My posts will be out of chronological order because of my internet access.
They just announced my flight for Kabul is boarding. I am in the Dubai Airport, Terminal I, where it is always $9 beer night! Alas, where I am going a beer could cost you much more than that. It is amazing, though, how quickly you don't miss alcohol.
I'll post some photos of the the terminal. It is an amazing place. Dubai happens to be placed so that by transferring here you can get to every major population center in the world with one transfer. The catch is the flights are so long that the transfer will usually be in the middle of the night. It is 2:30 AM and the place is busier than it was in morning when I arrived. It is also the best way to get from Asia and Africa to the Western world and one of the only free trade zones in the third world so just sitting and watching people go by is like seeing a random sample of all the people on the planet go by every 15 minutes.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Back to Afghanistan!
I am going back to Afghanistan for the fourth wave of our survey. I will try to update everyday but my internet access is a bit spotty at times.
The trip this time was arranged on the fly as visa problems kept me from buying my ticket till the last minute. Once the flight started we were delayed leaving Atlanta for four hours which necessitated a re-routing of the whole flight through Paris and on to Emirates Airline, which, I am both happy and relieved to report, does offer alcohol on its international flights.
I got to see the Paris Airport for a second time. Coming all the way to Paris and only seeing the airport is a tad depressing. However, it did remind me how beautiful the facility is. Also, nothing blew up this time; last trip a bomb was found that the authorities had to detonate in the airport.
The airport is really beautiful, even though it is all done in a ultra modern style that I don't usually like. There are no parts that are not meant to be aesthetically pleasing. Even the back stairways are meant to be pleasing to the eye.
This trip I scheduled 2 nights in Dubai before the final leg of the trip to Afghanistan. This turns out to have been a good move given the delay I encountered on the Jackson-Dubai part of the trip. I have slept for 10 hours in my hotel room.
It proved impossible to arrange transport from the airport to the Hotel from the Hotwire website. As it turned out the taxi (or, rather, the guy that has a car and speaks English) that I found was cheaper than the rate the Hotel was going to charge me anyway.
I would like post some photos but I can't get them from the iPhone to the Blogspot website. I was so clever to buy Apple, the brand famous for its ability to get apps to work together, as long as none of those apps were foolish enough to be designed or sold by someone other than APPLE!!!!!
Thanks, Steve!
The trip this time was arranged on the fly as visa problems kept me from buying my ticket till the last minute. Once the flight started we were delayed leaving Atlanta for four hours which necessitated a re-routing of the whole flight through Paris and on to Emirates Airline, which, I am both happy and relieved to report, does offer alcohol on its international flights.
I got to see the Paris Airport for a second time. Coming all the way to Paris and only seeing the airport is a tad depressing. However, it did remind me how beautiful the facility is. Also, nothing blew up this time; last trip a bomb was found that the authorities had to detonate in the airport.
The airport is really beautiful, even though it is all done in a ultra modern style that I don't usually like. There are no parts that are not meant to be aesthetically pleasing. Even the back stairways are meant to be pleasing to the eye.
This trip I scheduled 2 nights in Dubai before the final leg of the trip to Afghanistan. This turns out to have been a good move given the delay I encountered on the Jackson-Dubai part of the trip. I have slept for 10 hours in my hotel room.
It proved impossible to arrange transport from the airport to the Hotel from the Hotwire website. As it turned out the taxi (or, rather, the guy that has a car and speaks English) that I found was cheaper than the rate the Hotel was going to charge me anyway.
I would like post some photos but I can't get them from the iPhone to the Blogspot website. I was so clever to buy Apple, the brand famous for its ability to get apps to work together, as long as none of those apps were foolish enough to be designed or sold by someone other than APPLE!!!!!
Thanks, Steve!
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