan Embassy Street, off Street 14 Wazir Akbar KhanTel: 0799-342928

Afghan Scene August 2009

Italian/PizzaEverest PizzaStreet 10, Wazir Akbar Khanwww.everestpizza.comTel: 0700 263 636, 0779 317 979BoccaccioStreet 10, Wazir Akbar KhanTel: 0799 200 600

Bella ItaliaStreet 14, Wazir Akbar KhanTel: 0799 600 666

Springfield RestaurantLane 3, Street 15,Wazir Akbar Khan Tel: 0799 001 520

IndianNamasteStreet 15, Wazir Akbar Khan,Between lanes 2 and 3 on the right. Tel: 0772 011 120

Delhi DarbarShar-e Naw, close to UK Sports Tel: 0799 324 899

Anar RestaurantLane 3, Street 14,Wazir Akbar KhanTel: 0799 567 291

ChineseGolden Key SeafoodRestaurantLane 4, Street 13, Wazir Akbar Khan. Tel: 0799 002 800, 0799 343 319

ThaiMai ThaiHouse 38, Lane 2, Street 15, Wazir Akbar Khan Tel:0796 423 040

KoreanNew WorldBetween Charayi Haji Yacub and Charayi Ansari, on the right. Shar-e Naw. Tel: 0799 199 509

Supermarkets, Grocers & Butchers

A-OneBottom of Shar-e Naw Park

ChelseaShar-e Naw main road, opposite Kabul Bank

SpinneysWazir Akbar Khan, opposite British Embassy

FinestWazir Akbar Khan Roundabout

Fat Man ForestWazir Akbar Khan, main road.

Enyat Modern ButcherQala-e Fatullah main road,Near street four

ATMs

Kabul City Centre, Shar-e Naw (AIB

AIB Main Office, Opposite Camp Egg-ers (AIB)

AIB Shar-e Naw Branch, next to Chelsea Supermarket (AIB)

HQ ISAF, Outside Cianos Pizzeria, US Embassy Street (AIB)

KAIA Military Airbase, Outside Cianos Pizzeria, Airport (AIB)

Finest Supermarket, Wazir Akbar Khan (AIB)

World Bank Guard Hut, Street 15 Wazir Akbar Khan (Standard Chartered)

Standard Chartered Branch, Street 10, Wazir Akbar Khan (Standard Chartered)

Want to get on the AfghanEssentials list of places to eatand sleep?Contact [email protected]

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asm october 2009

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