walking in Kabul

Like most cities in the world, Kabul  is home to a chapter of the global social club the Hash House Harriers.  HHH follow venerable traditions began by British expats in Malaysia in the 1930s.  They lived somewhere with bad food (hash), decided they wanted to go for a run and ritualistically drink large quantities afterwards.  

And so it goes in Kabul, that every Friday a cluster of foreigners sets out on a trail (either running or walking) set by a 'hare', wandering the streets of Kabul.  This part was actually quite a treat.  It was surreal walking around with a pack of internationals.  But we tramped through small allies  well off the main roads we are able to take in from the safety of our armor plated SUVs (ok I don't have one of those but even our little sedan wouldn't fit down one of these roads).  We took in the sights, the sometimes less than pleasant smells, and chatted with some of the area children.  

If you can see in the background, there is a tall diving board on top of this hill.  This is known as swimming pool hill.  The Russians thought they'd like to take a swim on the top of this hill.  But they didn't figure out how to trek the water up the hill so it was mostly empty. In later times it was a popular site for executions off the diving board... hmm.  
There were more mellow sights along the way, like Kabul's ubiquitous roses--which grow everywhere and seem incredibly hardy.  
After the walk/run, they have a social event or 'down down' at someone's house, where hashers drink rather too much in a scene that reminded me of my faint memories of rugby culture (only they drink with their left hand since it's haram).  I'm not sure it is my cup of tea, but then they were not drinking tea.  Another bizarre moment where you can't  believe you are in Kabul.