Kabul Day Two

 Day Two in Kabul and we are going to dive right in. Now this is a tea society and I can adapt easily enough, but day two without coffee and I do have the caffeine withdrawal headaches making an appearance. I guess it will be Pepsi, Coke or Energy drinks to get me through or I will just muscle through and embrace tea because that is what it's going to be for the next couple of months anyways.

After breakfast, we headed into the famous Ka Faroshi Bird Market, and it lived up to its name. Lonely Planet gives a great overview when entering the Market. Entering Kabul’s bird market is like stepping back in time a hundred years, to a corner of the city untouched by war or modernization. I agree and am not ashamed to admit, I was completely overwhelmed with sensory overload by the noise, the bustle and the colors. This long an narrow street was packed tight with cages of squawking, singing and chirping birds of all sizes and colors. No, not eagles and owls, these are sold as pets, which means, buggies, small parrots and the such, plus cages of neon dyed chicks which looked as confused as I was.

 As I strolled past a vendor he asked me if I wanted to hold one. It was obvious that if I said yes and I happen to release it and it flew away, well I just bought it. He reached in and after a few tries, because even in a cage these little buggers can move, he caught one and transferred it to me. This little bastard immediately started biting my thumb and let me tell you, that little beak was sharp and he was angry. I let him nosh on me for a bit then transferred him to David, who "freaked the fuck out" when it bit him. No wonder nobody wants you as a pet you mean little blue demon!

Little bastard bites hard

There were cages of pigeons and rabbits tossed aside like "misfit toys". They did not squawk enough nor were they colorful enough to catch anyone's attention. Now sanitation was non existent, so you know what the smell was like. We spent about 30 minutes here, which was plenty and to repeat the intro from Lonely Planet, it was "like stepping back in time a hundred years, to a corner of the city untouched by war or modernization."

Just past the "bird market mayhem" there were clothing vendors who were eager to sit and chat, discussing clothing styles, colors and material quality. Abbas playing the patient translator through it all. In the end I bought a little hand made hat, that I have since lost, for about $10. A simple purchase for taking up the vendors time.

Next up was the Mandawi Bazaar, with its blacksmiths, street traders, butchers, old shops, banjari and fruit vendors both fresh and dry. Let me tell you this. I have been in markets in Bangladesh, China, Latin America, you name it. Nothing, and I mean nothing can compare to the complete madness of the narrow streets and passages with tightly packed shops and a complete cavalcade of humanity moving in every direction. There was a flow to it all as this market has not changed in hundreds of years, so everyone knew their place. It was the first time as an adult when I felt completely vulnerable to my environment. There are the exact places in the movies where bad things happen.

There were other stops including Chicken Street which was incredible. Shops had relics of Soviet knives and bayonets and other assorted Soviet flags, medals, coins and even a few helmets, with bullet holes in them. There were coins and currencies from Afghanistan through the various governments in their modern history, which I loved and would have bought a bunch of it but I am going to be on the road for a while and it would eventually get ruined. So I bought a Kabul Patch because that is how I roll.

The topper to a very busy day was getting up to BiBi Mahroo Hill and home to the massive Taliban flag. First off, the views of Kabul were outstanding. The Hindu Kush Mountains surround his 3500 year old city that laid sprawling in front of me. Every once in a while I have moments of "Holy Shit I am in such or such a place." 

This was one of those moments.