The King's Stables, Then and Now

King Zaher Shah's horse stables outside Kabul, 1968.

Now, after decades of war.

Out Around Town

Police help boy climb wall at new year celebration.

Afghan biker dude -- scarf, shalwar kameez, red rug on the seat.

Alisa in the great outdoors a few kilometers from Kabul.

Some Reading...

Afghan artifacts that had been protected at a museum-in-exile in Switzerland have returned to Kabul. Among the 1,400 items, a phallus once held by Alexander the Great. Click here to read about the Afghan artifacts that weren't looted.

March 8 was Women's Day, which is a big to-do in Afghanistan, but for many women here, life remains grim. Read here about a woman who married a man who stalked her and later became her abusive husband.

Afghans recently celebrated their new year with a ceremony that kind of resembles the U.S. Groundhog Day, only their superstition is based on the strength of wrestlers who hoist up a flag pole. Click here to learn about how erecting a flag pole can bring peace in Afghanistan.

Thunder Under a Blue Sky

Boom!!! That was the alarm clock, about 6:45 a.m.
Landry: What was that?
Me: I don't know.
Landry: Just thunder.
We tried to go back to sleep, but my sleepy eyes squinted at the sunlight coming through our window and a bright blue sky. "I don't think it's thunder." I rolled out of bed, went to talk to the cook downstairs, who pointed to the big cloud of an explosion outside _ a brown mushrooming cloud that dissipated as it rose into the sky over the mountains of Kabul.
Gunpowder explosion, officials said, in a poor part of Kabul. At least six were killed. Cause: unknown.

Recent Acquisitions

The works of Mohammed Akbar Salam.
Les peintures de Mohammed Akbar Salam.

Hi-Tech Afghan Gadgets

Afghan photographers use these heavy camera obscura to take official (passport-sized) photos on the streets of Kabul. This is Landry's first portrait, "Alisa 1920."