An invitation to visit the country described as the most hostile place on the planet would give most people cause for alarm. Nick Morrison describes his impressions of Afghanistan.

WHEN you're heading for a country known as the most hostile place on Earth, it is perhaps natural to feel a little apprehensive. Although my first reaction on being asked if I wanted to go to Afghanistan was 'of course', my second was 'do I really?'

The opportunity to visit Kabul at this time in its history really did live up to the once-in-a-lifetime tag normally so glibly bandied about, but thoughts of danger lurked somewhere at the front of my mind.

But the truth was that it was not nearly as frightening as I'd anticipated. Not because I was brave - a laughable thought - but because a kind of calm really did seem to have settled over the city. The fact we were always accompanied by armed guards may have helped, too.

This is not to say there weren't a few scares. On a stopover in Bahrain, we learned that rockets had been fired at Kabul airport the night before. And having to make a rapid descent to land, escorted by fighter planes, to avoid missile attack, added to the excitement.

On arrival, we were warned of the danger of scorpions, 11 kinds of venomous snakes and the disfiguring disease Leishmaniasis, carried by the sandfly, as well as the regular dangers of malaria and hepatitis. We were not to know that this was scaremongering, mostly.

We were also told of the habit of Afghan children of hiding pins in their palms before shaking your hand, and the new craze sweeping the city of sticking dirty hypodermic needles into the backsides of passing Westerners.

The only other moment of adventure came as our plane took off from Kabul, for the 12-hour journey back to the UK. As the giant C17 transporter took off, ground staff fired off flares, which might have caused more alarm if it hadn't been 4am.

We later understood the flares were to distract a missile tracking system which had locked onto our plane. Apparently, this is quite common, as Afghan warlords, mostly friendly, test out their fancy equipment. You just have to hope they don't decide to give the fire button a go as well. But, mostly, Kabul appears to be a much safer place than many people think. The locals seem more curious than hostile and, while guns are a common sight, incidents of their use seem to be getting rarer.

A dusk foot patrol through one of the most deprived areas of the city did make me feel a little vulnerable for a few minutes, but you soon relax as you are surrounded by children wanting to talk to you and shake your hand. You even forget about the pin warning after a while.

Maybe the presence of our escort helped give us a sense of calm, maybe the risk has been exaggerated, maybe no one took seriously al Qaida's offer of £70,000 for the capture of any Westerner. Whatever the danger, it was an experience never to forget.