As if the famous Buddhas weren't highlight enough, the enchanted valley offers another attraction - the lakes of Band-e-Amir.
The distance from Bamiyan is not particularly far, just about 80 kilometers, but the terrain is tough. Even more steep climbs, even more potholes and cross gullies, even more steep walls on both sides of the road. And you feel like you're in a desert. [Years later I will be in Ladakh having a déja vu experience, there also a world of stone and silence and nothing else].
And so, once again, we climb uphill in a convoy, with the two orange VW buses in front and the brave little 2CV behind it. And once again we enjoy hospitality in Ueli's and Silvia's car and are quite happy that we are saved the hardships of driving.
Although we have already seen and marveled at a lot, God knows, we are repeatedly irritated anew by the environment, which at first glance seems hostile to life. And yet, life has searched and found its way here as well. One wonders what prompted the people who settled in this area to take this step. Was it hunger, displacement, hardship?
Humans are strange and incomprehensible creatures. They tend to do things that contradict logic. Perhaps, like the Bedouins in the desert, the Inuit in Greenland, people were touched by the strange beauties of the landscape. By the rugged walls, the gray-yellow-brown hills on the horizon, the amazing shapes, far away or very close, on either side of the valley. Or simply - by the beauty of the lakes of Band-e-Amir.
Curiously, the turrets, at the very top of the hill ranges, display holes reminiscent of Emmental cheese. So the question arises - how did they come into being? After all, it can't be that a number of monks pitched their tents there.
Well then, one of the eternal mysteries of the world.
The Band-e-Amir Lakes
After an arduous journey (not for the both of us, of course, we are the stress-free passengers) we reach the first of the six lakes (or is it seven? An eighth lake is said to have dried up) of Band-e-Amir.
For a change, let's let our Bing chat prove what it can really do. Who could have thought of something like an AI chat in the dark ages of 1974? Well, that's how time passes.
The Band-e-Amir Lakes are a chain of six (seven?) lakes in the Bamiyan province of the Hindu Kush in Afghanistan. Similar to the Plitvice Lakes, the lakes are dammed by naturally formed travertine dams. Since 2009, they have been designated as Afghanistan's first national park. The travertine dams were formed where water seeped into mineral-rich rock and deposited over time. The lakes have an intense blue color and are a popular tourist destination.
That doesn't sound bad, we couldn't have formulated it better. However, there is a note in the corresponding Wiki article about the formation of the lakes, which has nothing at all to do with geological contexts. Especially the Band-e-Panir lake, which was created by the help of cheese loaves, is worth a closer look.
The thing with the cheese loaves
When Mohammed, the founder of Islam, died in AD 632, his father-in-law usurped religious power in Arabia. Ali, the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law, whom many regarded as a much more worthy successor, had to go into exil.
Speculation about Ali's whereabouts resulted in the following legend: With his faithful servant Kambar, Ali reached Afghanistan before Islam had taken root there. In the valley of Band-e Amir, the two were surprised by an evil prince who wanted to capture them. Cursing, Ali escaped over a mountain, from where he threw a stone down on his pursuers. The fall of this stone triggered a landslide, which in turn dammed the river flowing through it, thus leading to the formation of a lake.
This lake and its natural dam were named Band-e Haibat. With his sword, Ali knocked loose another boulder, creating Band-e Zulficar. At a hint from his master, Kambar created the third lake by filling up Band-e Kambar. Then Ali threw several loaves of cheese prepared for him by the women of the area into the river, creating the Band-e Panir. Slaves, whom Ali redeemed from the oppressive rule of the tyrant, created the Band-e Gholaman. The sixth and final dam Band-e Pudina formed when Ali threw fresh peppermint herb into the river.
Build a dam with cheese loaves or peppermint herb? Who comes up with such ideas?
All shades of blue
And so the first lake suddenly appears before our surprised eyes. Even knowing the incomparable beauty of this natural wonder, all that remains is silent amazement.
Nature is and remains the best architect, the best builder, the best artist of all. This is something you have to be able to create first. Cheese loaves or travertine dams regardless.
This lake, whose name we do not know, has a dark intense blue. Maybe it's the cheese-loaf lake called Band-e-Pamir, maybe it's the one dammed up by fresh peppermint herb. Everything needs a name, even lakes and even if they are remote.
The next lake is brighter, almost turquoise blue, we try to classify the shades of blue and fail. No matter, pigeon blue would also be a possibility.
Because blue is not just blue. This color is basically a universe of shades of blue all by itself. Many things are possible, from shimmering ice-water blue to ultra-strong midnight blue, which can hardly be distinguished from black.
Overnight in the tea room
We reach the village where we can spend the night. We are now at a good 3000 meters, the thin air is noticeable.
A number of surrounding mountains reach up to 3700 m. Due to the altitude, the area around the lakes has a particularly extreme continental climate with continuous frost from November to March. This quickly becomes noticeable as soon as the sun disappears behind the mountain ranges towards evening. The offer of accommodation is limited, but at least there is a tea house where tourists can spend the night, not very comfortably, but at least in the nice warmth. However, for lack of enough beds, on the floor.
Why not, we're used to worse.
And so, at nightfall, random people, most of whom you've hardly met, are lying on the floor, some snoring blissfully, others complaining about their aching backs or other body parts.
Song from 1974: Free - Mourning sad Morning
And here the trail continues... at the Buzkashi
