Wendy Thurman
New member
I recently spent a few days in Lashkar Gah, in Helmand Province, looking at some agricultural initiatives we are undertaking. I've a few images from the farming programs that I think are interesting and I'll get those up soon. However, the flight back to Kabul from Lashkar Gah was a classic of Central Asian Aviation. We were all held in the terminal until the Deputy Governer and his entourage of 15 or so commandeered the best seats and boarded the aircraft (I was told that despite the fact I had a paid ticket, there was no space on the plane- this eventually got sorted with the usual shouting, begging, and indignant threats. Never a dull moment, you see.) The more or less regularly scheduled flight from Lash to Kabul is a Kam Air AN-26- a Russian aircraft flown by Russians (of course) who smoke constantly but have the good sense to step out from underneath the wing when refueling. Unfortunately for the passengers, it's a cargo plane. Passengers were simply an afterthought to the designers. Two Europeans from Medecins Sans Frontieres boarded the plane then got off- they were a bit freaked out. I was a bit freaked out when the plane landed in Tirin Kot; I thought we were losing altitude because something broke. Then there was the missed approach at night in the rain in Kabul which necessitated a go-around amidst a bunch of mountains, but one becomes resigned to this sort of thing after a while.
On the ground in Lash, looking at what passes for Gate 1:
In flight (to a man, they prayed on takeoff):
Tirin Kot Layover:
Wendy
On the ground in Lash, looking at what passes for Gate 1:
In flight (to a man, they prayed on takeoff):
Tirin Kot Layover:
Wendy
