Afghanistan & Egypt in the time of the plague

[netllama]

Continuing a periodic, ongoing series of trips to the world's deserts, I recently returned from a three week trip to Afghanistan (yes, srsly) and Egypt. To be honest, this trip was originally planned back in late 2019, when COVID19 was not even a thing. The fact that it happened at all is something of a minor miracle. It required entering four different countries (and four negative COVID19 tests), on top of some tricky logistics to pull off. There were a total of 12 different flights during the 3 weeks that ths trip comprised. 

To put it mildly, Afghiantian is a fascinating and complex place.  Whatever you know about the country is, at best, only part of the full story.  Egypt is more myth than fact for most people, and is also a complicated place.  This trip involved driving through Taliban controlled territory, a vist to an emergency clinic in Cairo, and a real life version of Mad Max Fury Road.  There was also a ton of amazing food, spectacular scenery, and religious & historical sites that are hundreds or thousand of years old.

But enough of my rambling, you're prolly here for the photos, right?  Photos below are tagged by country (EG=Egypt, AF=Afghanistan):

Panjshir Valley (AF)

Valley of the Kings, Luxor (EG)

Heading off to school (AF) 

Philae Temple, Aswan (EG)

Qait Bay Citadel, Alexandria (EG)

Blue Mosque, Mazar-i-Shariff (AG)

Dendara Temple, Luxor (EG)

Red Pyramid, Duhshara (EG)

Rest stop, Panjshir Valley (AF)

Kabul at dusk (AF)

Hatshepsut (EG)

Step pyramid, Saqarra (EG)

Red pyramid, Duhshara (EG)

Goats (AF)

No roads (AF)

Trucker strike (AF)

Temple grounds, Aswan (EG)

Bridge (AF)

Abu Simbel (EG)

3500 meters up enroute to Kabul (AF)

Giza pyramids (EG)


Nothing that I've done on this trip is in any way impossible or special if you wanted to do it too. Yes, it requires money, and the effort required to deal with trip logistics, but beyond that its not difficult for anyone to accomplish, if they were interested.  My point is the world is a big, fascinating place.  Death valley is definitely a spectacular place, but there are many other parts of the world that are equally amazing.

The photos above are merely a sample of the 600+ that I took during the trip.  You can see the rest here.

I'm happy to answer questions about any part of the trip.