Bamiyan Off The Beaten Path

Ever since the deposition of the Taliban, music is everywhere. Radio Bamiyan plays all the favorites from Pakistan, India and Iran, in additon to Afgan music.

It is easy and cheap to rent a band, too. For about $25/night five musicians and a singer will come to your guest house and play for 2-3 hours.

Pretty much anywhere you go in Bamiyan district, you will find people rebuilding their lives and schools are an important part.

Its backbreaking work, done by hand and rudimentary tools, but they are sturdy and a great pride for any village.

The remains of a minibus like ours at the bottom right of the picture. The minibus had last year driven over a anti tank mine, and blew the whole thing many feet off the road killing the 18 occupants inside and shredding the vehicle into pieces. Just before this,our driver had stopped and a discussion took place with another Afghan as they were unsure if this road had been de-mined or not. It was the first time we started to get nervous as we drove past many "marked" live mines.

"Band-E-Amir holds its place among the wonders of the world. The most famous things often fail to move; Band-i-Amir is above matters of taste, it is beauty itself".

From an old guidebook on Afghanistan, the above comment sums up Band-E-Amir lake well. The waters of the lakes are a shockingly unique blue that seem very bizzare. But it's genuine natural freshwater. Our journey took us from Bamiyan town on a long minibus ride to the lakes early in the morning over high plains and rough roads. The depth of the lake was dizzying. From the very edge of the lake, it was a straight down drop into the depths. No gradual increase in depth. Immediate, as the water lapped the edge. Band-E-Amir was a beautiful place to relax and take in the spectacular scenery,eat freshwater fish at lakeside,and drink the pure wate straight from the source while water cascaded over the edge of the lake on on side like an overflowing bath tub.