DAY 78 - KANDAHAR

78) TUESDAY, 13 SEPTEMBER 1977 : 0KMS. - KANDAHAR

A relaxing day again, after breakfast,  we went to the bazaar and look around…

KANDAHAR - Photo : Wil on Flick / photopedia.com (Bing images search)

 

KANDAHAR - Photo : Ludo Kuipers / worldpics.com.au (Bing images search)

"A street market in the bazaar of Kandahar. Kebabs are prepared."


http://ozoutback.com.au/Afghanistan/kandahar/

DAY 77 - KANDAHAR

77) MONDAY, 12 SEPTEMBER 1977 : 0KMS. - KANDAHAR

We went to survey the market and the city but it seemed not much interesting.

KANDAHAR - Photo : kenraggio.com / Bing images search

What I have seen in the market were several  shops selling pomegranates because the city  of KANDAHAR  was a center of production and trade of pomegranate in  AFGHANISTAN . So it was not surprising to see  pomegranate trees  in the parking area where we stayed.

Sorting pomegranates - Photo : afghanistan.usaid.gov / Bing images search

"Everybody who knows fruit knows that KANDAHAR pomegranates are the best."


FROM WORLDPICS.COM.AU/AFGHANISTAN

http://ozoutback.com.au/Afghanistan/kandahar/


"The bustling sidewalks of Kandahar with its open-fronted shops. Although very much a man's world, a group of women is walking past. Donkey transport is very common."

KANDAHAR - Photo : Ludo Kuipers / worldpics.com.au / Bing images search

 

DAY 76 - KANDAHAR

76) SUNDAY, 11 SEPTEMBER 1977 : 112KMS. - KANDAHAR

Got up relatively early in the morning because OMAR, our Afghan host  had to go to open his shop. Last night we did not sleep well as we were worried  about our campervan, parked outside.  I heard  dogs barking and loud noises as well as vehicle sounds so we got up to have a look at our campervan.  Normally we would not leave our campervan at night without our presence  for a long time in public because if anything happens to our campervan  it would mean that our dream to travel further would end up. We came back to sleep after rechecking our campervan. We were told later on that people  woke up after midnight to cook food and eat before daybreak . It was during the fasting period “Ramadan”.

Desert - Photo : seekeroftheredmist.com / Bing images search

In the morning, after walking around the market,  we  said goodbye to  Omar and  departed to  KANDAHAR , not far from  GIRISHK ( about  112 kms.)   The scenery along the roadsides was desert .  But it was much better than yesterday as we saw houses  and  greeneries  at the horizon as there is a river flowing  through.

KANDAHAR - Photo : Dic Kiefern / Bing images search

We arrived KANDAHAR in the afternoon.  Because there was no parking  facility available for our camping and we could not find a proper parking  area in the city, we chose to park our campervan overnight at the hotel ground,  which was not far from the city center.  

Photo : Bing images search

There were  pomegranate trees with some fruits  where we parked.

DAY 75 - GIRISHK

75) SATURDAY, 10 SEPTEMBER 1977 : 451KMS. - GIRISHK

We left HERAT about 11:00 am along the Asian Highway through  AZIZABAD .  On both sides of the road was desert  and no sight of any tree, except  grass bushes looking like dry thorns .  On some parts there were rock mountains. We passed DELARAM,  an Oasis . Not far from the city area, we saw  tents of Nomads  and their camels grazing in the distance.

Desert oasis - Photo : panoramio.com / Bing images search

From DELARAM to GIRISHK, it is desert area  and  it was very windy  but not very hot. On the right side of the road from DILARAM to GIRISHK, it is an unexplored desert  as stated in ESCAP 's Asian Highway Map 1975.

Desert - Photo : Bing images search

We did not see any tree nor house and people along the way. It seemed that we were driving alone on the road, once in a while there was a car coming from the opposite  direction on the other side of the road.

 

Deserted desert - Photo : inpattayanow.com / Bing images search

The road was almost deserted.  It was nearly sunsetting time before arriving GIRISHK that the atmosphere  made me feel  unreasonably homesick .

 

Sunsetting in the desert - Photo - Karl Bunyan / Bing images search

We arrived GIRISHK in the evening. It seemed to be a large oasis in the desert.  There is a  river running through it.   

Photo : Jetson Nguyen (thephotoforum.com) / Bing images search

Here again, we had made friends with an Afghan, earning his living by dyeing fabric and yarn for carpet woven in the bazaar, at a restaurant .  With his kind hospitality, he invited us to stay in his home(again), which was  a simple built house of mud mixed with hay as construction materials.