We aren't in Congo anymore!!

Well I have been in Afghanistan exactly two weeks now. The sights and sounds certainly have changed from Africa. The green jungle has changed to rocky treeless mountains in every direction. The tropical 80-90% humidity of the Jungle is replaced by dry gritty blowing sand and 100 degree heat. "But its a dry heat". Controllers speaking a combination of broken English and French has switched like a radio frequency to clear American English. The list could go on...


We are flying for the UN here, funded via USAID in support of the many development projects in process here. Your tax dollars hard at work! Road construction, dam building, and water systems are just a few of the many pieces of the pie.


The flying is quite awesome at times,,, like I said American controllers dominate the radios which is often a welcome sound. Snow topped mountains reaching over 20 thousand feet with trees nearly non-existent. This beauty is often contrasted by the 2 and 3 mile visibility encountered from the strong winds and blowing dust nearly making airports disappear at times. This picture is taken from about 20 thousand ft looking east towards Pakistan and China. You can see mountains in the distance extending higher than our level!!!



One of my favorite airports so far is basically straight north about an hours flight. After crossing a few little 15,000 ft mountains we drop down among the valleys to find the airport. Crossing the last hill at about 9000 ft we turn a hard right and follow a valley down to about 3000 ft above sea level to find the airport. Another unique feature here is the runway is metal,, its made up of hard metal sheeting similar to what would be found on the side of a barn (obviously much stronger). The wheels make a nice rhythm and the whole airplane vibrates as you roll down the runway.








I returned home this morning from an over night in Islamabad Pakistan, a beautiful city and country. The people were very friendly and city like driving through an east coast city in the states. It was a fun trip and fun to see someplace new.



We are just finishing a move to a new house, our old house had just to many problems. We have upgraded from 16 rooms to about 25 in the new place and things are still getting settled. Needless to say they like large houses around here,, a few pics will be coming later for some examples. Both houses present us with an amazing view to enjoy.

Well hope all is well with everyone!! Till next time,,
JW