Bamyan exploration

Despite the provincial team being a bit of a mess, they were great hosts! We went up “PT Hill” (no, not named for me, but for physical training) at 6am on our last day. This took us to one of the highest peaks in the valley, closer to the snow-capped mountains where we could look out over the surrounding villages. The mountain still was pock-marked from mines that had been dug up, and completely barren. However, trees had been planted to mitigate the possibility of avalanche. Upon return from the climb of more than 1000ft up and down over 2.5 miles, we ate, then ran two more lines of effort to wrap up that component of the plan, then headed out. There used to be two ancient Buddha statues in the cliffs just across the valley from the PRT (you could actually see them from the base). We drove over and climbed around for more than 2 hours, through stairs carved into the cliffs (actually inside, not just on the face), darting in and out of one old temple after another. It is estimated there are more than 12,000 of the caves. I feel like a great climber should head there with a grant and map them out while exploring. I’m sure there have got to be some which are close to intact. Some of them were 9-10 stories up off the floor of the valley. I have no idea how the people got there to carve them, or moved in and out. When the Muslims took over the valley after the first millennium, they destroyed all the idols they could find-just as Christians did in many places…interesting how either religion thought they could win the trust and respect of the people by destroying what they held dear. Perhaps that is why the crusades didn’t work for either and the only reason that Muslims are growing faster is because of their higher birth rate than Christians? Regardless, these small caves led pilgrims, holy men, students, and traders to two immense Buddhas that UNESCO declared a world heritage site. Unfortunately, the two remaining “idols” weren’t appreciated by the Taliban. Initially, they were tolerated, but when the Bamyan people (primarily Hazara instead of Pashtun like most Taliban) didn’t submit to Taliban rule, they decided to attack the Buddhas and shelled them with artillery and tanks. This only chipped away at their façade, so the story told by the locals are that 3 men were kidnapped by the Taliban, drug up to the top of the “Big Buddha” and one was pushed off, falling 100+ feet to his death. Next, the Taliban turned to the remaining two friends and asked if they wished to follow him, when they said no, they gave them the option of climbing around the Buddhas and setting charges to blow them out of existence. To this day, there are still huge chunks of rubble, but unfortunately, they are beyond recognition. Not only did this destroy a World Heritage site and an ancient “treasure” of Buddhists, but it also destroyed the ability for them to lure tourism and tore the heart out of the Hazaras.

In between the base and the cliffs housing the Buddha remains lies another historical point. A small outcropping that juts out of the middle of the valley floor, providing sight-lines down 5 major valleys-including the main one where the Silk Road ran. It is on this hill that Genghis Kahn killed his nephew and named the mountain blood mountain. I did hear a few stories, but will need to verify the background of his fury with the nephew.

Peace...