Honour Rape

In yesterday's media brief there was a peculiar piece of news from another PRT MeS province, Jowzjan. It was about the provincial governor's son, who had been honour-raped by angry villagers. We discussed the news during the day, and I'm sure that all agreed that Afghanistan can be quite a sick place at times. Exactly whose honour was it that was in question? And what honour? And just read what happened to the women.

Friday was as usual. It would have been even a bit boring(!) if it hadn't been for the weather: After a cloudless a very hot morning, thunder and rain showers followed, and in the evening it was damp and cool.


In the hottest hours of the morning there was a staged traffic accident in our yard: medical training.

Hungry Hungarians

Late yesterday evening my phone rang. It was a Hungarian convoy on the ring road, that said that the road was closed by the police. They had been travelling from Mazar-e Sharif to Pol-e Khumri, but had now turned back, and their HQ had told them to seek shelter at the nearest safe house, which was us. After 15 minutes they were here, and we got their vehicles into the camp. Once they had unloaded their weapons, I told them "Jo este" (Good evening) and said that they were welcome to stay as long as they liked. We didn't have enough beds for everyone, but at least we could find a roof over everone's head, because it was just starting to rain.

In the morning the road was open and the Hungarians left, but not before having eaten all of our breakfast. They said "Köszönöm szépen" (Thank you very much) but almost forgot to sign the meal list. Then we took in the food trucks and unloaded a lot of food, in case any more Hungarians should come in for a surprise visit. The MOT's and the OCCP mentoring team went out, and we would have too, had not the reason for our patrol been cancelled in the last minute. After a couple of hours two new containers and a crane arrived, and we again had things to do for the next three hours. The weather turned cloudy again, and for a while it looked like rain, but it fortunately passed us by - barbecue on the sundeck could be arranged in a traditional Thursday fashion.

Victory Day

Today was a national holiday in Afghanistan. They celebrated Victory Day, which signifies the victory over the Soviet Union by the Mujaheddin. Because it is a mujaheddin celebration, all the security authorities were on full alert. Ordinary people had a day off, and so did most of us, too. The MOT's were out on routine patrols to the districts, and we had a visit by a delegation of OMLT (operative mentoring and liaison team) members from Camp Mike Spann. There were Finns, Swedes, Norwegians, Croatians and Macedonians. They had a camp walk, enjoyed lunch, and I gave them the usual briefing. The PO staff also had some training today: First some medical training in case of a car accident, and then an introductory course about the new water system.
It was a hot and sunny day, but by nightfall clouds appeared and it started to rain a little.

Road Recce 2

This day was reserved for traditional, old school road recce. The MOT's were going to stay at the safe house all day, so the PO took the opportunity to go out to have a look-see. I told the MOT D commander H to handle all surprise vistors while I was away (and, in fact there were a few!) We tried to find roads in the vicinity of Aybak that we hadn't driven before, and on those that we had driven, to verify what condition the road actually was in, after the winter's snows and the spring rains. The purpose is to compare our maps to the reality and to determine the accessibility of different areas for 4WD armoured vehicles. This job often includes driving where there actually is no road at all, or off-road, as they call it. It also frequently includes getting out of the vehicle to scout the road ahead to see if it really is driveable or not. So, as a consequence, I have today climbed a number of smaller hills in more than mild temperatures, whilst carrying approximately 30+ kilograms of various military equipment. Fortunately we had packed a lunch that was rich in energy, and plenty of bottled water. No gym for me today, then.


My facial expression is for no particular reason in sharp contrast to the magnificient views in the background.

Wrong Way to Give

Today our main focus was on getting the new water purification system up and running. All at the PO helped T the mechanic with the installation of tanks, pipes, pumps and wires. The OCCP mentoring team were out on patrol two times. In the afternoon there was a delegation of five gentlemen at our gate. They were from the village that we visited yesterday, Khvaja Sang Bur. They said that they were the senior representatives of that village (only one of them looked familiar from yesterday), and that if we are ever going to give anything to the village, we should give it to them and they would distribute whatever we were giving to those people who need it most. One of them was not from the village, but from a construction material company that "handles construction material business in that village". If we were ever to build anything in that village, we should call him first. I said to the interpreter that this smells really badly like corruption and that these people should go to hell - but told him not to interpret that. Instead I cordially acknowledged their message and received their phone numbers, only to throw them away once I was inside the gate.

