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Kabul Afghanistan September 7, 1954 Dear Cousin Will, Afghanistan has always fascinated me, and at last I have been able to get here. When I left Geneva, I was not sure that I would get the necessary visa. On September 1, I left Peshawar in the legendary North West Frontier Provinces of what is now Pakistan. I came by mail bus through the Khyber Pass. Unfortunately, photography is strictly forbidden there. There is a fort or observation port on the almost every hill. There are also British regimental tablets adorning some of the mountain sides. In that respect only, it reminded me of the highway through Gettysburg. The bus I travelled in was Afghan, and quite slow. Of course “highways” in Afghanistan are not conducive to speed. They are absolutely the worst I have ever seen. Pakistan’s, by contrast, are by far the best I have seen in this area. To get back to the bus: it follows no set schedule. The other passenger (an Algerian archaeologist) and myself were told that we would spend the night in Jalalabad. Instead we merely “dined” there at an open air native restaurant where we followed the old procedure of looking in the pots and pointing at what looked least repulsive. When we finally stopped for the night, it was at one of the numerous teas houses along the road. (The Afghans, Paks, & Iranians drink great quantities of tea). The driver and his assistant slept outside on the cots where the people here usually squat to eat. The Algerian and myself stayed in the bus. I slept on the mail sacks which where in the aisle. Actually, it was not too bad. In fact it was better than being outside because it gets quite cold at night. For example, Kabul is at an altitude of 6000 feet, and during the day, the temperature here is 90° or so, while at night it goes down to about 50°. Coming into Kabul (pronounced “Cobble”) it is quite mountainous with beautiful scenery. There is a river flowing along side the road. Most of what one sees here this time of year are dry river beds. As far as Kabul itself is concerned, there is not much here. It has wide streets – several are paved – as well as the many bazaar alleys. Actually the bazaars do not contain much of souvenir interest. They do have some rugs, but Afghan rugs run to black and red combinations which I do not especially care for. When I come back through Iran, I hope to get my- self a little one. Kabul also has quite a few “”jueys” which are streams that flow down sidewalks, etc. and are considered by the natives as an all-purpose water supply. Tomorrow I am going by bus to Paghman, a nearby mountain resort town. I will come back tomorrow night, and then leave the next morning by bus for Kandahar. After that, I go up to Herat, and then back to Iran. When I came through Iran, it was an extremely pleasant surprise. I realized that anti-foreign feeling had calmed down quite a bit from the days of Mossadegh [Mosaddegh] a year before. I figured that I would cross the country on a sort of “live and let live” basis. as far as the local population was concerned. However, I found them to be extremely kind and helpful. For example in Isfahan which is the real sightseeing center of the country, I had a 2 day guided tour. It happened that on the way down by bus from Tehran, we stopped for tea. An Iranian
Object Description
Rating | |
Title | Bill Castor letter to William S. Paddock, 1954-09-07 |
Item ID | ISL_GEN_G031_B1_F30_1 |
Description | Bill Castor letter to William S. Paddock from Kabul, Afghanistan on September 7, 1954. He discusses his recent trip to the Middle East including stops in Pakistan, traveling through the Khyber Pass on the way to Kabul, and Kandahar, Afghanistan as well as his visit to Tehran, Iran. |
Subject |
Correspondence Middle East Travel and description Tourists Tehran (Iran) Kabul (Afghanistan) Khyber Pass (Afghanistan and Pakistan) Paddock family |
Creator | Castor, William |
Date of Original | 1954-09-07 |
Time Period |
1950s (1950-1959) 20th century (1900-1999) C.E. |
Geographic Location | Kabul, Afghanistan |
Format of Original | Manuscript |
Item Type | Text |
Language | English |
Repository | Indiana State Library |
Original Collection | G031: Harriet L. Paddock collection; |
Digital Collection | Indiana State Library Genealogy Collection |
Sub-collection | Genealogy Manuscripts |
Rights | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/ |
Copyright Notice | Copyright Undetermined |
Use Statement | This image may be used for personal, educational, and not-for-profit purposes, such as study, research, classroom teaching, or review, without permission when cited using the Required Credit Line. For other intended uses or questions, contact the Indiana State Library: http://www.in.gov/library/ask.htm |
Required Credit Line | Harriet L. Paddock collection, Genealogy Division, Indiana State Library |
Digital Date | 2017-05-12 |
Digital Format | JPEG: 400 dpi; 24-bit color |
Technical Metadata | Epson Expression 10000XL; Adobe Photoshop CC |
Description
Title | Page 1 |
Item ID | ISL_GEN_G031_B1_F30_1a |
Transcript | Kabul Afghanistan September 7, 1954 Dear Cousin Will, Afghanistan has always fascinated me, and at last I have been able to get here. When I left Geneva, I was not sure that I would get the necessary visa. On September 1, I left Peshawar in the legendary North West Frontier Provinces of what is now Pakistan. I came by mail bus through the Khyber Pass. Unfortunately, photography is strictly forbidden there. There is a fort or observation port on the almost every hill. There are also British regimental tablets adorning some of the mountain sides. In that respect only, it reminded me of the highway through Gettysburg. The bus I travelled in was Afghan, and quite slow. Of course “highways” in Afghanistan are not conducive to speed. They are absolutely the worst I have ever seen. Pakistan’s, by contrast, are by far the best I have seen in this area. To get back to the bus: it follows no set schedule. The other passenger (an Algerian archaeologist) and myself were told that we would spend the night in Jalalabad. Instead we merely “dined” there at an open air native restaurant where we followed the old procedure of looking in the pots and pointing at what looked least repulsive. When we finally stopped for the night, it was at one of the numerous teas houses along the road. (The Afghans, Paks, & Iranians drink great quantities of tea). The driver and his assistant slept outside on the cots where the people here usually squat to eat. The Algerian and myself stayed in the bus. I slept on the mail sacks which where in the aisle. Actually, it was not too bad. In fact it was better than being outside because it gets quite cold at night. For example, Kabul is at an altitude of 6000 feet, and during the day, the temperature here is 90° or so, while at night it goes down to about 50°. Coming into Kabul (pronounced “Cobble”) it is quite mountainous with beautiful scenery. There is a river flowing along side the road. Most of what one sees here this time of year are dry river beds. As far as Kabul itself is concerned, there is not much here. It has wide streets – several are paved – as well as the many bazaar alleys. Actually the bazaars do not contain much of souvenir interest. They do have some rugs, but Afghan rugs run to black and red combinations which I do not especially care for. When I come back through Iran, I hope to get my- self a little one. Kabul also has quite a few “”jueys” which are streams that flow down sidewalks, etc. and are considered by the natives as an all-purpose water supply. Tomorrow I am going by bus to Paghman, a nearby mountain resort town. I will come back tomorrow night, and then leave the next morning by bus for Kandahar. After that, I go up to Herat, and then back to Iran. When I came through Iran, it was an extremely pleasant surprise. I realized that anti-foreign feeling had calmed down quite a bit from the days of Mossadegh [Mosaddegh] a year before. I figured that I would cross the country on a sort of “live and let live” basis. as far as the local population was concerned. However, I found them to be extremely kind and helpful. For example in Isfahan which is the real sightseeing center of the country, I had a 2 day guided tour. It happened that on the way down by bus from Tehran, we stopped for tea. An Iranian |
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