So our trip out of Afghanistan began on 2 November when we left from Camp Stone in Herat to Camp Phoenix in Kabul. The flight went relatively smoothly, and having a 2-star General on board, the guy in charge of all US forces in Afghanistan actually, made a quick flight even quicker. And after landing at Kabul International Airport (KIA) I was expecting a 2-hour wait for the shuttle to Camp Phoenix, and I was pleasantly surprised to see the shuttle waiting for us.
We ended up sitting around with little to do at Camp Phoenix but enjoy the last of the free Baskin Robbins ice cream with lunch and dinner. We were first told we would have to fly to Bagram, a 10-min flight from KIA, to catch our flight to Kuwait. But then the military does come to its senses at times and we had a flight scheduled directly from KIA to Kuwait. We woke up before the sun on the 7th, shuttled to the airport and checked in for our flight that we boarded a little after 9 am. For some reason, first the plane was to heavy to leave then the weather kept us from taking off, we sat on the plane for close to 4 hours. No food on board, just water as we anxiously awaited our departure. And leaving Afghanistan is the only thing we hoped for regardless of how late and how hungry we might be, and we eventually did take off on our 3.5 hr trip a little after 1 pm
So here I am now in Kuwait waiting for the 14th to come and my flight to Amsterdam at 1:35 am with follow-on to NYC and Norfolk, VA.
Here are my final pictures from Afghanistan, a country I hope never to see again. There are a few from our trip to the Herat airport, my last sunrise from Kabul on the 7th, a happy me, and our plane from Kabul to Kuwait.
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