In the evening MOT D and MOT E came in from their patrol. They had seen many snakes and spiders. In one area there had been so much grasshoppers that the ground was covered with them. Their cars had left thick tracks of squashed grasshoppers behind them!

Up and Down

The water container is still not working properly. The problem now is the well in the compound: It produced only about 900 litres of water before it ran dry. Not much of a well, even if it is nearly 100 metres deep. We will have to work out a different solution. One platoon from the Swedish rifle company came to visit us. They were towing one of their APC's (armoured personnel carriers), which had engine trouble. The problem was easily solved once it was located (it was the fuel filter) and they could continue. But not before looting MOT D's reserve of canned food - Felix Köttbullar, Ny potatis, Ravioli and, of course, Bullens Pilsnerkorv. (This was done by permission of MOT D - we contacted them over the radio and asked if it was ok to give some "fresh" food to the rifle company boys.)

In the afternoon we took off to visit a village by the name of Khvaja Sang Bur, which is located about 10 kilometres north-east and about one kilometre above Aybak city. A delegation of people from there had been at our gate a few weeks ago asking for support of any kind, and complaning about the quality of drinking water in the village. We packed some RBI's (relationship building items) such as clothes, shoes and blankets and went to look for a road up there. There was no road, really - just a very slow-go 4WD track. It was steep and narrow - and fortunately dry, or else we had had no chance at all to make the trip. The people of the village were really happy to see us and we were well met. They offered us home made youghurt, but we kindly declined the offer. The village had two natural springs. I didn't realise there were natural springs here. Despite the fresh water supply, the sheep and cows were already suffering and dying from what the villagers called "shluk". At the spring one boy dug up some "shluks" from the mud to show us what they actually were - leeches. I didn't realise there were leeches in tiny springs at over 2000 metres altitude. There were ordinary black leeches but also greenish ones with a red stripe. We might consider a project to build a water pipe directly from the well to a water tank in the village to help them avoid the leeches.


Aybak city from a distance of approximately 10 kilometres and a height of about 500 metres. From here we continued up, almost two times higher.


Here is where the village's water reservoir used to be, but it was destroyed in the war.


"Shluk's".

Just Pictures Today

All of the these pictures were taken on this sunny and hot Saturday.


Our guys at the OCCP.


Two men were sawing a log in the street the old-fashioned way.


Our new water container has at some point been a source of inspiration for someone.


My final meeting of today was with the headmaster of a local school.

Burning Paper

On Fridays we usually sleep a bit later, have brunch, do maintenance work and relax. Not today, though, because we opted for the usual scedule with and early breakfast and lunch. The reason for this was that there was again a request from HQ for lunch for a support convoy with at least 30 people. They assured us that this time the convoy really would come - and they did. Some of our guys spent too much time on the sundeck and got sunburnt. Others painted all exposed posts and corners near the driveways black and yellow, so that they would be more visible for the drivers. Still others built an expansion to G4's cage, so that it would have a better chance to choose between sunshine and shade. I spent a while at an empty barrel in the yard burning some of the classified documents that pile up as time passes. They wouldn't burn at first, but that was soon remedied with a dash of diesel.

No Show

Last night at about 1930 there was a message: 30 people would be coming for lunch, confirm this message. We confirmed the message and we agreed with the chef that this time the warning came well in advance. He prepared a splendid, creamy vegetable soup and a fresh salad our own numbers + 30. No-one came, and no message about cancellation. At 1500 I called the HQ and kindly requested that in order to save food that the Swedish taxpayers have paid good money for, could they be so kind as to inform us about the cancellation of planned convoys and requested service support. They acknowledged the message.

There were, however, three surprise guests for lunch to make up for some of the damage. Two gentlemen from the U.S. Department of State came for a visit. They had met with the provincial governor to make an assessment of the damages of the recent earthquake. But what was more interesting, they were also scouting our compound (like they did in November) for the possibility to deploy an American development advisor here, as well as at the other PO's. The said that "we used to have a lot of money, but now we have even more money", and that the only problem was that it had to be spent in a sensible, co-ordinated fashion. Now, I've been in Afghanistan long enough to know that when a representative for a U.S. government body says that they have a lot of money, that means a LOT of money. It also means that if we get an American DEVAD here, it will be a LOT easier for us to respond to the many requests that come in from the locals.

