Posted on 12/31/2001 11:00:54 PM PST by nimc
THE colossal Buddhas of Bamiyan are destroyed, the contents of the Kabul Museum have been smashed and looted, and the countryside is peppered with unmarked minefields - but Afghanistan is preparing to receive tourists once again.
Thirty years ago, in the days of King Zahir Shah, Afghanistan was an exotic destination for intrepid hippies and lovers of archaeology who came to admire its rich treasures of antiquity.
With thoughts now turning towards rebuilding a shattered nation the new interim government has appointed a minister of tourism - Abdul Rehman - and a committee dedicated to luring back dollar-laden travellers from the West.
There is much work to do. The Afghan Tourist Office in Kabul yesterday remained firmly locked, the windows of the upstairs offices patched up with plastic sheeting.
In an adjacent compound the buses that once ferried tourists around the city were lying on their sides, riddled with bullet holes.
Their once smart blue and white livery was faintly visible beyond the layers of rust. Most of Kabul's hotels, including the supposedly five-star Inter-Continental have no running water, unreliable electricity and broken windows. The airport runway has been destroyed by American bombs.
But the authorities remain optimistic. Plans have been announced to rebuild the great Buddhas, and according to the ministry of tourism the airport will reopen in a week's time. However, the only guidebooks on sale in the bookshop of the bomb-damaged Inter-Continental are those left over from the 1970s.
They cover an alluring, forgotten city full of gardens and fruit groves, before a decade of civil war reduced vast tracts of the city to rubble.
The Historical Guide to Kabul (1972) describes the four-mile-long avenue that runs past the former Soviet embassy to the great palace of Darulaman, built by King Amanullah in the early years of the last century.
"The valley of Chahrdeh retains much of its original pastoral beauty," says the guide. "Picturesque walled castles, cultivated fields, poplar groves and herds of sheep and goats alternate with the city architecture . . ." Not a single word of that description still applies.
The only animals on view are mangy dogs on the street, the poplar groves have long since disappeared and the embassy is a stinking home to thousands of refugees.
As for the spectacular domed palace, last used as home for the defence ministry in the early 1970s, only twisted steel and blasted masonry remain.
An old man with a white beard, wobbling by on his bicycle, stopped to recall the days when he worked as a carpenter at the palace.
Pointing at the cratered pathways that once wound through formal gardens, he said: "There were many flowers and trees. People came for picnics. But when the war came there was nothing any more."
Happy West Coast New Year to you!
These guys won't let a few mines bother them in their quest for nirvana. They will go tiptoeing thru the minefields, singing aquarius off-key, and looking for the ultimate high. Long live Browne.
BOOM! There goes Chelsea. Bill will need a little ass-kicking to keep moving.
Hillary with her heavy ankles will set off the whole field. KA-BOOOM!
The wicked witch is dead!
Let's see....Paris. Kabul...Paris...Kabul.....I dunno....
I thought it was January 1st... not April 1st. Bwhahahahaha....
There is still the Blue Mosque in Mazar-i-sharif, and there is the scenic beauty of the mountain passes. There is also the Afghan people who, when not warring with each other, seem to be a warm and gracious people.
One of the first things they MUST do is gather up all the dead tanks, planes, bombed and rusted vehicles into one place. Some enterprising junkyard person could make a fortune crushing and reselling all that metal. The first thing the US must do is get in there FAST and restore the entire embassy compound. All the buildings, the gardens etc. should become a showplace. All the outbuildings at the embassy should be built in Afghan style with attention to their architecture. We have to show them the way.
Kids in all but the worst conditions will make a game out of something. Gives one hope to be reminded of the purity and innocents of youth.
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