I've been told the one good thing about the Afghan South is that it is warm in the winter. For the rest of the country it's cold. Damn cold.The difference between damn cold and next to unbearable cold is the fact that Afghanistan also lacks indoor heating...or good insulation. Plus, there's power cuts. A recipe for some intense shivering especially at night.
And if you're in the Central Highland region up in the mountains in the center of the country, then you are guaranteed to freeze. It's acknowledged and accepted that -30C is the norm during the winter.
And that's when you need to meet the bukhari. A rudimentary heating system conisising of a metal stove, a piping to let the exhaust out--preferably a chimney, but an open window will do as well--saw dust, oil and a match. You light the bottom of big pile of saw dust and it burns thru the night. Surprisingly, it kicks some heat, or rather the one I had in my bedroom did. A friend of mine said she could have straddled hers and still would have chattering teeth.
It's a major fire hazard, environmentally unsafe and a saving grace for the hundreds stranded in the freeze of Afghanistan. The second would definitley have to be Vodka--Russians were truly on to something and is probably the only good thing they left in their wake of withdrawl back in 1989. Of course, copious amounts of Stolichnaya do not even begin to compensate the number of trees cut down by the Russians for firewood that has left Kabul the virtual dust bowl it is today.
The bukhari is not illegal or able to be confiscated by Afghan police raids, too--so, its you most reliable method for staying warm in the dreaded winter months of Afghan Nation.
