The Bamian valley is located in central Afghanistan. It lies northwest of Kabul, the nation's capital at an elevation of 2,590 meters. Currently the climate would be the main reason to come here - the Buddha statues have been destroyed by the Taliban. I'm afraid however that just the climate...

The Bamian valley is located in central Afghanistan. It lies northwest of Kabul, the nation's capital at an elevation of 2,590 meters. Currently the climate would be the main reason to come here - the Buddha statues have been destroyed by the Taliban. I'm afraid however that just the climate is not enough of a reason to risk your life.

Bamian is first mentioned in 5th Century A.D. Chinese sources and was visited by the Chinese travelers Fa-hsien around 400 A.D. and Hsüan-tsang in 630 A.D.; it was by that time a centre of commerce and of the Buddhist religion. Two great figures of Buddha there dated from this period; the larger is 53 m high and the smaller is 120 feet. These statues were carved from the living rock and are finished with fine plaster. When Hsüan-tsang saw the figures, they were decorated with gold and fine jewels. The two Buddha figures, together with numerous ancient man-made caves in the cliffs north of the town, made Bamian a major Afghan archaeological site.

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