In June 2003, I travelled to Afghanistan and Pakistan for work. A more extensive narrative is available on the blog, but you only ever look at the pictures anyway.

Kabul.

Kabul.

The King's Mausoleum in Kabul.

Rob with kids in Kabul.

A tomb in Kabul.

A bizarre flower that grows on hillsides in Kabul.

Above: a wrecked anti-aircraft gun on the hill behind Wazir Akbar Khan. Below: Rob scans the skies for enemy aircraft.

Two of the armored personnel carriers that litter the landscape.

Above: Hell's swimming pool. An elaborate swimming pool the Russians built on top of the hill behind Wazir Akbar Khan. Below: Hope nobody was swimming in it at the time.

A spiked artillery piece in front of the swimming pool.

Nobody was able to satisfactorily explain this to me.

The battered palace of Dar ul-Aman.

A glimpse of the interior of Dar ul-Aman through the telephoto lens.

Workers cleaning canals in Helmand.

The Mausoleum of Ahmed Shah Durrani. I think. I am sure it is in Kandahar.

Probably t he Mausoleum of Ahmed Shah Durrani in Kandahar.

The second century Buddhist monastery of Takht-e-Bhai in North West Frontier Province of Pakistan. It would be very impressive if all the Buddhas had not been removed and put in the museum.

The only Buddha at Takht-e-Bhai. A copy, of course.

The Pakistani side of the Khyber Pass.

The Pakistani side of the Khyber Pass.

Rob tries out a borrowed AK-47 at the Khyber Pass. All the best mujahedeen wore yellow plaid shirts.