Bye EUPOL

Just after breakfast there was a message: 30 people are coming for lunch. Our chef got a little stressed, as this would increase the amount of food to be served by about 200 %. I called the HQ and kindly requested that if they are able to notify us of these kind of visits a little bit earlier than three hours before in the future, it would be much appreciated. Because of the short notice, our chef decided to postpone what was planned for lunch until dinner, and resorted to mushroom soup with diced bacon for lunch. The guests arrived, but as was to be expected some of them didn't realise that the diced bacon was meant as decoration for the soup, and ate only fried bacon. Well, I suppose there are bigger problems in Afghanistan.

Today was the last day in Aybak for our Polish EUPOL-officers. They spent almost 11 months here as our colleagues, working with the ANP. Our co-operation with EUPOL was good and informal, and the Polish gentlemen with their charming personality also made many friends here.


Goodbye P and S, and take care.

Some parts for our new water container were missing from the delivery yesterday, and the mechanic T and hygiene officer E had to interrupt the assembly until the parts arrive. I hope that we don't run out of water while we are waiting.

Mud

The rain started at dawn. We had cancelled the LFX (live fire exercise) for the local guards two days earlier beause of rain, and posponed it until today. We still decided to have a try, because the weather forecast here is wrong more often than it's not. At the range, the weather seemed fine at first. The rain turned into a light drizzle and the air was warm, clean and smelled of juniper. We gave a radio to the police CP (checkpoint) near the shooting area. A convoy of Americans almost scared us when they started testing their HMG (heavy machine gun) at the roadside. When the guards arrived, the rain started pouring, and soon we realised that there was no point in continuing. It's not that we mind the rain, but the guards won't learn anything from training in the mud, and we might get stuck on the way back. In fact, it was very close that we would have gotten stuck in the mud. The tread of the tires fills up instantly with extremely sticky mud, and the tires become slimy slicks on the slippery surface. It's actually quite amazing how a 4,5 ton car can move sideways when all wheels are driving it forward! All of us were getting wet and quite cold, too, so it was just as well to go back anyway. There was mud all over.

In the city there was a dog in the road with a fractured pelvis. It looked like an Alsatian, but it was extremely skinny. Its backbone was bent and it was dragging its rear legs behind it. Someone must have just hit it with a car. We stopped and took out our shotgun to put it down. It dragged itself a full circle around our car, and P went after it with the shotgun, looking for a safe direction to shoot in. Then it started moving away in a direction in which it was impossible to shoot, and too quickly for us to go around it. We couldn't grab it or it could have bitten us. There was nothing we could do but to get back into our cars and watch it disappear in the rain. I suppose that other dogs will take care of things soon enough.

At the PO the logistics transport had arrived with a new water processing container for us. The only problem was that the crane that was supposed to lift it into place was 4 hours late. When it finally arrived, it turned out that on of its hydraulic pumps was broken. The operators went into town to look for a mechanic who could fix the old, Soviet-made crane. The mechanic had a long beard and he was mostly working on the machine with a handspike. After a 3 hour struggle, the crane finally started moving and we got the container into place.


Just then the rain had stopped, but it soon started raining again.

Boring is Good

At 0058 there was an earthquake. It was 5.7 on the Richter scale and there was an aftershock about an hour later. The epicentre was only 70 kilometres away at a depth of 10 kilometres. I woke up at both quakes, but did not bother to get out of bed, because it didn’t seem necessary. The duty officer was going around saying that it’s already over, and in practise it was, too. The damages in the province were not that serious, as it turned out, when reports started coming in during the day. 10 people were killed, about 30 injured, and an estimated 300 houses were destroyed or damaged. A relief operation is underway, coordinated by UNAMA.

The PO had no planned patrols, so most of our guys were laying in the sun on the roof by lunchtime. I suppose they thought that the day’s work was done, but no day goes by here without at least one surprise. (Remember: "In Afghanistan you will be surprised, and if you are not surprised, be surprised.") The OCCP mentoring team was out in the morning, and they brought some news that I wanted to verify. So, after lunch we went out to talk with the chief of NDS and also to the chief of police. MOT D came in to have some rest and resupply, and also MOT C came to spend the night. It was a hot day, but the weather forecast predicted three straight days of rain.


These giant beetles have been turning up in vast numbers everywhere in the past week. They just fly around and around until they drop dead. Our ordnance NCO H amused everyone by bringing one to the briefingroom table.

