24 MAY 2007 – T-Minus 2 Hours

24 May 2007 – T-Minus 2 Hours

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard KamAir flight 0006 – non-stop service to Kabul. For those of you wondering, yes, this is the very first 737 ever built. As we climb out, you may hear a slight squeak coming from the rear of the airplane, that would be a pressurization leak, but not to worry, our cruising altitude today will only be 29,000 feet. In the event of an emergency, please do not attempt to use the aft most exit on the left-hand side of the airplane, as the large Igloo coolers for the refreshments are blocking the door. For your comfort the air conditioning will be turned on once we begin our taxi, however the system is inoperative past row number six and so we kindly ask that the passengers seated in the forward most seats to vigorously wave their briefing cards backwards so the passengers in rear of the plane can have some air. We apologize for the inconvenience. Also, the flies you see onboard are certainly annoying but rest assured, are in no way harmful. The captain today has programmed our flight into the portable Garmin GPSMap 296 clipped to the instrument panel and has estimated our flight time to be two hours and 20 minutes.”

Alright, so maybe only about half of that was true. I’ll let you decide which half.

Maybe it was closer to 3/4 true.

So here I am, on the final leg. Anticipation, more than anxiety, is probably the best way to describe how I feel – with the exception of this airplane, in which case anxiety is probably the better word. We did get airborne, which while on the ground I still had my doubts. At least it’s a Boeing and not an Airbus, but now that I think about it, we do still need to land. It’s definitely a far cry from the Emirates 777-300ER with all the personal entertainment bells and whistles in the seatbacks on the flight from Joberg to Dubai.

Dave and I had about 24 hours to spend in Dubai. Just like the Travel Channel boasts, it’s a modern city with all the amenities, and in a lot of ways reminds me of Las Vegas – so we decided to play tourist for the day and do some sight-seeing. We visited the Mall of the Emirates, the Barj Al Arab hotel, and the Gold Souk. The Mall of the Emirates is the mall with the indoor downhill ski slope. Impressive? Uhhh… I guess. I don’t know what to say other then it’s a big frozen tunnel with snow on it. Other then that it was like any other mall. From there we went to the Barj Al Arab – the giant hotel that looks like a sail and seen in nearly every photo of Dubai. Security wouldn’t let us past the front gate without a reservation so we took a couple of novelty photos and were on our way.

The real fun came when we decided to go to the Gold Souk. After our taxi driver rear-ended some guy at a stoplight we arrived at a covered street where various gold items, mostly jewelry, are sold and traded. Our cab dropped us off and a teenage kid immediately approached Dave asking if he wanted to see some watches – Dave’s a bit of a watch aficionado and said sure. The next thing I know we’re being lead through a back alley, into a building, up four flights of stairs, to a door that was locked from the inside. Security cameras poked out from the ceiling and the teenage kid rang the doorbell a few times. With a click the deadbolt unlocked and we were invited into small room lined with floor-to-ceiling shelves of phony Louis Vuitton handbags on three of the four walls. Three men greeted us and presented us with a multitude of bogus designer watches: Rolex, Breitling, Omega – you name it and they had it. “American Navy men come here to buy watches” one of the men boasted. I’m sure they do.

Although they were friendly enough, getting out was a bit of a challenge, so Dave asked if they had a blue and red Rolex GMT Master – apparently relatively rare in the states. Of course they didn’t but made several phone calls trying to track one down. Dave’s plan worked, our excuse to leave presented itself, and we were able to walk out guilt-free. We spent another 30 minutes browsing the shops – some of the gold jewelry is really quite impressive. By the time we decided to head back to the hotel the word was out and every other hawker in the Souk trying to sell us a blue and red Rolex GMT Master.

Admittedly I was a little nervous as we climbed the stairs – having no idea where we were going or what exactly we were doing; but for whatever reason I never really felt like I was in any danger – even when we were in the “office.” The men weren’t at all aggressive and I didn’t necessarily feel trapped, although the whole experience was a bit surreal.

This morning’s flight was scheduled for an 8 a.m. departure. Our briefing from HQ suggested that we arrive early because the flight often leaves early – a good thing because as 8 a.m. rolled around we had already been airborne for 30 minutes. As I look out the window to scenery that resembles the American southwest times about 10, I can’t help but wonder what was so important about this desolate, inhospitable land that would warrant the Russians to engage in war over it for so many years. There is nothing here – no shipping ports, no agriculture – nothing obvious anyway. Just mountains, rocks, and sand. There must be more to that story.

Well, the moment of truth. We’ve begun our descent. If you’re reading this it means I survived.

TO BE CONTINUED…