...The flight out to the FOB was very interesting. As soon as we cleared Bagram it was as if I was flying in a time machine. The further we flew from the air base, the further back in time we seemed to travel. For the first 10 minutes of flight or so, there was a fair number of buildings and small towns that could easily be seen. The reason for this is because the helicopter never seemed to fly higher than 1000 feet or so above the ground. Plus, the Chinook has a large ramp, for loading and unloading, in the rear of the aircraft. This ramp remained open for the duration of the flight with one of the flight crew seated on the open ramp manning a machine gun. There are also gunners on the left and right side of the aircraft. I was able to take some nice pictures and video from the windows and the open ramp.

As we neared the mountains that surround Bagram my journey back in time continued. The small villages were replaced by compounds. These compounds appeared to be made of mud brick, and were themselves surrounded by walls of mud. Inside these compounds I could see several buildings, none of which had windows, electricity, or indoor plumbing. But what struck me the most was that inside the compounds there was green foliage, trees, and crops. The different shades of green would jump out at you due to the contrast with all the sand, dirt, and rocks that were outside the walls. When we entered the mountains some of the compounds were built right into the side of them. Every now and again I would see goat herders tending to their animals. As we moved farther into the mountains the compounds were replaced with small groups of tents. Again, every once in a while, I would see people and animals on the sides of the mountains, or in the valleys...