To and From the Airport

This time when we drove out to the airport, it took no time at all, maybe 6 or 7 minutes.  There was no traffic at all because it's Eid, a big feast holiday.  Interestingly, on the way to the Kabul airport in the early morning, there were hundreds of goats and sheep and even a few oxen and cows being driven along Airport Road.  On the way back, there was still no traffic to speak of, but there were substantially fewer animals.  Coincidentally, Afghans eat a lot of lamb and goat and the occasional beef when they can get it during Eid.  So yeah, nearly every animal we saw on Tuesday morning had been slaughtered by Wednesday evening.

Usually it's dark when I come back from the airport on trips outside Kabul.  What's freaky is that if you're driving back right around sunset, it coincides with the call to prayer.  The streets in Kabul are totally unlit.  Unless there's a shop, a bonfire, or headlights of an oncoming vehicle, it is pitch black.  And at sunset, frequently, our car will swerve violently or slam on the brakes to avoid hitting men - it's always and only men - literally in the middle of the street who have gotten out of their cars, carts, taxis or buses, put their prayer rugs down in the street, and are doing their prayers.