Safe and Sound

Now, here I am, in my guest house in Kabul. Very comfortable, and free internet, slow though it may be. I have a TV in my room, and a fan, and a private bathroom. Miho is going to try to arrange for me to stay in one of the houses that the permanent staff stay in; hopefully in the next couple of weeks.

Here's me on my bed in my room:




On the flight, I met a woman who works for NBC. She invited me to her room at the Intercontinental to watch bootleg DVDs on her laptop, drink coffee, and explore the city restaurants together.

I love you all, and am working on a cell phone today or tomorrow. I am also hoping to get my bank account set up. I am sorry I haven't written more "reflections" but I thought y'all would want to know briefly what I've been up to and that I am here safe. I'll be in touch again soon.

So much love.

En Route

My trip has been great so far. I had a day in Amsterdam, so I went to Amsterdam Centraal and walked around a bit, had coffee and breakfast in a cafe in Rembrandt Square, then went to the Van Gogh museum and the Anne Frank House. I'd love to elaborate, but since time is short, I'll save that for another message. This one will have to be just a sort of listing of my goings on.

From Amsterdam I went to Istanbul. I arrived very late, and took a little while at the airport before heading out to make sure I had a sense of how much things should cost and where I was going. A Turkish airline pilot was very helpful in that regard. I took at taxi to the Hotel Nomade (Avi, I was able to talk them back down to $55; Dad, it's on your credit card!) and was asleep at around 2am. Needless to say, I didn't wake up until around 10:30, just in time to catch the last part of breakfast. Breakfast was out on the terrace on the roof of the hotel overlooking the Blue Mosque and the sea. Beautiful. I left the room around 12pm, and walked down to the Golden Horn, then back up past Topkapi Palace to the Aya Sophia. It was a cool respite from the Turkish heat. From there, I went to the Blue Mosque, and then stopped for a lunch and real Turkish coffee at a cafe outside. Crossed the Hippodrome up toward the Grand Bazaar. Then it was getting late, so I decided to indulge in a Hamam -- Turkish bath. Takes a few minutes to get used to hanging out naked in a big room with a bunch of naked ladies washing each other! But it was extremely relaxing and I left feeling quite refreshed. Only one hour before I had to head back to the airport, so I stopped in to a Nargile Bar and Tea Garden and read a bit before hailing a cab back to the airport.

I didn't have the camera worked out while I was in Amsterdam, but I did manage to get a few pictures around Istanbul. They look way too big to me, but I don't know how to smallen them!

This is on the roof deck of my hotel, where I had breakfast.




These next few are of the Ayasophya.














The Blue Mosque...