No Range Day

We were supposed to go to the shooting range with the local guards today, but we were discouraged by the rain that was still continuing in the morning. The road to the range as well as the area itself would more than likely been too soft for our vehicles. The rain continued, and I went to my quarters to read A Brief History of Time - the illustrated edition, by Stephen Hawking. Interesting, but not very entertaining. After lunch a man appeared at our gate with a letter. He said that his house had been destroyed by the rain last night. His daughter had been injured and was taken to hospital, and that his family of seven now had nowhere to sleep, nothing to eat and nothing to drink. He himself worked as a cart man (i.e. he transports goods from place to place with a cart) and he is so poor that he can not provide for his family. He also said that he had been to the governors office and asked for help there, but they had given him no help. Instead they had offered to translate his letter to them from Dari to English, and directed him to ask for help from us. He said that two other houses had also been destroyed.

We don't do humanitarian aid, but we decided to go have a look. Three destroyed houses might be worth reporting, and going there would also send a signal to the governor's office. The risk is always that if we help one, the rumour will spread and there will be a thousand poor men at our gate. Still, we packed a bag with blankets, shoes, raincoats, flashlights and some drinking water. Not that it would do any help, but it's a kind gesture.

The place was a little difficult to find and we had to ask around. Finally, the man from the gate came running and showed us to his house. The yard had been covered in a mud slide and the roof of his two-room mud hut had been punctured by water. The floor was so soft that my boots were in mud to the ankle. About thirty people gathered in the yard, all speaking loudly. The donkey and the dog that were on tight leaches in the yard looked as miserable as the people. The air was stinking of mud, urine and dung. We climbed up to the two other houses, but they had only minor damages. However, they were built in a location in which a number of huge rocks, which would probably be loosened by the next heavy rain or earthquake, would certainly crush the houses to the ground. The people said that they would not have built there had they had the money to build elsewhere. In one of the houses there was a cave, built into the clay mountain, with a room about 1,5 by 3 metres, and barely high enough for me to stand in. The entrance to the cave had no door and was no narrow that I had to go in sideways. There was, funnily enough, electricity and a lamp in there, but the floor was muddy. In that cave lived 25 people, they said. I asked the IP to repeat the number, and he repeated "25".

Shine and Rain

The PO didn't have any patrols today. I did some paperwork that wasn't urgent but had to be done sooner or later. The OCCP mentoring team were out, and MOT D was in just briefly after having repaird their vehicles, and then went out again. It was a hot day, but just before dinner the sky suddenly grew dark and big raindrops started falling. The rain quickly became a thunderstorm which lasted for about 30 minutes. These kind of storms in the surrounding mountains can sometimes create so called flash floods with enough water and mud to wash away entire villages.


Hard rain.


The result.

Calories

The Germans got new orders in the morning, had breakfast and left. We started the usual Friday maintenance and administration duties. There was a lot of messages going back and forth, and even some unexpected guests. After cleaning my room, I still managed to do a full 2 hours' exercise pass - 45 minutes on the exercise bike, 30 minutes on the rowing ergometer, and 45 minutes on the cross trainer, adding up to 1400 kilocalories. There was tortillas for dinner, but I had the self-dicipline to eat only one. Things seem quieter now, although there is an operation ongoing not so far from here, so we must be prepared for anything. As always. In the mean time, I think I'll watch a movie.


German soldiers at an orders brief.


Wappenaustausch.

Waffenbrüder

The chairman of the Provincial Council was supposed to meet us in the morning, but he cancelled in the last minute. Just as we were taking away the tea and cookies from the table, the interpreter came to tell us that there was a man at the gate who wanted to meet us. It was another representative for some faceless organisation in the agricultural sector. He couldn't even say for sure if their organisation was government funded or not - consequently we were not that keen on helping his organisation. There was a quieter period in the middle of the day, which I spent reading Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol. It's entertaining and well enough written, but otherwise a complete waste of time. After the briefing we had a barbecue on the sundeck in normal Thursday fashion. It was quite windy and cloudy, so many of the guys were feeling cold. The thermometer, however, was at 22 degrees. And most of us were freezing!

After darkness we got a message about a German recovery unit that needed to stay the night at our compound. They didn't know the way to the PO, so we went out to link up with them on the ring road. We met them some distance away from the road in the desert, and they followed us into our camp. All their vehicles didn't fit in the yard and we were forced to leave a truck in the street. The message about the German casualties had come in some time earlier. We tried our best to make the Germans comfortable in our camp. It was the least we could do. I took part in their moment of silence for the gefallene Kameraden.


