Counting weekends we have 9 days off for Eid ul-Fitr. What is Eid ul-Fitr or Eid as it is abbreviated? Well the month preceding Eid is the Muslim Holy Month of Ramadan. Ramadan is a month in which Muslim's fast. Each and every day from sun up to sun down Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking, and anything that is considered in excess or ill natured. Each evening they take Iftar. Iftar is often done as a large extended family or community. (Source:Wikipedia.com)
Ramadan has been an interesting thing for me. School schedules were adjusted to allow for Iftar breaks so students could break their fast. Also Ramadan is such a big deal that folks do not do much of anything including activities on campus. So it was a huge adjustment in what is normally a busy month for college Student Affairs folks. A true learning experience.
So I have a few days off. What am I going to do? Well, since it is our only chance to do so until Thanksgiving at the earliest, I decided to get out of Kabul. Where to go? My initial thought was just get to Dubai and hang there, eat Western food, and all that good stuff. Well Eid ul-Fitr translates from Arabic a Festivity of Breaking a Fast so festivities abound all around the Islamic world. That translates into also the time that the hotel rates go from the HOT summer rates back to the "normal" rates. So to stay in Dubai is a bit on the expensive side. So I thought what to do? I could pay about $400 in hotels and just roam Dubai again or I could take advantage and go somewhere else. I decided what I was really in the mood for was some get out of the Muslim world, let my hair down, and go somewhere with a nightlife. So once again, where to go? I happened to click on one of the offers from one of the major airlines out of Dubai and there it was. A city with a world renowned night life; BANGKOK. Wouldn't you know as well, Bangkok, Thailand is on my bucket list of places to visit. The cost including roundtrip airfare and hotel for 3 nights was not much over the cost of the hotel for the same period in Dubai. It took a bit of thinking but I did it.
Well there is a catch to every deal. Right? I did not really notice it when I hit "Book It" on Expedia.com but the catch to this one was a layover in Doha, Qatar. A 7.5 hour overnight layover. So here I sit at 3:30 a.m. with four more hours to kill in the Doha airport. Oh well, I will arrive in Bangkok tomorrow evening their time groggy from the road but a good night's sleep and I will have two full days of Bangkok fun. Although this layover sucks to say the least, in the end I think it will be worth it.
Oh, and the trip started off well. Pamir Airlines out of Kabul was doing a "lottery" of boarding passes. Me never being the lucky one just through mine in and put my headphones back on. I saw them give away a few lower prizes but when it came time for the grand prize of $180 I did not even see them draw. Then the flight attendant tapped me on the shoulder to make sure the name on the boarding pass was mine. Surprise, I won the big prize. WOW, what a way to start a trip!
Ramadan has been an interesting thing for me. School schedules were adjusted to allow for Iftar breaks so students could break their fast. Also Ramadan is such a big deal that folks do not do much of anything including activities on campus. So it was a huge adjustment in what is normally a busy month for college Student Affairs folks. A true learning experience.
So I have a few days off. What am I going to do? Well, since it is our only chance to do so until Thanksgiving at the earliest, I decided to get out of Kabul. Where to go? My initial thought was just get to Dubai and hang there, eat Western food, and all that good stuff. Well Eid ul-Fitr translates from Arabic a Festivity of Breaking a Fast so festivities abound all around the Islamic world. That translates into also the time that the hotel rates go from the HOT summer rates back to the "normal" rates. So to stay in Dubai is a bit on the expensive side. So I thought what to do? I could pay about $400 in hotels and just roam Dubai again or I could take advantage and go somewhere else. I decided what I was really in the mood for was some get out of the Muslim world, let my hair down, and go somewhere with a nightlife. So once again, where to go? I happened to click on one of the offers from one of the major airlines out of Dubai and there it was. A city with a world renowned night life; BANGKOK. Wouldn't you know as well, Bangkok, Thailand is on my bucket list of places to visit. The cost including roundtrip airfare and hotel for 3 nights was not much over the cost of the hotel for the same period in Dubai. It took a bit of thinking but I did it.
Well there is a catch to every deal. Right? I did not really notice it when I hit "Book It" on Expedia.com but the catch to this one was a layover in Doha, Qatar. A 7.5 hour overnight layover. So here I sit at 3:30 a.m. with four more hours to kill in the Doha airport. Oh well, I will arrive in Bangkok tomorrow evening their time groggy from the road but a good night's sleep and I will have two full days of Bangkok fun. Although this layover sucks to say the least, in the end I think it will be worth it.
Oh, and the trip started off well. Pamir Airlines out of Kabul was doing a "lottery" of boarding passes. Me never being the lucky one just through mine in and put my headphones back on. I saw them give away a few lower prizes but when it came time for the grand prize of $180 I did not even see them draw. Then the flight attendant tapped me on the shoulder to make sure the name on the boarding pass was mine. Surprise, I won the big prize. WOW, what a way to start a trip!
Photos, of course, to come....
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