Destination Kandahar...?

I was supposed to fly to Kandahar yesterday to visit our sub-office there, but was prevented by bad weather. It is very irritating - I jumped though all the required bureaucratic hoops and then the flight was cancelled because of snow (which had arrived in Kabul a month earlier than normal).

To travel outside of your 'duty station' (and mine is Kabul) you need two things, security clearance from UN Dept of Safety and Security (UNDSS), and an internal Travel Authorisation (TA) form signed by your immediate supervisor, the chief of mission, HR officer and the security officer. The security officer will only sign once you have been granted security clearance from UNDSS in all relevant locations. To go to Kandahar I needed clearance from UNDSS in Central region (Kabul) and in the Southern region (Kandahar). The request for security clearance needs to be submitted at least 48 hours in advance and includes information on mode of transport, length of visit and where you will stay at your destination. It is only granted if you travel by approved means (no dodgy local airline) and stay in approved guesthouses (no local 'cheap and cheerful' hotels). So once I had confirmed seats on the UN flight and a booking at the UN guesthouse in Kandahar, my clearance was granted and I got the last signature required on my TA.

However, as the signatures were being gathered and the bookings getting confirmed, the weather deteriorated, tipping the balance of the likelihood of me travelling towards nil. It started snowing in the early hours of Saturday morning and continued in the following days with very little let up... It is only today that the clouds have cleared and we once again see the sun. Flights were cancelled on both Saturday and Sunday, and so it was a sense of just 'going through the motions' that I packed my bag and ordered a car for early on Monday morning. On arrival at the airport I checked in - making sure that all sharp objects and liquids were in my hold luggage and I received a boarding pass. Seeing all this I began to feel positive, especially as it wasn't snowing at the time and the visibility was better than the previous day.

The moment was cut short when the man at the check-in said that there was no guarantee that we would travel as the plane that was to go to Kandahar, was coming from Islamabad and it wasn't clear if it had actually departed Pakistan yet due to the uncertainty of landing conditions in Kabul. But a glimmer of hope reappeared when passengers were called to a flight going to Bamyan; they left the departure lounge and boarded a small bus to take them onto the tarmac. But within 10 mintues hopes were dashed once again as all flights were cancelled (and the passengers to Bamyan returned to the terminal building). We were told that the flights were to be rescheduled for the following day. So I gave back the boarding pass, picked up my luggage and had returned to me the 50 Afganis (GB£0.60) that I had earlier paid in departure tax.

Later on in the afternoon, I was informed that the rescheduled flight for the following day was cancelled. Though unhappy to hear this, it didn't come as a huge surprise given the heavy snow that was falling and at least it stopped me from going through the same charade this morning, pretending that I might just fly.

With my forthcoming work commitments (and official holidays), it is now looking like that I won't get down to Kandahar until early January. Which will require a fresh round of signatures and requests for security clearance...