Back in the capital, I remarked to Lt Gen Nick Carter, the senior British general and deputy commander of all Nato's forces in Afghanistan, that despite its bustlingstreet life the city seemed edgier and more dangerous than when I had first visited in 2003.
But with the recent arrival of five-star contemporary favourites such as the St Regis and or the Four Seasons, located along bustling Market Street, the high end has come down to sea level and into buzzy SoMa, the acronym for the once-gritty-now-booming area south of Market Street.