The Foreign Service Journal, January 2004

towns perched amidst rocky out- crops, that separate the eastern and western parts of the city. One of the hills is crowned by another Mughal fort, Bala Hisar, with crenellated “city walls” snaking north along a ridgeline to protect the populace in times past. Directly underneath the Nadir Shah Mausoleum is the infamous Kabul Stadium, where the Taliban execut- ed those who fell afoul of their strict interpretations of Islam. We set off down the mausoleum hill, past the stadium and through the Dresden-like remains of struc- tures that once made up the Char Chattya Bazaar. There were few signs of reconstruction, but that did- n’t stop a throng of humanity from conducting business along the cratered dirt road and setting up shop in the adobe ruins. A plethora of bright yellow cabs, horse-drawn wagons, blue-burka-clad women, men in flowing shawal qamiz and vendors selling fruit and vegetables lined the route as we crawled care- fully through the seething market- place. Occasionally, after eyeing our license plates, black-turbaned men shot hateful glances at the bul- letproof glass of our vehicle. We turned left on Jada Maywind road, decently paved and lined with vendors and a mass of pedestrians. Downtown Kabul is relatively untouched, encircled as it is by almost total destruction. Our driver took us to the west of town, over the paltry Kabul river whose banks are crowded with more markets, out beyond the craggy hills and noon gun left over from more civilized times. Soon after the river we passed the zoo, home of the infa- mously neglected and impoverished animals, as well as the grave of Marjan, the one-eyed lion. The Road of Death Then came the arrow-straight Darulaman Palace Boulevard, which used to be the most beautiful road in the city, according to our dri- J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 4 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 67 The first shock upon landing in Kabul is the number of destroyed Soviet-era planes littering the airfield. MCG FINANCIAL PLANNING Former State Department Employee Stationed Overseas Understands Unique Financial Situation of Foreign Service Services Include: Retirement Planning Tax Preparation and Strategies Analysis: Insurance and Investments Lump Sum Retirement Options MARY CORNELIA GINN 4630 Montgomery Avenue, Suite 220 Bethesda, Maryland 20814 Phone: (301) 951-9160 Fax: (703) 938-2278 E-mail: mcgfin@erols.com S ECURITIES OFFERED THROUGH N ATHAN & L EWIS S ECURITIES , I NC ., M EMBER NASD & SIPC. MCG F INANCIAL P LANNING AND N ATHAN & L EWIS ARE NOT AFFILIATED ENTITIES .