In Mazar-i-sharif the turbaned young man sat cross-legged on the floor deliberately sorting through papers while ignoring the two people who were awaiting his services. The filing continued another 10 minutes before the Protocol Officer of the Taliban's Ministry of Foreign Affairs directed his attention towards the proffered passport.
Strong nerves and limitless patience are prime prerequisites when dealing with the Taliban. This was the second attempt to secure my exit visa, and my plane was leaving in just over two hours.
If getting permission to leave was a hassle, formalities surrounding my arrival had been more even more formidable. The problem about visiting Mazar-i-Sharif is due to its proximity to the front line in the conflict between the Taliban and Northern Alliance. Visits by foreign journalists are rare and viewed with suspicion.
The Taliban's short history in the northern region has been bloody as they struggled to subdue the ruling warlords. In May, 1997 the liberal Mazaris, fiercely resentful of the Taliban whom they regarded as Islamic fundamentalist foreigners from the south, massacred 600 and took 1,000 prisoner.
Small wonder then that the current masters of Mazar are on edge. From the airport I was taken to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where an array of turbaned figures deliberated over me, clearly perplexed by the fact that I had arrived without advance notification from Kabul.
Finally I was taken to meet the President of Foreign Affairs, found reclining on cushions upstairs in what appeared to be his bedroom. After much deliberation, "Excellency" allowed me to travel to Faryab province to document the drought.
But he insisted I must stay at a hotel rather than with a foreign aid organisation. Also, I had to be escorted everywhere by a Taliban "translator".
The Barat hotel was in darkness when I arrived in advance of the 9 p.m. curfew. Groups of bearded men sitting around gas lights were glimpsed on the way up four flights of stairs.
The fan started working soon after my arrival, signalling the resumption of electricity.
Next morning, a fighter jet above the city was a reminder of the nearby conflict. Local employees of an NGO tuned in to the Iranian radio station to hear the news about the latest round of fighting.
Last month a former ruler of Mazar, Gen Rashid Dostum, returned from exile and rumours are rife that his recent alliance with opposition leader, Gen Ahmad Shah Masud, threatens the Taliban. "If Dostum gets his way in the next few months, the Taliban will be out of Mazar," said one Western observer. And Mazaris admit that Dostum's return has prompted a rush to get passports - in order to flee when worst comes to worst.
Such predictions may be wishful thinking, however. Most analysts doubt that a serious offensive by the opposition will materialise. On the other hand, the fighting this year has started more slowly than expected, perhaps due to what a Western diplomat described as "some kind of financial problem inside the Taliban machine".
The Taliban's cash shortage may be partly due to the UN-imposed sanctions. But speculation is increasing that they have other problems.
"There is a lot of uprising talk around - more than over the past two or three years. There is a perception that the Taliban are off-balance ... that there is something wrong with them," the diplomat said. "The hardliners seem to be gaining ground."
A series of hard-line actions - from blowing up the Buddha statues in Bamiyan earlier this year despite fierce international condemnation, to this week forcing members of the country's Hindu minority to wear identity tags - has resulted in their increasing isolation.
The peace process is at a standstill and hopes seem slight of an early conclusion to the long stand-off between the Taliban and the West. Even their long-time supporter, Pakistan, has failed to persuade them to adopt policies that would make them more acceptable to the outside world.
An end was in sight to the nerve-racking process of acquiring my exit visa. The Consular officer was loath to tear himself away from his scrutiny of a hand-written Arabic script. As the minutes ticked by I was certain I would miss my plane.
Finally he peered at my passport and ponderously stuck in the precious exit stamp. He turned to me with a disarming smile and asked: "And what is Ireland like?"
Agencies add:
The UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, and other top UN officials expressed outrage and dismay at the tag ruling. In a statement through his spokesman, Mr Annan said: "such an order would constitute a grave violation of human rights and recalls some of the most deplorable acts of discrimination in history."