Sylvia's Journal

After circumnavigating half of Afghanistan (with stops in Kandahar and Herat), we landed safely in Bamiyan, the Shangri-La of Afghanistan. Axel and I remember it from 1978 as a place of great beauty, then still under the gaze of the Buddhas (not really a gaze as the Buddhas were already blind by then, but the rest of the giant bodies were still more or less intact.)

The contrast between Kandahar and Bamiyan couldn’t be bigger – a giant hot and dusty military tent camp on the edge of the desert – and a lush green valley tucked in between snow capped mountains. The sound of military planes deafening one’s ears on one place, the stillness and serenity of a high mountain abode in the other place.

In Kandahar I watched a drone practice taking off and landing. It’s an extreme form of solo flying, or, given that the pilot sits somewhere in the US, maybe ‘nolo’ flying is a more appropriate term. The drone looks like a creature from another planet. Looking back at it from the natural beauty of Bamiyan, it is a creature from another planet, one that is about destruction and ugliness.

Of course Bamiyan has seen its own share of ulginess and destruction. Many towns and villages were entirely destroyed, thousands of people killed, government services non-existent. For example, after the Taliban were ousted the entire province had only 7 health facilities.

Things are improving. With the help of New Zealand, Singapore and the Americans Bamiyan is transforming, slowly but steadily. The public health director, who I had and Afghan dinner with only 2 weeks ago in DC, proudly told us about progress in health. Now Bamiyan counts 70 health facilities; not enough by a long shot, but surely a sign of progress.

New structures, neatly painted, clean and simple, are popping up like mushrooms; these are already housing or going to house various government agencies. If I squint a bit and ignore the mudbrick buildings and veiled women, I could imagine I am in Switserland.

We are lodged in the Roof of Bamiyan hotel which is simple but has the most beautiful views on the rockface, that housed the Buddhas, and the valley at their now absent feet. Our hotel has no internet so I am posting early from the Provincial Health Office.