Sitting high in the Hazarajat region, the heart of the Hindu Kush, Bamiyan is one of the most beautiful places in Afghanistan. Isolated in modern times, Bamiyan was the centre of the Kushan Empire, one of the greatest periods of Afghan history. Once one on the highlights of the tourism trail in Afghanistan, Bamiyan is now more famous for what it has lost. In April 2001, the Taliban used dynamite and tank fire to destroy the two monumental statues of Buddha carved from the cliffs of the Bamiyan valley over 1500 years before. Now the region is peaceful, hoping that tourists will return.

Where to Stay and Eat
There are several hotels in Bamiyan. Along the main street, the Zohak Hotel is the best, charging around US$20 for a room, or a third of that for a dorm. Cheaper and not as good are Mama Najaf and Marco Polo Hotel. On the hill above the town, facing the cliff are the Bamiyan Hotel, run by the Afghan Tourist Organisation, and the new Roof of the World Hotel. Both have been recently refurbished. It's possible to eat at any of the hotels, although there are several chaikhanas along the main street.

Until recently, Bamiyan's mountain isolation meant that external communications were by satellite phone. A GSM signal for mobile phones can now be picked up from Roshan, and reportedly, internet access is available at the Bamiyan Business Centre on the eastern side of town.

Transport Connections
Minibuses from Bamiyan leave from outside Mama Najaf's Hotel. It takes around seven hours to reach Kabul. There are usually minibuses serving the villages near Band-e Amir for those wishing to visit the lakes. Intrepid travellers may travel from Bamiyan to Herat through the Koh-e Baba Mountains. For more information on this, see the Central Route. There is no direct transport to Mazar-e Sharif; it is quicker to head to Kabul.

Security
Bamiyan is one of the most stable areas in Afghanistan, and security is generally, fully good. There is a Provincial Reconstruction Team from New Zealand based in Bamiyan city.

What to see
Modern Bamiyan is a small town shadowed by the high limestone cliffs that form the boundary of the valley. The most famous of Bamiyan’s landmarks, the colossal Buddha statues have been destroyed, but their remains still dominate the town. Several sights lie close to Bamiyan, not least the fabulous lakes of Band-e Amir.

The Buddhas
The two giant Buddhas of Bamiyan are gone. Since their destruction in March 2001, only the niches in the cliff wall overlooking the Bamiyan valley speak of one of Afghanistan's most remarkable sights.

The two Buddhas, standing at a height of 38 and 53 metres were the greatest product of the rule of the White Huns who ruled the region from the 4th Century AD to the Arab conquest. The giant figures were carved from the cliff, face, with the surface of statues built out with stucco of mud and straw. When completed, the features of the Buddhas were gilded, and the robes painted.

The damage brought on the Buddhas since the Soviet War was not the first injuries to the statues. The Mongol hordes left the statues alone, but the iconoclastic Moghul emperor Aurangzeb had their faces sawed off at the end of the 17th Century, followed by the Persian Nadir Shah who chopped off their legs. During the civil war, the Buddha niches were used as ammunition dumps, and the statues often used for casual target practice by soldiers. The Taliban threatened to destroy the statues on capturing Bamiyan in 1997, but backed down in the face of international pressure, even going as far as declaring that the statues would be a major attraction for tourism when the fighting ceased. This edict was comprehensively reversed in 2001 when Mullah Omar declared the statues un-Islamic and had them destroyed by tank-fire and dynamite, and act that horrified the vast majority of Afghans as well as the outside world.

Although popular with locals, the idea of reconstructing the Buddhas has been rejected by UNESCO, who aim to preserve the site as a monument to Afghanistan's lost cultural heritage. The remaining stones eventually will form part of an open-air museum, and are fenced off.

In the past it was possible the stairs up the niche to view the valley from the top of the large Buddha's head. This may still be possible with a permit from the Office of the Director of Information and Culture at the base of the niche, but should be regarded as very dangerous due to the instability of the rock.

There are around 750 caves along the cliff wall of the Bamiyan valley, once housing monks and decorated with Buddhist frescoes. It is though that around 85% of the paintings have been looted or destroyed. Many of the caves are now home to up to 250 families of internally displaced refugees due to a housing shortage in Bamiyan.