82) SATURDAY, 17 SEPTEMBER 1977 : 70KMS.
- HAJIGAK PASS
Looking through the window as soon as I woke up in the morning I found the large standing Buddha at the rock cliff in front of us which was not so far from our parking area. Unfortunately, the statue was currently under repair and it was partly covered by wooden and steel scaffoldings high above the head ( 55 m.)
- HAJIGAK PASS
Looking through the window as soon as I woke up in the morning I found the large standing Buddha at the rock cliff in front of us which was not so far from our parking area. Unfortunately, the statue was currently under repair and it was partly covered by wooden and steel scaffoldings high above the head ( 55 m.)
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| Great Buddha in BAMYAN - Photo : Dan Baldini / Bing images search |
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| Great Buddha in BAMIYAN - Photo : Bing images search |
We were charged very expensive for using our cameras taking photos of the Standing Buddha. There was another Buddha statue (38 m. high)
on the right which is older than the larger
one about 2 centuries. Both statues were decaying ruin, particularly faces that were damaged by the destruction of Muslim extremists (religious fanatic) in the 9th century.
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| Great Buddha in BAMIYAN - Photo : wikipedia.org / Google images search |
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| Photo : Bing images search |
Along the entire length of the rocky moutain belt is also packed with small
caves . Some of them were churches or hermitages of monks in the older days of
prosperous BAMIYAN as the important
destination for buddhist pilgrimage.
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| BAMIYAN Valley - Photo : Bing images search |
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| Photo : Bing images search |
BAMIYAN remarkably was similar to GOREME
city in TURKEY , which used to be the city of the Christians. Inside churches, there are traces of remaining
beauty of old paitings about the Lord Buddha’s life, which were
largely destroyed especially around the
face according to Islamic beliefs that disclosure of faces is not popular or allowed (normally for women) in public.
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| BAMIYAN cave painting - Photo : 4.bp.blogspot.com / Google images search |
About 1.00 p.m., departure from BAMIYAN back to KABUL along the center line. Then turned right at the RED CITY, of which the landscape looks like a ghost town (allegedly destroyed by the armies of Genghis Khan), built on a dingy red rocky hill. We passed through beautiful landscapes a bit similar to the CAPPADOCIA in TURKEY.
We drove through BEHSUD heading straight to the village near HAJIGAK PASS (3,700 meters above sea
level). There was an Afghani with his Mongol look
(like me) invited us for a break and afternoon tea at his home.
Since it was rather late in the evening and it was still a long way to go until KABUL
, we had to drive at least about 6 hours more
on bad roads in the darkness
which should be very dangerous . So we agreed to end our day and to park for
overnight at his home. He warmly welcomed us with kind hospitality (well fed again,
we merited the good deeds !!??) .
Interesting YouTube Video of The Great Buddha of BAMIYAN
GREAT BUDDHA OF BAMIYAN BEFORE AND AFTER DESTRUCTION BY THE TALIBANS 2011
Interesting YouTube Video of The Great Buddha of BAMIYAN
GREAT BUDDHA OF BAMIYAN BEFORE AND AFTER DESTRUCTION BY THE TALIBANS 2011
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| Photo : wikipedia.org / creepingsharia.wordpress.com |
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