Armed soldiers among indelible memories

After a 90-minute flight from Nairobi in Kenya, I finally got my first glimpse of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, through the plane's blurry and scratched window glass, which looked like a naughty child had drawn all over it.

The peeling paint on the edge of the fold-down tables was another sign of the aircraft's age, along with the noise of loose fittings vibrating throughout the flight.

With at least five big whomps as the tires hit the ground, the aircraft came to rest as the passengers burst into a warm round of applause. Buses had to come down the runway to pick us up, since the plane had been unable to land where it should. Half an hour later, by which time we were all on the buses, an ambulance arrived in case any of us had been injured.