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.