Battlefield Tourist

As I write, we're flying along at 30,000 feet and on the way to Turkey. I still can't believe I have been invited to be apart of this trip. It is truly a great feeling.
I didn't actually make it to bed until 1:00 am because I was busy packing. Like usual, my mind was more worried about not being a burden to my hosts, so I had to make decisions on what would stay in Kabul and what would go with me. Most of the stuff that stayed was clothing. All of it replacable. Just about everything else came with me packed into a suitcase and my trusty seabag from my Marine Corps days.
I woke up at 5:30 and kept hitting my internal snooze until 6:15 when I made my way downstairs to ensure that Abdullah was up and ready to take me to the presidential palace. Of course he wasn't, but Abdullah is pretty quick and before long, he was ready to go.
I took some quick video of my home for the past three months to show Heidi then loaded up in the car and left for possibly the final time.
At the palace we were exactly on time and waited less than 2-3 minutes for my contact to show up. We followed them into the compound where they dissected my luggage before letting us move on. It was about here that I felt a little off key. I felt like I had too much luggage and I kept feeling that way through the morning. I decided just to forget about it considering the worst that could happen is they would tell me I couldn't go. In the event that happened, I had a backup ticket to Turkey scheduled to leave on Tuesday.
In the compound I diid some waiting with the president's press people, had some tea and then we were off to the airport. It was at this point that I fully began to realize the potential of what I was doing. In fact, I was the only journalist, period, to get the chance to be on this flight. The only journalist. I was told the BBC had their ambassador call President Karzai to request an interview late last night. A request that was quickly shut down. That makes my interview last Friday the only one with Karzai leading into the summit. I'm hoping that turns into sales considering the importance of the meeting.
On the way to the airport is was very clear the president was coming. Along the road every 10 meters or so, were ANA soldiers keeping an eye out for anything out of the norm. At the airport, the security was even heavier. U.S. Special Forces troops were everywhere. Some were in Humvees manning the turret machine gun or grenade launcher. Every car that even hinted at coming toward the airport was aimed at by the highly cautious soldiers. On every roof and the control tower, snipers with tripod mounted rifles scanned the area non stop.
Once again we were searched thoroughly before finally being allowed onto the tarmac. Just inside the gate was a DC-10, the biggest plane in Arianna's fleet, waiting for the president.
The mobile stairs that led up to the planes side door was covered with a long, beautiful Afghan rug. It's at the top of the stairs that I decided to perch myself. I had thought about taking shots from the ground, but the special ops team leader told me to get on the plane for fear (for whatever reason) that I would be shot. Of course in these situations, your only recourse is to comply, which I did... for a few minutes.
Sitting in my seat, I started worrying that if I didn't get a shot here, I may end up with nothing but a plane ride with President Karzai. So after a few minutes I moved again to the top of the stairs, keeping out of sight the best I could until I knew Karzai was coming.
Soon there was the sound of several helicopters coming. At the same time, a typical looking presidential caravan was coming in through the front gate of the airport. So where was Karzai?
Within minutes, the choppers had landed and the convoy stopped. Then, from one of the helicopters, Karzai popped out and walked hurriedly across the tarmac toward the procession of people waiting to see him off.
By this time, I had stepped back onto the stairs and started getting whatever pictures I could. Some a bit shaky, but nothing you can do. Every time someone moved on the stairs, so did I and the camera. At least I was getting exclusive pictures of some sort. At this time, I was getting the shots as gravy, expecting another interview while on the plane. If that came together, I would be styling.
Soon Karzai was on the plane, followed on by the U.S. ambassador Khalidzad and the Afghan Foreign Minister. I took as much video as I could before my escort cut me off. A few minutes later, my escort informed me that no interview would be allowed, making the fact that I got the video earlier that much more important.
Originally, I was told, we were going to Iran first, but then on the plane, they said the flight was just under five hours meaning the plans to stop in Iran were probably not going to happen.
I have to say, flying with the president has its perks: The flight was empty, the plane took off minutes after the president arrived and the food was actually very good.
So with no interview available, I'm able to relax, write my blog and worry about how I'm going to get my luggage. Not being an official part of the delegation, I have no credentials beyond the airplane, making me wonder how it is I'm going to get my luggage, first of all, then how I'm going to get into a position to catch a cab to Ihlas once I do happen to get my belongings. The day before at the Turkish embassy I was warned of this problem, now I just hope I'll be able to pull it off with relatively little hassle. Something tells me that isn't going to happen.