August 2nd, 2019 Kabul, Afghanistan

6AM I woke and it was already hot. They served some jam with bread for breakfast. We went on our way.

The car parked at the host's home

8AM We went to the palace first. It was being renovated for their 100th independence. I was only interested in seeing the original one anyway. Thereafter, we went to the museum. They didn't charge us anything. It wasn't impressive anyway. We then went for lamb kebabs. I paid for it and it was okay. We then went to see the Afghanistan flag, which was just boring.

Flag on a hill

2PM Here is when the pain began. The driver wanted money and lots of it. I was surprised by this since he let me stay at his home. He wanted 50 USD. I didn't let him have it so we haggled for 30 minutes. He took me to the Azizi Bank ATM. My card was taken by the ATM machine. I then offered 34 USD and 20 TJS and they finally agreed.

2PM I was stopped by immigration. They stopped me due to interpol warning, which I also encountered at Thailand during the transfer yesterday. But they did let me through because I was missing my flight. I tried to reason with interpol supervisor, who insisted on confiscating my passport, which was lost and found. I had no choice and got through customs with my valid passport. I got on the phone with Officer Nicholas Unger. He asked me go ahead on the flight to Pakistan.

3:30PM I went through all the security and only stopped right before boarding. They didn't find the Afghani visa on the passport. They sent me back to the airport. This resulted me missing the flight.

The path to the embassy

4PM I wasn't happy and headed to the American Embassy. I waited for 3 hours as the people there went back and forth about what to do with me. The US state department does not provide housing was the word. I was told to leave and find my own place to stay and call the next morning between 8:30AM and 9AM.

8PM I took a taxi to Shamshad hotel and took a room for 20 USD.