And so my second trip to Afghanistan came to an end. Unlike the previous year, when I ended up crying most of the flight to Germany, I felt like the door was wide open and I could always return. Introduction Admiral’s Club Charles De Gaulle Airport, Paris British Airways Business […]
Tag: travel
Trip report: Northern Afghanistan (2012)
While I’d already toured part of Northern Afghanistan in 2011, I was thrilled to get a chance to visit a few more provinces. My uncles picked us up and we spent the day in three towns (Charikar, Kohistan, Qarabagh) across three provinces (Parwan, Kapisa, Kabul). Introduction Admiral’s Club Charles De Gaulle Airport, […]
Trip report: Arghandeh, Afghanistan (2012)
Arghandeh is a tiny village located in the Paghman district. Every house is fortified and there might only be a few hundred residents. At one point, a river flowed through the town. My family owned much of the property in front of the river, but it has since dried up […]
Trip report: Paghman, Afghanistan (2012)
Paghman is a town of 120,000 residents, though it seems much smaller than that. It was home to several notable historical figures, including King Amanullah Khan, President Hafizullah Amin, and Governor Abdullah Wardak. Paghman served as a popular vacation spot for the wealthy of Kabul, and I understand why. It boasts […]
Finally a great TripAlertz redemption!
I joined TripAlertz over a year ago and recently had $25 worth of trip cash expire on me. Though they often have decent hotels in San Francisco, New York, Vegas, I never found a great property worth redeeming my Trip Cash for. Nor do I generally find the “deals” to […]
Trip report: Qargha, Afghanistan (2012)
Qargha is about five miles from Kabul, but takes 20 minutes to reach because of traffic in the city. It’s a very peaceful little town with a large lake and reservoir. The entrance to Qargha is sponsored by Azizi Bank. No kidding – it actually says “Welcome to Qargha”, surrounded […]
Trip report: Kabul, Afghanistan (2012)
Our trip to Kabul this time around got off to a bad start. First, I got sick as soon as we arrived. It took me out for the next three days, delaying our plans. Originally, we had planned on staying in Kabul for 2-3 days, then off to Herat for […]
Afghanistan (2011) Part 2: Northern Afghanistan
The first stop on our tour of Northern Afghanistan was Charikar, the capital of Parwan Province. Parwan province was actually founded by Alexander the Great in 329 BC, as his Alexandria of the Caucuses. Introduction Dubai Afghanistan (2011) Part 1: Kabul On the way to Charikar, we drove past a […]
Trip report: Afghanistan (2011) Part 1: Kabul
Our flight to Kabul was on Ariana Airlines, which is Afghanistan’s national carrier, operated by the government. Most of their planes are in shambles and they are no longer allowed to operate in Europe. Maybe I had my rose-colored glasses on, but my experience was great. First, we were upgraded […]
Free points, travel and a little extra cash
This past weekend I wrote about a way to truly earn free points and travel. There was an unidentified prize for anyone who correctly guessed it. While there were a few good guesses, unfortunately nobody got it right. It wasn’t fair, since I gave practically no clues in an effort […]