The route from Paris to Istanbul and most of the travel across Turkey was by train. In 1973 I was able to do the Istanbul to Trabzon connection by boat. Nice modes of travel – neither of which are available at my destination. Afghanistan is land locked and never managed to install much rail line.

My traveling companion on some of the last miles of the Paris to Istanbul train. After I had been fasting for most of the trip he offered me some of his Slivovitz. That made the next few hundred miles something of a blur.


