Driving to Mazar

I had to head up to Mazar i Sharif to do some stuff for work recently.  One of my colleagues was going to bring up one of our vehicles, so rather than fly up like I normally would (or any sane foreigner would), I opted to take the drive with my coworker.  There are a few areas on the road up where it is still a bit dangerous - for different reasons. The Salang Pass is probably the most sketchy area though. There is one really long tunnel with no ventilation, and when there is a traffic jam you can literally die from asphyxiation.  If you make it past the Salang without suffocating or being crushed in an avalanche, then you just need to make it through a few Talib hangouts and you're home free.  Unfortunately my camera bugged out and decided not to work until after we got past the Salang, so the only pics in the Pass are from my phone. But, overall the drive was a trip of a lifetime and I'd happily take the 10 hour drive again any day.

Sunrise over the Salang Pass

heading into the Salang

Black Dog (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120610/)

buses coming from Mazar to Kabul - these dudes drive like maniacs

Near Baghlan - Taliban like to chill in this area apparantly

rolling hills

Chishmi Shir - Taliban hide in the trees here and attack convoys like the one in front of us here :)

In the hills of Samagan

pretty breathtaking stuff

ouchy

Natural springs coming from under this mountain

Abdul bought this cassette on the way, pretty wild jams

there is a railroad in Afghanistan? crazy...