No VW's over here

[Sylvester]

There are a lot of Tata's though. Yesterday I drove a Mitsubishi minivan that according to my driving my Bus, was having a rear bearing issue badly, to the point I asked for another vehicle and got a worn Humvee. It ran but oh boy it creaked groaned and did not move easily.



The mountains of Afghanistan. Very rough in some places. Down in the valleys and on the ridges there are villages all over the place. I doubt a lot of them have seen a Westerner up close.



This is a village near Kandahar. Pretty neat contrasts.



There are old riverbeds all over the place here. The Afghans dig holes in the riverbeds to dig up water, so there are holes all over the riverbeds. If you look close you will see the villages below.



I will try and get some pictures of some of the vehicles over here, we were behind a truck yesterday that I was amazed was running, let alone hauling stuff.

[Amskeptic]

The mountains of Afghanistan. Very rough in some places. Down in the valleys and on the ridges there are villages all over the place. I doubt a lot of them have seen a Westerner up close.

Beautiful and severe. Amazing how humans make their way wherever they may be. Stay safe!
Colin

[Xelmon]

I can only imagine the service sticker in the door of that humvee. :D

Code: Select all

Last serviced at ... when it broke  ... miles
Bring it back at ... when it breaks ... miles

Sweet pictures man, must be nice and warm around that neighborhood.

[glasseye]

There are a lot of Tata's though.

Yah, but are they bodacious?

Damn fine aerials, Sly. Send more.

Keep safe.

[hambone]

Wha? What are you doing over there? Guard duty? Sheesh watch it man and safe travels...

[Sylvester]

There are a lot of Tata's though.

Yah, but are they bodacious?

Damn fine aerials, Sly. Send more.

Keep safe.

Now that you mention it, bodacious! I will use the video part of the camera next time.

Here are some shots of the MiG graveyard. The Afghans kind of condensed it a bit, they used to be all spread out. Now they are supposedly tearing them up and recycling them.

This is the tail gunner of a MiG bomber, I will have to find out what kind.



Bomber nose and wing, and truck parts. No telling what is under all this stuff. Maybe a knock off Soviet VW Bug?
(Notice the cans at the bottom filled with bullet holes)



I call this MiG Alley. Wonder if they spin right up?



If you climb over all the sharp metal, the barbed wire, the leftover mines and booby traps, and past the Afghan guards armed with AK-47's, you too can tear off a piece of Russian Soviet history for your mancave! Or better yet, just keep back and take pictures of them! Sure wish I could have tore off a Russian star, but it is not worth a limb or my life.



I will get some more pictures as I go, I have a few months. Glasseye, sure wish I had one of your telephoto lenses here.

[Sylvester]

Looks like an Italian Vanagon mix. This passed me last week, just got a shot as it rolled by.



Georgia troops represented in Afghanistan.

[chachi]

...

[Sylvester]

Some more shots from the plains of Afghanistan. This was morning a few days ago. I keep my camera handy just for this reason. It was maybe 30 F when I took it. It is cold here at night, but it warms up to the 50's during the day. The mountains in the distance are dirt really. There is few trees here, no real sand, just dirt and grit. It gets everywhere, including the keyboard and delicate innards of my MacBook I type on here. If it makes it through this hostile deployment, I will retire it to the safety of my office.





One of our Airman driving a golf ball on our little range. Someone donated a lot of golf equipment to us last year, so the previous rotation built a driving range with a net to stop the balls. Well, you are here for awhile, and idle hands are the devils workshop.



And sunset in Afghanistan. Off in the hills lies a culture I see vaguely in the eyes of the Afghan pilots and military I meet.



Tomorrow I fly to Cheboygan (I say that because I can't spell or pronounce the town's name). I will get some more pictures and post them here. There in Cheboygan is a town on a hill, it was very beautiful and I can't wait to see it and the mountains again. The town looked like this:

[Amskeptic]

Some more shots from the plains of Afghanistan.
Cheboygan is a town on a hill, it was very beautiful and I can't wait to see it and the mountains again.

Your shots look a lot like the American southwest . . . without the Flying J Travel Plaza neon signs.

Town photos, please, if they let you . . .
Colin

[Sylvester]

Some more shots from the plains of Afghanistan.
Cheboygan is a town on a hill, it was very beautiful and I can't wait to see it and the mountains again.

Your shots look a lot like the American southwest . . . without the Flying J Travel Plaza neon signs.

Town photos, please, if they let you . . .
Colin

Indeed, everyone has a AK-47 or M-16 here around the bases. No one has ever minded me taking pictures, but I am down the hill behind a fence and guards near the plane. Pictures from above are many, I will get some on the ground.

[Amskeptic]

Some more shots from the plains of Afghanistan.
Cheboygan is a town on a hill, it was very beautiful and I can't wait to see it and the mountains again.

Your shots look a lot like the American southwest . . . without the Flying J Travel Plaza neon signs.

Town photos, please, if they let you . . .
Colin

Indeed, everyone has a AK-47 or M-16 here around the bases. No one has ever minded me taking pictures, but I am down the hill behind a fence and guards near the plane. Pictures from above are many, I will get some on the ground.

I was HOPING to see you on the video feed during the Inaugural Commanders Ball last night.
Colin

[Sylvester]

I was HOPING to see you on the video feed during the Inaugural Commanders Ball last night.
Colin

Not much of a chance here at a FOB. Maybe a big secure base like Baghram. I did not make it to Cheboygan yesterday, we almost did but the weather and clouds socked us in in the valley and we had to turn back just five miles from it. I did get more pictures, I will post them later.

[satchmo]

Some more shots from the plains

Please stop that, Sylvester. Because I know where you are I freak out when you start your post with "Some more shots."

Perhaps "some photographs" or "a few pictures" would be a be better way to put it. Anyway, I do enjoy your posts.

Hope all is well. We (and your family, I'm sure) await your safe return.

Tim

[Sylvester]

Ok, no more shots. Only pictures. Here are a few from yesterday. We had a lot of ground time due to the weather, it was cloudy and made for a lot of turbulence. Here I am in Herat next to a Russian made Afghan Air Force Mi-17. I don't think this one flies anymore, but they are sturdy and reliable.



Here are a couple of Mi-17's taking off. These have clam shell tails for lots of cargo.



Me waiting next to the Cessna for the clouds to clear so we could fly. You can't drink too much of the water, not many places to pee in the plane. All the gear in the truck did indeed fit on the plane.



This is the guys we were to fly to Sheboygan, but did not because of the clouds. We were bouncing up and down in the turbulence of the valley, and the Afghans were looking at me kinda scared. Being me, I made a hand gesture of up and down, and said "bouncy bouncy!" Not sure they understood, but really there is no other way to explain issues of flight in Dari. And my Dari is terrible!



I have some other pictures from my good camera of the flight, the mountains, the valley and the clouds. I can post them later. Hopefully I can get back up next week. It beats staring at the same base for months!