Road Safety Afghanistan!

Kabul, Thursday 5 August 2010. I receive a phone call on my mobile at around 7 pm. After the usual four to five repeated attempts, I barely managed to hear that my local afghan friend had planned a trip out to Sarobi the following day- Juma day- and that he wanted to know my availability! I said yes, though curiously enough the name of the place rang some bells but I couldn’t recollect then. The next morning I was sharp ready at the time agreed between us; and I was so glad to see him albeit he arrived a couple of hours later. I was reminded I no longer am in the UK!
Well, we then set off for our journey. Oh let me introduce you to few others who joined us for the ride. Another Canadian friend, AH, who considers himself a born adventurer, was the main brain behind this trip. We were also accompanied by AH’s friend FB from his past association. Unlike me a poor economist, both of them are road engineers! Whist FB is a grey haired bloke; AH is losing his all black with every passing day. AH blames the chemicals found in the water here and claims the day he reaches back to Toronto for the start of his usual breaks they start growing back. Although I didn’t see that for the last six months, but let us not argue and accept that he is telling the truth! By the way my local afghan friend is called “Doctor”- yes everybody calls him “Dr”. Infact it was AH and FB who introduced me to him at the first instance. Is he a doctor? Well, he is a surgeon with 20 years’ of medical practice behind him. Currently he manages road contracts with help from his four lovely brothers. Wow what a contrast; from a well established surgeon to an engineer? Hey don’t let me remind you that I am in Afghanistan now.
Back again to the start of the journey. Oh I forgot to mention security! Were we venturing out without any security? Yes we were...sorry. I was told "again" when you are with locals you needn’t worry. Also, Friday is a holiday for “everyone” concerned here! So we all sat in a posh looking brand new four wheeler. FB sat in front with Dr, who consciously pointed it out to all of us that he is a safe driver. Cheeky I usually am, I asked him, “I hope the benchmark for your comparison isn’t the local drivers”? He didn’t boast anything about his driving skills for the rest of his trip. The journey started. Music was put on. Hey I recognise the music; infact the language too. Oh it is Bollywood music….contd.