Tourism Afghanistan?

Robert Pelton's column in the November "National Geographic Adventure" magazine recommends Afghanistan as a tourism destination, which seems feckless, reckless, and premature to me.

He says the north is mostly safe, the south mostly unsafe, and Kabul okay, but one should have a private car there after dark. This is all true, but fails to take some critical issues into account. First, the country is still quite volatile, and the security situation in the "safe" areas can and does change in the blink of an eye. Second, it's difficult to get good information to make security decisions with - even more difficult if you're there short-term and only have one source of info to rely upon. Without a strong information network, it would be all too easy to walk into a dicey situation. And finally, Pelton, being a man, hasn't seemed to have given much consideration to what it's like for women to travel around Afghanistan: bad. It's doable, sort of safe with precautions, but the precautions necessary don't make travel much fun. Don't get me wrong, there are some foreign women functioning in the wilds of Afghanistan, but they aren't tourists, and I wouldn't want to put up with the crap they have to.

Pelton also blithely says that friendly natives will guide you around the occasional landmine. This assumes that a) the friendly natives know where all the mines are, b) the natives are actually friendly, and c) the mines haven't moved. Yes, erosion and mudslides can cause landmines to move. No, there is no "map" of where the mines are. I don't fret about mines in the urban areas (though a child stepped on one in Kabul this spring), but I certainly wouldn't trek through open areas.

"Adventure" and "conflict" tourists are starting to come to Afghanistan. But I wish National Geographic would be more responsible with their recommendations and be more honest regarding the risks involved in such travel.

Pakistan earthquake

I received word from my friends and colleagues in Islamabad that they were alive and well. Apparently, the "only" serious damage to Islamabad was the collapse of a ten-story apartment building. I'm relieved for my friends, but the scenes from the disputed Kashmir, sandwiched in the mountains between Pakistan and India, are another story.

I'm not sure how the disaster will affect my work there. I'm scheduled to return on November 1st, with my time until Christmas split between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The bank I was to work with had many clients in the northern areas, and if these areas were dramatically affected by the quake, the bank may prefer to deal with that situation than work with me on new projects. If so, there's lots of work for me in Kabul.

I have to say though, I'm getting tired of all the backing and forthing. International travel is hard on the body and spirit. I just want to be somewhere.

My new eBook, soon to be available on SphinxBooks.com!

Half Moon Bay, California

Halloween Town

Half Moon Bay is about as close to Halloween Town as you can get in California, and I spent the weekend there, hiking beneath the redwoods on the Purisima Creek trail and strolling through misty pumpkin patches.

My heart actually started pounding as I unwrapped that first (but not last) burrito. And it was all I could do to keep from skipping through the local Target's Halloween "Bootique." Drinking water from the tap is nice too, along with water pressure and 24-hour electricity. But what moves me the most is just watching the fog roll over the green hillsides.

It's good to be home.