Issue link: https://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/25233
Yearning to check out the war in Afghanistan? So were Isamu lida (Japan), Michel Peyrard and Aziz Zemouri (France) and Yvonne Ridley (England). All were busted by the Taliban and charged with spying. You can get into Afghanistan , but it's going to cost you. Take a look at a map. Pakistan : the border with Afghanistan is closed and would have to sneak through the mountains. Iran, same deal. Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, ditto. But there is a way- through Tajikistan . Just fight the press mob in Dushanbe and hail a helicopter at the border. It cost Jim Michaels of the Times Union in Albany, NY, $300 for a flight he assumes is roundtrip. Maggie O'Kane of The Guardian in London decided she'd try the Pakistan route and pass through the mountains that gunrunners and drug smug- glers have been crossing for decades. After traveling over the Kotal Pass and into Chitral, she met one Shalizada Attaur-Rehmen, aka, the "Prince." Convince him you're worthy and he'll provide safe passage during the six-day trek into Afghanistan for US$400 per person. O'Kane rode into the country on horseback wearing a burqa. Atul Loke of the Delhi-based weekly news magazine Outlook went the straight and narrow and contacted the Tajikistan embassy for assista nce. They'd take care of everything, from food to jeep to translator to security. Asking price: US$l,OOO per day. With relief agencies moving back into the country, you think there'd be opportu- nities to lend a helping hand. But, as Alfred Ironside, a spokesperson for UNICEF, explains, "The bar to become a staff member is extremely high." Meaning, if you don't have extensive internationa l aid experience, lin- guistic capabilities or technical expertise in nutrition, medicine, social mobiliza- tion, water or sa nitation, don't bother applying. What about the heavy lifting? "Local trucking companies handle that, " says lronside.-Michael Cervieri 21