Trip to Bagram

I got to get out of the wire again to go Bagram and take some patients there for treatment. The trip was pretty uneventful (which is good). The following is a group of pictures taken from the back seat of an up armor humvee. Some of them have some haze in the upper part from dirt on the bullet proof window before I wiped it clean(er). Hope you enjoy them.

Above is a view of Mt. Ghar from the back side near KMTC (Kabul Military Training Center)

Above right, a door factory along the side of the street.

In the foreground is a brick factory, family type enterprise. The black smoke is from the fuel, old shreaded tires. We saw about 40 of these factories. The back ground shows Ghar on the left and just a nice looking mountain on the right.

Looking out the front window a large herd of sheep getting ready to cross the road. Local donkey cart, (mass transit).

More pictures of the same mountains.

Just an interesting building with a painting of a tank.

There were a lot of camels along the road near nomad camp sites

Pics of the mountains.

What looks like a new communication center out in the middle of no where.

Nomad tents near the road with a herd of sheep near by. It is not clear in this picture but the tents have U.N relief fund symbols on them.

More of the sheep along the road.

A bit of green as we get near BAF.

Just a building near the road. Don't have any idea what it says.

Mountains in the distance. A little closer is a swath of green land that looks like it is set up for farming.

Some ruins of an old village along the road.

ANP out post. Afghan National Police. Looks like a highway patrol base. On the way back the 3 officers that were there were standing outside with their AK47's.

More mountain shots.

Large nomad tent out in the middle of no where.

More brick factories just outside of Kabul.

more guys and sheep.

Local shop for something. I think he sells metal doors. One of the nicest shops about. In the city there are a lot of little shops that are made out of conex trailers. They line the streets on the main road.

This was my view from the back seat, behind the driver. Airman Morin did a great job driving.

Hope you enjoyed my little trip. Please send ideas on what you would like to see or hear about. In addition, please leave an e-mail address with questions if you need a personal answer.

Unfortunely I could not get out of the hummer to meet the people or take a better look around at the sites and culture that has been here for over 1000 years. One such place was visited last week by some of the others in our group. They went to what is now a school. It is in the bombed out ruins of a mosque that is over 600 years old. There are older buildings here as well. Up north at mez there is a mosque that dates back to almost the time of Jesus, called the blue mosque. Haven't been to see it, but i've heard it is amazing.

The people I've met here are very much like people in the U.S. They are just trying to get by and make sure they have enough to eat. The kids seem to be very happy and enjoy their lives. They don't need the same things it seems our society needs to be happy. School is very important to the children. My patient with tinea capatus thinks he would not have had it if he had been in school. He states he might grow up to be a doctor so he can help people. Below is a picture of him and his family in the TMC treatment area just after I worked on his head wound. He is the one in the back with the bandage standing next to his dad. His brother and little sister are up front.

His father is a day laborer and likes the Americans. He wants to work here on base. He gave me his CV and wants me to pass it along. I'll try and see if I can help him.

Talk to you all later.