At the moment I am more than 6 weeks in Afghanistan. I must say it is not as bad as you imagine. Of course it is not always safe. The first 34 weeks I was mainly on the two compounds of my company. Sometimes we go to another compound to have a drink. Also we went to an Indian restaurant for the birthday of one of the people on the compound. This Indian restaurant is in the middle of Kabul. The last three weeks I only have been 4 days in Kabul. I am traveling between Kandahar and Mazar.
In Kandahar are also Dutch militaries stationed. Almost every night you have rocket attacks on the base. Tonight we also had one. But I must say you get used to the attacks. On the base you have several restaurants like KFC and TGI Friday. The first thing what you ask if you enter the restaurant is what they do not have from the menu. It is not always easy to get all the food delivered in time. Transports to Kandahar only can go over the road in a convoy. Very often trucks arrive with bullet holes in them.
Mazar is more friendly and cleaner. The Scandinavian countries are stationed in Mazar. Transport for the Norwegian army is done by a Dutch airline Denim. I fly with them to Mazar.
During my stay in Mazar there was a rock concert for the people on the base. It was a nice change.
Last night we went to another base in Kandahar and had a relaxing evening. I almost could not get in when I went back on the base. Tuesday I will fly back and will visit some other bases.