Goodbye to All That

We probably have some more good pictures from Afghanistan lying around somewhere. And once the dearth of exotic photo opportunities in Washington gets to us, we may go back and dig them all up. But this is the last one for now: A bunch of kids singing the Afghan national anthem at a vocational school graduation in Highly Kinetic Kunar Province, as shot from the stage behind the podium where they were singing, with an assistant holding a laptop with the backing music playing up to the microphone. (This part not pictured because it couldn't be done without showing the faces of the kids. We have a ton of cute/interesting pictures of young participants at various Embassy events, but we don't post them here, due to perhaps an excess of caution. Also not pictured, for different reasons, but not because it didn't happen: the sound system at the assembly hall alighting in a smoldering electrical fire.)

In any case, this was the last trip outside of Kabul your correspondent completed, and perhaps the last one until we're all going to Afghanistan for climbing or skiing vacations a few years hence when it's stable and peaceful. Until then... vacation pictures starting again on the Hollatomorrow!

One More from the Streets of Kabul

Last, for now, of the Hollavision photos. While we will continue to utilize our now fine-tuned skills for shooting out of a moving car window, we don't see many more armored SUV rides in our immediate future.

Afghanistan from Above 2.4

Tomorrow: Back to Afghanistan from the Ground.

Afghanistan from Above 2.3

Afghanistan from Above 2.2

Kabul from helicopter.

Afghanistan from Above 2.1

Near Asadabad. Or maybe near Kabul. But definitely near a takeoff or landing. I guess that's why we ought to try to post pictures in a little more timely fashion.

Afghanistan from Above 2.0

In the closing days of our time in Afghanistan, we went back to Kunar one more time. Usually the best pictures on any trip come from the air.

Bamyan

A last picture from Bamyan. Not sure what the line of trees is marking.

The Forest for the Trees

Women and children, obscured by trees.

Afghan Motorcycle Dudes

More from Bamyan, home of many a young motorcyclist. As always, shot through the window of a moving armored SUV.

Meanwhile, back in Afghanistan

As promised, some remaining pictures we like from Afghanistan, this one from the streets of Bamyan.

Road map

We're having a hard time editing pictures as aggressively as we really ought to. In part that may be because Nepal is so photogenic. Or maybe just because Washington is so un-photogenic, we'll need a lot of the back catalog to keep this journal rolling for the next year or so.

In any case, we're going to shift gears for a bit. Here's the plan on what's to come, to aid in your calculation of whether to bother checking back again soon: First, we'll finish off the Afghanistan stuff. Then, we'll go back to pictures from Nepal. Then India. Then Alaska. Then California. Then Colorado. Then stuff so old we don't even remember what it is. Did we ever post any pictures from Bergen or Oslo, Norway? I don't think so. That should get us through, say, February. By then maybe we'll have taken a few decent pictures of Washington. Or have gone somewhere else interesting.

Anyway, above is one more from Nepal. Back to more like this in a few weeks.

Khuda Hafez

So long, Kabul! It was a memorable year for your intrepid correspondents, due in equal parts to the intense policy environment, the nutty living environment, or the series of awesome vacations he was able to take from Kabul. One unexpected thing that all of three of these factors have in common: They were hell on the Holla publication schedule, which slipped from "approaching daily" to "when we get around to it." It did leave us with something of a backlog in the photo department, which will at least be a start in terms of maintaining something vaguely interesting to publish over the next year, which we will spend in less-than-exotic Washington, D.C. In any case, it's not an end to the pictures from Afghanistan yet, but a fond farewell to the country.



Oh, and I added this second picture of kids waving because that last little guy cracks me up. Maybe he just lacks the motor skills to wave, or maybe it's a genuine facepalm.

Of Bamyan: Fashion Plates

Not everyone in Afghanistan is wearing shalwar kameez.

Of Bamyan: Busy Day

Busy day at the Bamyan gas station. Why don't more American businesses have a bed out front for leisure time between customers?

Of Bamyan: Roofdeck

It's late, so we don't have insight to offer, other than to say this is pretty kick-ass for a house made out of mud. Flowering trees and a rooftop lounge? Sign me up. And I have a feeling they're paying less for this than we'll be paying in DC come August.

Of Bamyan: For Sale

Market stalls in front of the Buddha niches in Bamyan.

Of Bamyan: Boredom

This picture reminds me of my favorite line ever in a briefing memo. I know that's a bold statement, briefing memos being a famously electric form of expression. In any case, the line from the briefer about the trip to Bamyan (with all apologies to the author) was: "The day will be anchored by an exciting visit to the local potato cooperative." As in all writing, excising adjectives is generally wise, but sometimes one just has to emphasize the less-than-obvious excitement of a given event.

As previously noted, we think there are kind of a lot of VIP visitors zipping around Bamyan. Exhibit B: This guy, who is apparently less than fascinated by the parade of armored Land Cruisers motoring along the road up the valley. We did, in fact, get to take a nice drive up the valley beyond what I would presume most visitors see, unless everyone who goes to Bamyan stops by the potato cooperative, which this local resident apparently did not find all that exciting.

Of Bamyan: Beneficiaries

The primary intent of the visit to Bamyan was to highlight some of our agricultural support programs. The Ambassador delivered a speech to a potato cooperative, which has benefited greatly from the Afghan government's financing assistance and some USAID-sponsored potato storage facilities. It did inspire one of the weirder requests I have fielded in my career, when the Ambassador asked for someone to find him a potato a few minutes before his speech, for use as a visual aid during his remarks. Afterwards, the gathered U.S. and Afghan officials distributed big sacks of fertilizer to the farmers. We will leave that scenario without further comment, other than to note that many, like the guys pictured above, were pretty happy with the event.

Traffic Cop 2

Still Bamyan, and a much busier intersection than yesterday's picture featured. But a somewhat more lackadaisical traffic cop. I'm sure people in Bamyan would tell you that Alexander the Great built the columns behind him.