July 19, 2008
I spent a wonderful afternoon with two friends up in Bagh-e Babur park which overlooks Kabul city. The tomb of first Mughal emperor Babur is in this park - he requested to be buried in Kabul because he loved the city. There were lots of Afghan families picnicking and relaxing in the sun. And there were lots of small boys with carrom boards for rent. We asked one boy to set up the carrom board - a game that is popular in Afghanistan and involves flicking a counter so that it knocks other counters into the pockets in the corner. Our boy crumbled up some biscuit so that the board pieces actually moved smoothly... I've been told that people usually use chalk!
We had a relaxing afternoon with incredible views over Kabul. But we heard that, just a few days later, a suicide bomber blew himself up just outside the park (he was supposedly intending to enter the park but might have been put off by some security men who approached him). It just shows how it's not always easy to totally relax at the moment in this incredible city.
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