Five Go Mad In Kabul.

[camrogers]

I just got back from having dinner with/interviewing Neil Grant, the Australian children's author who spent three-and-a-half weeks in Afghanistan on an Australia Council grant to research and finish a novel. Utterly fascinating. I'm never bored with travelers. He had the time of his life. There's no restrictions on travel to the country, though the Australian government advises against it. He observed a few self-imposed rules: he never ate at the same place twice at the same time, assessed the place week-by-week in the leadup to leaving, made ties with the Couchsurfing Ambassador for Kabul, grew a beard, pre-ordered taxis late at night to minimise the risk of a kidnapping, carried photocopies of his passport to give to officials (to protect the original), and avoided hiring armed guards to minimise his profile (which meant he could visit markets and whatnot fairly incognito). The need for armed guards is a myth, actually. Apparently the biggest risk late at night is falling into an open drain. That said, 30km outside Kabul just isn't safe. He wrote a will and letters before leaving, as well as reading up on what occurs during an attack, after an IED detonation, and kidnapping. Actually, so have I. And then there's the common sense stuff, like don't step off a path in rural Afghanistan (white rocks signify mines nearby, red rocks signify mine beneath.)

Oddly, in the early days, all his friends thought he was insane. He heads back in a few months I think.

Very cool guy, very easy to talk to. May possibly do a proper interview with him either for the 1000 Pencils project or on him specifically. Depends how it shakes out with regard to the release date of his book, etc.

Afghanistan obviously isn't a tourist mecca, but the perception of the current state of the country is a little off... which is to be expected.

That said I still don't have plans to visit Afghanistan necessarily. This is all info gathering toward some nebulous end in a general direction. If there's a story, or a need for research, I'll go.

Before I left for dinner I got an email from an editor at Epicure. They want to see the Tallinn article, with photos. So no sleep for me 'til I get it polished and sent. Which means I'll be useless tomorrow.

Which means if you're one of the people I'm meant to be seeing... sorry. You may get a mid-morning text from me in a pikey vein.

No idea if they'll like the article, but hey at least they're asking.