Hotel Kabul

Ok, I promised myself I would have not scared my mum during this mission. But as my mum doesn’t read the Blog, I feel I can impress a bit my readers…

The above is the door that from the lobby of the Guest House where we are staying leads us to our rooms. The long and narrow alley surrounded by high (and thick) walls that leads to the door is meant to make the work of the snipers more difficult. The walls of the alley are covered by barbed wire to discourage attacks. The door is of course armoured. Behind the door there are two armed soldiers that check the documents of whoever wishes to enter (if you forget your passport in the room, you are done for!). While one soldier opens the door and check your documents, the other one points the rifle at you until the passport check is over. After you pass this check point you go through a couple of corridors and then you finally reach a small yard over which the rooms of the guest house overlook. There are sacks of sand to protect the rooms against bullets and the splinters of grenades a bit everywhere. Two armed soldiers are on patrol 24/7. And on the roof (see below) another armed soldier watches over the situation…

On the door of my room, instead of having the usual notice explaining what to do in case of fire, I have a notice explaining what to do in case of explosions, gunfires, and grenades.

Every time I return to my room I think that escaping from Alcatraz was probably easier than reaching my room!