29-01-07 Hoyerswerda

Hoyerswerda, a cliche of communist architecture. I've never seen so many highrise buildings in such a small town.

28-01-07 Brand

One of the pro's of East Germany: Tropical Islands. This massive hall was built to produce zeppelins in the early nineties. The investors lost confidence so the place was left empty. Now it's been converted into a holiday paradise with pools, waterslides, tropical restaurants and beaches where you can even camp overnight.

27-01-07 Frankfurt Oder

An anti fascist demonstration in Frankfurt am Oder, on the border with Poland.

26-01-07 Schwedt

East Germany in winter. A perfect time to experience the drawbacks of living here. (Although there are plenty of pro's too).

18-01-07, amsterdam

Back in Amsterdam where my boat suffers one of the worst storms in years. The canal looks like the North Sea at times.

16-01-07, Kandahar

The last stretch of the trip. Leaving Kandahar. My two fellow travellers:
Marleen in front of the Kandahar Burger King.
Raymond catching the last sun before heading back to freezing Kabul.

15-01-07, Back to Kandahar

Our helicopter landing in Deh Rawod. My camera is in dire need of servicing by now.
Flying over Taliban country.
Pretty country though.

14-01-07, Deh Rawod

Two brothers in dispute over 3 trees that have to be cut. Their adult sons attacked eachother with knives. The commander of a Dutch patrol managed to calm them. There'll be a meeting with the district leader to solve the problem.
Girls in Deh Rawod.
Yours truly. (photo by Mark Friebel)

13-01-07, Deh Rawod

An Afghan contractor, attending a Dutch bid for some building projects in the Deh Rawod region in Uruzgan.
A 4 year old girl at the joint Dutch American 'SickCall' near Deh Rawod. Every day local Afghans come here for medical care. The Dutch are reducing the service and are helping to develop the local hospital. this girl almost lost the tip of a finger in a door accident.
A few minutes later she was outside again.

12-01-07, Deh Rawod

Daily life on Camp Hadrin near Deh Rawod.
The only Shell filling station in Uruzgan is on the Dutch base.
Trying to stay in shape.
Guard at the main gate to the camp.

11-01-07, Tarin Kowt

Going through the wadi in Tarin Kowt.
Along the riverbed.
Searching for mines.
These different landscapes are just a few kilometers away from eachother.

10-01-07 Tarin Kowt

Afghan Police is trained by the dutch Army in Tain Kowt.

Smooth for a good cause. This soldier's head is shaved by one of his collegues. The money he pays for it goes to cancer research.

09-01-07 Tarin Kowt, Uruzgan

Uruzgan from the air.
The mountainrange that seperates Kandahar from Uruzgan.
Arrival in Kamp Holland, the army base in Tarin Kowt, Uruzgan. Nuenen, (top sign) is where I grew up :-)

08-01-07, Kandahar

One of the two female apache helicopter pilots in the Dutch Airforce.
F16 just after finishing a mission off Kandahar Airbase.

With this picture I won a third prize in the Dutch National 'Zilveren Camera' photo contest, for documentary photos.

07-01-07, Kabul

We're being loaded onto a Hercules transport plane for the 1hr flight to Kandahar. The flight was really comfortable unlike all the horrorstories we heard before.

06-01-07 Kabul

The entrance to the old airport terminal which is now the gym of the armybase. The new commercial terminal is on the other side of the airport.


On saturdays there's a big Afghan market near the entrance of the armybase. A great way to stock up on souvenirs.

05-01-07, Kabul

A Belgian Hercules takes off from Kabul airport. We arrived here at 6.30 am after a night without sleep. We're waiting for a flight to Kandahar which will go probably on sunday.


Marleen and I, after we got our flackjackets and helmets. The heavy flackjacket together with my 15 kg backpack with photo equipment and thick wintercoat make me feal like an overpacked mule. (photo by Raymond v.d. Boogaard)

04-01-07, Sharjah

Yes! We're really on our way! It's nearly midnight and we're in Sharjah now; an airport in the United Arab Emirates. We're waiting here so we'll arrive in Kabul during the day.

03-01-07, Eindhoven

Together with journalist Marleen Kuijsters I got on the KDC10 plane of the Dutch Airforce at the army airfield near Eindhoven. After flying for 3 hours we had to turn back because we were not allowed to fly over Turkey. Apparently we didn't have the right permissions. Better luck tomorrow!

02-01-06 Tarin Kowt from the Air

Tarin Kowt is the capital of Uruzgan, a province in central Afghanistan. Close to the city is a Dutch Armycamp that I will be visiting the next 2 weeks. In this Google Earth picture you can see the city and an airstrip, but the base is not visible.