AKDN: Afghanistan Prepare for Tourism Development

The site of the Bamiyan Buddhas in the Bamiyan Valley

The Bamiyan Valley is nestled among green fields, ochre cliffs, and eroded geological wonders in Afghanistan’s central highlands.

In recent history, it is best-known for the Taliban’s destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas in 2001. The dynamiting of the two giant statues, carved into sandstone cliffs along the ancient Silk Road in the sixth century, sparked an international outcry. But tourists continue to be attracted to the site’s cultural riches and ancient ruins that remain, including the network of caves dug into the rock face by Buddhist monks.

Another attraction is nearby Band-e Amir, a series of deep blue lakes that became the centerpiece of Afghanistan’s first national park earlier this year. The park is home to the ibex goat and to the urial sheep, along with the Afghan snow finch, the only bird found exclusively in Afghanistan.

But continued instability and violence in the country and the lack of proper infrastructure is certainly not helping the tourism business in Bamiyan, a remote but generally safe place. “For foreigners, the security situation is not good in Afghanistan. Bamiyan itself is peaceful; but, you know, there’s no direct flights from foreign countries, so everybody must [come through] Kabul by road,” says Hiromi Yasui, the owner of Hotel Silk Road Bamiyan.

“It’s very bumpy [and it takes] around eight-nine hours. In 2007, we had some tour groups from Japan, America, England, but after that the situation [got] very bad.”

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