Afganistan

We are entering the larger niche before 10:30 AM. The only parts of the statue left are its soles. There are pieces of the broken statue in the surrounding caves. These pieces do not have any visible form, because the statue was built from porous material. It is not clear to me, if these pieces could be used for the statue reconstruction.

I hear 3 peoples speaking English and think there are other tourists here. However, these people are employee of some NCO from Kabul. These 3 are originally from Bosnia and they are surprised because they see the first tourists in Afghanistan. They have never see one here before.

The tickets for the niches are sold in a little house. Inside they want to know our names and where are we from. Somebody starts to give only his first name and everybody else follows. So I am “Val from California.” I get a handwritten note with Val in Arabic script “V. /\ “ I know that “.” means “a”. Our guide pays 300 Afg (Afghani) for each of us. Local people pay 60 Afg.

The second smaller niche is still emptier than the first. Unidentifiable pieces of its statue are stowed under wooden roofs. If there are no other pieces somewhere else, then there is not too much left from this statue. On the left site of the niche there are stairs chiseled inside the wall to some galleries. From here there is a great view of a citadel “Shahr-e-Gholghola” (“City of Screams”) on a hill behind the town.

We are returning to Bamiyan at about 11:15 AM. On the fields before the town locals harvest potatoes. Little farther away there are crumbling houses of the old town.

After siesta, at 4 PM we go to visit “City of Screams” founded by Sassanians dynasty from Persia in 6th century AD. It got the name “Shahr-e Gholghola” (“City of Screams”) after the Genghis Khan took the citadel in the year 1221 and massacred its inhabitants. At present the fortress is being reconstructed. Number of donkeys bringing material. I use the path stamped by them to get to about the mid of the steep hill. Most of the reconstruction is done here. Italy pays for it. It is still high to the top. I am taking pictures and video of the activity around me. After an hour we get back to our hotel in Bamiyan.

Early in the morning on Sep 25 we fly from Herat (with changing plane in Kabul) to Mazar-e Sharif in the north of the country. We land there in the afternoon. Our first stop is at “Tomb of Ali,” the premier attraction of Mazar-e Sharif. Ali is Muhammad’s relative. Other Muslims think he is buried in Najaf, Iraq. The city is also known for thousands of white pigeons. Following morning we leave for a daytrip outside the city. We stop at 120-year-old “Abdel Rachman Palace,” then at ruins of a fort. Later we drive among high mountains with rusting remnants of war material from the conflict with Soviets. At Samangan we enter “Buddhist stupas” carved from rock. By night we are back in Mazar-e Sharif.
On Sep 27 we leave Mazar-e Sharif and drive on very bad roads over the Hindu Kush Mountains. There is an occasional stop so our Afghans can pray. In the afternoon at Salang Pass at elevation 3,363 m above the sea level our minibuses enter a 3 km long tunnel built by Soviets. At night we are in a poor guesthouse in Panjshir Valley. In the morning a visit to a tomb of Commander Massoud who beat Soviets several times in this Valley. By night we are in our guesthouse in Kabul.
On Sep 29 early morning flight from Kabul to Bamiyan located at the center of Afghanistan. The runway on Bamiyan airport is not paved. After we are taken to a hotel, there is a walk though the town on foot. Next morning, we go to a place, where used to be gigantic 2 ancient statues of Buddha. Taliban blew them up. Now there are 2 large empty niches. After lunch we visit “Shahr-e-Gholghola” (City of Screams) on a hill above Bamiyan. The city was destroyed, and people slaughtered by Genghis Khan in 1221. Italy pays for current reconstruction. The third day in Bamiyan we have a daytrip to the “Band-e Amir Lakes.” We reach the lakes at noon. It is both a beautiful nature place and a recreation area. We stay several hours. Then a drive back to Bamiyan. The last day in Bamiyan we have a trip to citadel “Shar-e Zohak” (Red Fortress). It is high above the valley and only few climb up. The second sightseeing is to “Valley of the Dragon.” Here Ali was to kill a dragon. It is quite a wild looking place.
On Oct 3 morning our group flies from Bamiyan to Kabul. From Kabul airport we go for another tour of this city. First stop is in “Chicken Street” with souvenir and antique shops. Then we visit a bookstore selling books in foreign languages. All foreigners in Kabul know this store. After lunch we see an old “British Cemetery”, “Nadir Shah Mausoleum”, only from outside “Bala Hissar Citadel” and the old city walls. From here we drive to an “Animal market,” then “Land Mine Museum” and “Bibi Mahru Hill.” The hill rises from the city. A park is being built on its spacious top. One can see most of Kabul from here.
On Oct 4 morning we take an Afghan “Safi Airways” to Dubai. Here our group splits. Some go to Amerika, others to Europe, one to Australia and I go to Karachi, Pakistan.

Travel office: Wild Frontiers – a British Company
Who took part: There were 11 American, European travelers and one Australian, a British leader Richard, an Afghan tour guide Moobin, drivers and a guard Shirin with a Kalashnikov.