Kabul | Hitchhiking in Afghanistan - Suicide Mission?

It was a difficult decision where to travel next from Peshawar, Pakistan. The options were both dangerous - even for a man like me who've seen a lot after 4 years of hitchhiking around the world. I decided to drop plans to travel through the area of Pakistan called Baloutchistan at the expense of a trip to Afghanistan.

Can you imagine me on the side of the road going through the area where Osama Bin Laden is allegedly hiding? Yes, the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan is not the safest place on Earth. No matter how tempting the American reward for Osama Bin Laden was, I decided to take a Khyber pass - slightly off the most dangerous course.

To minimize the danger of traveling through areas of Afghanistan controlled by Taliban, I had to forgo scheduling media appearances - what I've been doing in every other place of the globe. I took a direct car ride from Peshawar to Kabul, Afghanistan. Now, finding the ride wasn't easy - it's not as simple as trying to hitch the ride from the side of the road. Truckers I asked explained to me politely they don't take two things with them - drugs and Westerners. That's out of the concern of their own safety. Others warned me of kidnappings and that I could be simply sold to Taliban for ransom. I did manage to find a dentist who traveled the route regularly. His name was Naim. Another person accompanying us on the route to Kabul was a mandatory bodyguard who escorted as safely through the tribal area of they Khyber pass to the border with Afghanistan.

We had one incident that made me nervous. Our car broke and we were offered help by about 30 bearded people who looked like Osama Bin Laden. Nothing to be afraid as they only wanted to help, but ... we westerners have a lot of media propaganda in our heads. The trip was estimated to take about 7 hours but if I remember correctly we got to Kabul faster.

Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in Asia which of course is due to decades of was with USSR and the rule of Taliban. Since American invasion some areas have improved - people's freedoms, women can go to school and work, the infrastructure improved, but other things have deteriorated - mainly a sense of security and order. 

While the image of a suicide bomber is in every westerner's head in the country and the language is a barrier as not too many Afghans speak English, I have to say that the Afghani people I encountered were overwhelmingly friendly and hospitable. Please just take a look at some faces of the Aghani locals.

Next .. Wonderful Pakistan.