Afghanistan 1975

(Kabul, Bamiyan, Band-i-Amir)

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I am a Canadian who visited Afghanistan in July 1975. I travelled overland from India to Europe when this was still possible.
	After my visit, invasion, revolutions and bombing campaigns made big changes in this part of the world. I arrived as a passenger on a local bus travelling up the Khyber Pass from Pakistan. Both of these photos show the Kabul River. The second one is near the main Kabul bus station.
	In a country with little infrastructure left, car donations, bicycle donations and the like from the west are appreciated.
	Afghanistan's main cities and towns became controlled by the Taliban government in the nineties. This is group is the remnants of the fighting "freedom fighters" that were supported with enthusiasm by Western governments when they were fighting Russian invaders. Within a few years they were spun into "terrorist fanatics" practising an extreme religious fundamentalism.
	After enjoying the modest comforts of Kabul I headed north to Bamiyan. This isolated spot in the Hindu Kush has a massive cliff face riddled with ancient caves of Buddhist monks. Among these were two immense standing Buddha statues. One was 50 metres tall. The faces were removed in quite ancient times by an Islamic campaign against idolatry. I was guided up through the complex of caves and tunnels until we emerged at the statue top. I took a photo of the lush valley below and promised to return one day for a longer visit. But I will never see these sights again. In early 2001 the Taliban troops wired these statues up with bombs and dynamite. They aimed their modern weapons -- many of them supplied their former American allies in the war against Russia -- and blasted these ancient monuments from existence. Can modern ideas and thoughts really be so readily destroyed? The Taliban and their al-Qaeda comrades have certainly tried to do so.

The Afghan story does not have obvious answers for outside observers. Anyone who has visited the rugged Hindu Kush countryside or read local history should realize the futility of invasion without local support. The mighty Russian army failed to conquer Afghanistan in the 1990's. In the 19th century the British Empire failed twice to conquer. The Second Afghan War left just one British survivor from 19,000 invading troops.

In Afghanistan -- as in most of Central Asia -- loyalties are to tribal groups and not to nations. Afghanistan and Pakistan are quite modern demarcations on the map.

Even before the invasions and revolutions, this was hardly a place in which any invading army should feel comfortable. Recent events show once again that Afghanistan can be invaded. This is hardly the first time in history. History also shows just how hard this country is to unite, rule or fundamentaly change.

Afghanistan is extremely rugged. The mountains rise to more than 5,500 metres. The climate is extreme. The men are tough. Weapons are everywhere. The clan system is quite impeneterable to outsiders.

From Bamiyan I travelled in a truck/bus over a high pass to the mountain lakes of Band-i-Amir. They are situated high in the Hindu Kush mountains at more than 2000 metres elevation.

This next group was provided to me by an Internet friend. She was one of many travellers through central Asia in that 1968 to 1978 time period.

The lake water flows over a natural marble dam into the lower valley of the Kujruk river. While there are many small streams flowing in these views, the water was extremely clear and difficult to photograph. The limestone edge is about ten metres high.

This includes a morning view looking down the river valley from the lowest level lake.

There are five lakes and natural dams in the chain: Band-i-Khamar, Band-i-Gulaman, Band-i-Aibat, Band-i-Panir and Band-i-Pudina.

My old Fodor's Islamic Asia book says that "Band-i-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."

I travelled from Kabul to Herat by an 16 hour trip on a modern Mercedes bus. This was about eight hours more than advertised. There was one driver. The heat was dreadful. The road was in places excellent, in other parts it barely clung to mountain canyon walls. The driver had a single cassette tape that was played repeatedly at full volume. The driver was very tired. I was thankful to arrive alive in Herat city before dawn.

Herat had the driest air that I have experienced. It also had some of the world's tastiest bread. This bakery had its oven in the floor. The baker flipped the flat loaves into the customer's hands as his assistant slapped new loaves on to the oven's walls.

I found some wonderful Afghan photos on the web.
Luke Powell's Afghan Folio shows some wonderful photographs taken in that brief 1970 to 1978 time when so many travellers were wandering Asia.
A Berkeley University hydrologist -- also surnamed Powell -- toured the country in 1978. There are a wide range of photos at Geo-Images.

Daniel Chay is a French Language site with some fine photos.

In 2008, CBC broadcast n informative documentary on the work of Flora McDonald and Future Generations Canada.
Carol McNeil and crew took some recent interesting photos of Bamiyan and Bande-i-Amir Lakes.

Bamian, Bamyan, Bande-Amir, Band-e-amir, Banda Amir, Ban Bande Mir, Aphganistan, Afghanestan, and Afganistan
are alternate spellings for places mentioned on this page.
This web site is a personal hobby.