Barbecue night means left-overs also for Isaf.


Also G4 has a good appetite. Nearly half of this slice had disappeared by dusk!

Greedy Beggars

In the morning the landlord of the mudhouse came to meet us. We had invited him, and the next door neighbour, to discuss the condition of one wall of the compound. It has been damaged by the winter and spring rains, and is now in risk of collapsing. The next earthquake or rain might be the last straw. The landlord was very reluctant to do anything, as was to be expected. He hasn't done any repairs on the mudhouse, but keeps blaming us for its poor condition. He started by claming that it wasn't his responsibility to repair the wall. I then read aloud from the rental contract what his responsibilities as the landlord were. He became nervous and said that he doesn't have that kind of money, that his father has cancer and that all his money goes to the treatment of his father, and that we as the rich military power would have to take care of the repairs. Then he and the neighbour started arguing how to share the cost of the repair.

After listening to the two for a few minutes I told them my proposal, which I had prepared in advance and gotten aproval for with the Swedish national support element. The PO would pay 50% of the expences, no matter what the cost would be. I said to the landlord and the neighbour that this was a good opportunity for them to get a new wall cheaply, and that we would need it fixed quickly for security reasons. The landlord then had the nerve to ask if we could pay 60% of the costs. Outrageous! That was it for me. I told him in my strictest tone of voice that he was responsible for 100% of the costs, that we don't usually haggle where I come from, that my offer was good and that I suggests that he takes it. After that he and the neighbour quickly agreed that the landlord should pay 30% of the expences and the neighbour 20%.

The next visit was by a delegation from a school of some kind, who wanted stationaries and books. As usual, we forwarded their requests to the development advisors. After lunch we went to see the new provincial governor. Just as we were leaving, the new chief of security for UN came to pay us a visit. He hadn't announced his visit in advance, so I had to tell him that we were busy and that he would have to come back another time. At the governor's office we congratulated the governor on his nomination and wished him succes is his duties. I gave him a book about Finland as a welcoming present. His first question to us was: "How much development projects are you able to do in Samangan?" Incredible. I tried to tell him what our mission here is, and that we don't have any budget of our own for development projects. He seemed to be a little disappointed.

Turtle Life

Today MOT D with the PO's police NCO and OPS OFF (operations officer) went out on patrol. The rest of us stayed in, apart from visiting the OCCP meeting. We also tried to visit the new provincial governors welcoming reception, but because it was two hours delayed and because it was ill prepared from the security perspective, we decided not to participate. Our signals officer T, "The Duracell Bunny", built G4 a new pen. It's now crawling around it like crazy trying to get out, and stops only to eat and sleep. It really likes water melon and other kinds of melon, too. Isaf the puppy has not met G4, and I don't think she would be interested to. She has recently been a little bit to eager to defend the gate to our compound and has started to behave a little bit aggressively towards the children in the street. We instructed the guards to tell Isaf to behave well, but I think that they don't want to be seen relating to a dog in any way. To the locals, dogs are like insects - frightening or annoying, and better when chased away by throwing rocks.


A Hesco and ammunition boxes put to new use.


Take your feet of the plate!

G4

MOT D was at the shooting range yesterday, and they saw dozens of turtles there. They were all over the road, too, so they had to stop and lift them out of the way. The driver of the second vechile got an idea, and he put one turtle into a cardboard box and brought it to the safe house. MOT D gave it the name G4, which is the support department of the HQ. They said that it resembles the support department in two ways: it's the same shape as most of the soldiers who work there, and it's equally quick in its service. Well, I suppose it's as good a name as any. I said that I don't have any objections to us keeping it, although I know that turtles can have salmonella. No-one of us - especially the cooks - had better not touch it too much, and if no-one tells the hygiene officer, I suppose we may get to keep it as a pet for a while.

In the morning we had a meeting with chief of NDS. Back at the safe house I tried to take a nap after lunch, but soon had to get to work on the liaison report on the morning's meeting. In the afternoon our signals officer built G4 a big cage in which it can move around freely. He placed it in the shade where the grass grows. After the evening brief we went thd NDS guest house for dinner. They invited all of us, but only 7 of us (+ 3 interpreters and 2 guards) went. The food was very delicious and the atmosphere friendly.


