A Poll

Weather ushers in a new host of problems in Afghanistan. Anyone under the illusion that this place is a barren desert need only see the weather report - damn place is sogging wet. Even the Taliban are staying home these days. I was supposed to have left this morning - by bus, as recommended by a few local people - to Kabul but my friend in Kabul says the snows are heavy there and there's a chance the roads will be closed. Besides, my local look is only good in transit; if Afghans have a minute or two to look me over, they figure out very quickly that I'm Pakistani. The bus ride is 7-8 hours, in close quarters with Afghans. If any one of them asks me something, all will quickly figure out from my accented Urdu that I'm an even more distant foreigner. The ruse is then up. I had a vision last night in which I was riding the bus and a guy stood up and said, "You, Pakistani, what are you doing here?" I stuttered a reply in Urdu, my fixer defended me but in the end, the guy, along with a couple buddies, forced the bus to stop and took me out. Next thing I know, I'm sitting in a mud room, hands tied behind my back, hooded, and waiting for the Taliban to decide if I'm a spy or not (see previous post to learn what happens to spies). I let this vision sink in and at midnight barged in on my sleeping fixer to tell him the plan was off. I may take risks, but this was pure stupidity.

A car would be better but because it's winter and the days short, the risk of being caught in a dangerous area at nightfall is high. With the weather making the route more treacherous, the going will be slow, adding to the delay and the potential of being caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Cars are also more likely to be attacked by bandits, a constant concern on Afghan roads. But after weighing the pros and cons, I've concluded that it's safer than the bus. At least in a car, I know who is with me, we are in control of our forward motion. We can barge through I checkpost if we feel its Taliban-controlled or seek safety with local contacts along the way if things look too risky. I've driven the route many times so there's also the comfort of familiarity.

The safest option is, of course, flying. There's a charter airline that flies to Kabul and the U.N., which also has flights for foreigners. The only problem is, because it's Christmas, flights won't be going out until Thursday. I have a story to file by Friday and my laptop is in Kabul.

I'm still deciding on what I should do. Thanks to Matt, I've recruited blogger's polling capabilities to get my readers' opinion. What do you think? How should this ARK set off?

Merry Christmas!
Happy Hannukah!
Eid Mubarak!