AFGHANISTAN: Car bombs, chaotic airports and the prospect of evening tea with a warlord might make most tourists a little queasy. Not, however, 84-year-old Gertrude Lysinger, writes Declan Walsh in Herat
"It's been interesting," said the Philadelphia grandmother as her tour bus whizzed through western Afghanistan, passing murals of mujahideen martyrs and an abandoned fighter jet.
While thousands of US soldiers are scouring Afghanistan for Osama bin Laden, a dozen US elderly tourists are touring the country, after spurning warnings from their friends, family and the state department.
"My kids think we are nuts," said 79-year-old Richard Glenn from California.
Mary Lloyd, from Phoenix, Arizona, added: "My daughter said, 'You're flying into a war zone. I'm never going to see you again'. She asked for my last words."
Challenging the perception of Americans as a stay-at-home nation, the 12 are seasoned travellers. "We want to see Afghanistan before they start putting up Hiltons and McDonald's. We want to get out and smell the land," said Dr Glenn.
The tourists have encountered only generosity from ordinary Afghans. "It's been very touching," said Dick Bogart. They travelled west to Herat, where they discovered the city had nearly been engulfed in a battle between the governor and a rival warlord two weeks earlier. Undeterred they had an audience with the governor, Ismail Khan.
"It was a very powerful experience," said Mr Bogart.
For tour leader Gary Wintz (57), transportation has been the greatest challenge,
"This is one of the most difficult countries," he said. "But this is an exceptional group."
The tour also prompted reflections on America's image abroad; many were openly anti-Bush.
"My main object in life is to get Bush out of the White House," said Connie Pencall. "He is a terrible, terrible man. We are not welcomed anywhere any more."
Janet Moore, an Englishwoman who runs a tour company in California, had the idea of bringing the first Americans to tour Afghanistan, for $6,340 a head.
Her stepfather was a colonial officer who lost an army to Pashtun tribesmen in 1939. After his death last year, she travelled to Afghanistan with her 70-year-old mother and daughter. They were overwhelmed by the hospitality of the people.
The travellers' adventure ends today when they cross the Khyber Pass into Pakistan. "Don't worry," joked Mr Wintz. "We'll be okay. And if we pass Osama, we'll give him a ride." - (The Guardian)