Bamiyan

Bamiyan is officially my favorite place in Afghanistan so far.

I went Nov. 1-3 to hire a new Lincoln Center Coordinator. The Center up there is at the university, so that's where we did the interviews. We actually arrived as people were walking out because the Ministry of Health had just declared the medical state of emergency after Afghanistan's first H1N1 death and closed all the schools for the next three weeks. This picture is of the university campus. It is the only university in the province and I believe it only offers agriculture studies. I imagine it would not normally look so deserted.

Eric, our PRT officer, was kind enough to play tour guide and run me around so I could see the area. We went hiking, walked around the little shopping area, and generally had fun.



We went hiking at a place called Dragon Valley. One of the hill crests has a huge crack running all the way down it. The legend is that Ali, Prophet Mohammad's grandson (?), broke the dragon's back. Regardless of whether you believe that story or think it's erosion from the water that still runs through the crevice, it's a stunning landscape.


It's the kind of place you look around and just wonder "What, possibly, caused that geologic feature?" Looking at the rock inside the crack, it really looked like petrified ocean bed to me. I'm pretty sure it's not, but it really looks like it.

On the way down, Eric decided to try a different "road" from the one we came up. These pictures are of the "road".

There were CLEARLY times that I did not think we were making it down. One of my guys who was with us actually had to get out of the car and guide us through parts of the road because the wheels were so close to the EDGE OF THE FREAKIN' MOUNTAIN. For the record, I did not pass out, cry, vomit, or even scream. At least not out loud. It turns out you can be scared enough to go stone silent and pray you're not doing anything to distract the person driving. I did spend quite a bit of time trying to subtly shift my weight away from the drop.


It does not feel like a country at war up there. It is so much more peaceful than Kabul. The people are super friendly, and seem happy and content. The poverty is extreme, but I saw more people smiling and laughing as they went about their business than I have anywhere else. The kids all smiled and waved at us. Even the animals were in better shape than other places I've seen. The picture of the donkeys is actually of them playing in the field - I've certainly never seen that in the rest of the country.

Then, there's the PRT (Provincial Reconstruction Team) - they live a different life than most of the rest of us. The accommodations are certainly not luxury. In fact, they had their first days of hot water in a week while I was there. But, they can walk on & off the base. They have a dog that they take running up the surrounding hills. There is something so nice, and normal, about seeing someone run with their dog. Oh, and since the New Zealanders (who run the PRT) have their own Navy cooks as chefs, the food is much better too.

For those who've heard of Bamiyan, it is as beautiful as you think it should be. Everywhere you turn, there is another breath-taking vista. Eric said he never gets tired of it. I can understand why. I can also understand doing a 2-year tour there - something I can not comprehend in Kabul. The one black mark is the empty holes in the cliff face where the giant Buddha statues used to be. One more reason to hate Bin Laden. Word on the street he's the one that actually ordered them blown up. And if you ask the people in the area, they say it's because legend said there was gold hidden inside the statues, not because they were "idol worship" as claimed by Al Qu'eda. Power hungry bastards.

On the stick-it-in-the-extremists-face side, Bamiyan has the only female governor in the country. I met her very briefly and from everything I've heard, she's great. Check her out - Habiba Sarabi.