Although the term "Green Zone" is more closely associated with Baghdad, Kabul has its own Green Zone housing the diplomatic missions of various countries and the seat of the Afghan government.
The walled city within a city is accessible by car and foot but not surprisingly checkpoints at ...
The Gardens of Babur are a welcome oasis to the dusty, dirty streets of Kabul. Inside the steeped gates (where admission is 25x higher for foreigners than for Afghans, but still only 250 afghanis or ~$4.70) sits the final resting place of the first Mughal ...
The day had finally come and I was going to fly one of the newest planes in the sky, the 747-800 intercontinental! I have flown the other two new wide body planes recently (China Southern A380, Korean Air A380, and United’s 787, click each for a review) and I was more than ecstatic to mark ...
Around the corner from the Darul Aman Palace sits the National Museum of Afghanistan, offering a bitter reminder of Afghanistan's stormy history.
The museum once boasted one of the world's premier collections of Central Asian artifacts dating back several thousand years but civil war and ...
Our first stop was TV Tower Hill, the highest point in Kabul. Getting up to the top of the hill was no easy task, even in our Toyota 4Runner. Roads are made of gravel, rocks, and dirt and it felt like we were off-roading as we slowly made our way up the hill. Well I suppose we ...
AirBerlin is one of OneWorld’s newest members, joining the alliance in March of 2012. It has been slightly over a year since AirBerlin joined the OneWorld alliance and I have been itching to get on board to try out their hybrid product. For those of you who do not know, before joining ...
When my driver pulled up to my "hotel" down a quiet side street in central Kabul, my bodyguard dutifully jumped out and scanned the street for anything out of the ordinary. But the street was deserted and eerily silent in an otherwise bustling city. In fact, there was nothing at all resembling a ...
About two hours north of Kabul lies the Panjshir Valley, final resting place of Afghan hero Ahmad Shah Massoud and a site of relative tranquility amidst the struggles that have plagued Afghanistan for so long. The Soviets and later Taliban never controlled this territory after 1989—a band ...
Stepping outside Kabul airport's baggage claim area, the arrival lobby was eerily quiet. There was no swarm of taxi drivers and tour operators I am accustomed to when arriving in a new country. Instead, there were just a few people standing around silently and a single currency exchange ...
After landing in Dubai around 10pm, I had 6 hours before my connection to Kabul. It was too early for Dnata to check me in and I had no lounge access so I set out looking for a bench where I could rest.
There were none—each section of seating had armrests for each seat. Wi-fi wasn't ...
After a refreshing stay at the Park Hyatt Jeddah, it was time to continue my journey to Dubai. The same driver who brought me to the property the afternoon before took me back, dropping me off about two hour before departure.
Jeddah ...
There was no photo incident on this outbound trip, but a photo finish at San Francisco International Airport rescued my Singapore Airlines trip from the jaws of destruction.
In July 2012, almost 11 months ago, Singapore Airlines updated their systems and in doing so temporarily (and ...
Intra-Europe flying isn’t that exciting, it honestly is very similar to domestic flights in the USA, therefore if you can go straight to your destination, it is often times worth it instead of hopping around Europe on regional carriers or small jets. Despite this, there is one thing that is ...
After two days of traveling, thanks to my crazy routing SAN-IAH-ORD (Overnight) ORD-LGA, JFK-GVA (9 hour layover to see the city) it was time to finally head to Frankfurt, my final destination. Everything seemed in order and before my fight I headed to the Swiss Business class lounge for a drink ...
Flying on a new airline for the first time is always fun. There's a bit of apprehension—will the service be good? How about the IFE? And the food? You can eliminate a lot of the guesswork through Google, Flyertalk, and blogs like mine, but uncertainty persists. I like long flights—the ...
I've had some struggles with recent travels on United, but (knock on wood) I'm pleased to report my last few trips have been smooth. My trip back home this week from Philadelphia was about as good as can be for a domestic short haul trip.
Dusk behind the ...
This photo is another from a past trip that has brought back many memories of my experiences.
This location is closer to home then many photos in this series and was a brief break on a business trip. This is located within a quiet respite in the midst of a very busy area. ...
Yesterday, I wrote about the first leg of my journey home from the Philippines to the U.S. last fall, from Manila to Tokyo on All Nippon Airways in Economy. This post is a continuation of the trip from Tokyo to Seattle, trying out United's BusinessFirst product for the first ...
Photo of JA 609A, the All Nippon Airways (Air Japan) 767 I flew from Manila to Tokyo on October 29, 2012.
Earlier this winter, I published two of my trip reports on airliners.net reviewing my 787 experience in All Nippon Airways Economy from Seattle to ...
This photo is another from a past trip that has brought back many memories of my experiences.
This one is probably difficult to guess, but here are some clues: This photo was taken near the second largest city on the southern coast of this divided country. It is a major port, ...
