Goodbye

In the car, out the car, in the car, out the car.  This is what it is like getting into Kabul airport.  I was picked up from my guest house this morning at 6am and we had a fairly good journey until we neared the airport.  Then my driver indicated I needed to get out.  Bags stay inside he said, you go out and walk!  Thankfully I noticed some Afghan women climbing out of their taxis, and I remembered a conversation we'd had at dinner a few days ago with some other foreign guests at the guest house.  So I got out the car, went into the female search area, got patted down, walked about 50 yards and climbed back in the car.  About another 50-100 yards down the road we did the same thing, only this time my luggage got scanned as well.  Then my driver dropped me off in the middle of a parking lot and bid me farewell after parking my luggage on a trolley pushed by an Afghan man.  He then pushed my luggage and guided me to another car park that had buses in it, and my luggage was loaded onto a bus to take me the short distance to the airport terminal!  Next my luggage gets unloaded off the bus, and there is another helpful luggage trolley guy who takes my luggage and wheels me to the front of a very long queue (there are sometimes advantages of being a woman!!), I then got in another line to be patted down in another female search area and my luggage was scanned once again before I checked in.  I gave each of the Afghan trolley guys 100 Afs which is about $2, neither of them were very happy about it, but apparently that is still quite a generous tip.   I have checked in (though due to Internet access I will likely post this when I get home) and sincerely hope that my luggage is checked all the way through to London.  I will definitely be checking in Dubai that it is through.   Goodbye Kabul.  This is it for now, but I hope to see you again soon, and hopefully in the same state, or better than I left you!!!