The transport box was small but we tried to make it comfortable.


It likes the fresh leaves. There's tomato and watermelon also available.


The watermelon attracted others into the box, too.

Three Meetings

Today was quite a busy day with three meetings. First up was the mayor of Aybak city, and his city engineer. Our intention was to determine whether a specified area of land was available to build a new ISAF base on. Very much like the previous time I met the mayor, he started lying to me. I had no alternative but to call CNL and verify that his claims about what had been agreed upon in an earlier meeting were false.

At the meeting with the mayor I heard the news that the provincial governor had been fired from his position the previous evening. I immediately had the IP call the governor and he agreed to meet us. After lunch we went to his private residence, because he had not gone to the governor's office today - after all, he was no longer the governor. He thanked us for the good co-operation and for many good memories.

The third meeting of the day was with the chief of NDS. Unfortunately I forgot some of my papers on my desk, but we still talked for almost an hour about current issues. Of course having three meetings means writing three reports, and it took me almost until midnight to finish the last one after all the daily routines had been taken care of. It rained in the night, just like the night before. The rain is really important for the crops and the locals are very happy about it. Me too, because it cools and clears the air.


View from the mayor's office into the street.

Fin Visit 3

I got up at 0630 and went to the gym. I had nearly managed to finish my one-hour routine, when I was interrupted by a message about an American colleague having been involved in a traffic accident. It was only about 35 kilometres away, so of course we sent two teams to assist. Only one ISAF-soldier had been injured, and fortunately his injuries were not serious. For the other vehicle, however, the consequences were far more dramatic. The armoured TLC (That's Toyota Land Cruiser, not tender loving care like in the U.K.) had crushed the Corolla badly. Three of the four passengers did not survive, and one was taken to hospital with minor injuries. This kind of fatal accidents happen daily between local vehicles and we see wrecks of vehicles on the roadside almost every time we go out on patrol. The only thing that made this morning exeptional, was that the accident happened to someone we know.

As soon as that situation was taken care of, a transport containing 10 media reporters from Finland arrived. We took them to the OCCP and even let them have a little walk around town, which was of course nothing short of insane. They seemed to like it very much, though, and we did our best in trying to manage the risks involved. Then we took them back to the safe house for some lunch, which was salmon soup. After lunch it was time for my brief, and then they wanted to interview some people. For some reason the reporters from all TV-channels wanted to interview me, so if you don't want to see me on television, don't turn on your set at all in the near future.

In the evening we had backbrief about the incident in the morning, the aim of which was to point out what we could do better the next time something unexpected like that comes up. And of course everyone expressed their condolences to our Polish counterparts for todays tragedy.

Hottest Day

Today was probably the hottest day of the year so far. It must have been way over 30 degrees and the sunshine was really intense. MOT C were at the shooting range and they were really sunburnt when they came back. Our teams stayed at the safe house all day, did maintenance duties and rested. We trained a little with our new fire fighting equipment, but apart from that nothing much happened. I tried to plough through the heap of papers that has piled up on my desk during my leave. On the yard the grass is growing 30 cm tall where there was 30 cm of snow only two months ago.

Green Desert

The flight arrived precisely on schedule, at 0630 local time. I spent the whole previous night in the air, about 8 hours and 30 minutes in total, plus about 1 hour at the ever so uncomfortable transit hall at Trabzon airport. The in-flight film from Pirkkala to Trabzon was James Cameron's Avatar, which was entertaining in 2D even if I had seen it in 3D just a few days earlier. There was salmon for dinner. After Trabzon, there was some turbulence which lasted for about half an hour. On two occasions it was so strong that the passengers without seatbelts were lifted from their seats. And there was a sandwich, some youghurt and a banana for breakfast. When we landed in Mazar-e Sharif, the desert looked surprisingly green from the air. As a consequence of all the interesting events during the flight, I didn't get much sleep during the night, and the drive from Marmal to Aybak was very tiring. The weather was mild and damp at first, and for the first time the air in Camp Marmal seemed fit for breathing. When the sun climbed higher, it soon became hot enough to make the air-conditioned car the most pleasant place to be. Poppy was growing on many roadsides and the wheat was almost knee-high in places.

In Aybak I tried to put myself in the picture for a couple of hours, but was soon forced to take an afternoon nap because my eyes just wouldn't stay open. In the evening we had a planning brief with all the team leaders.


Lazy leave days.


The snow was melting fast.