Saturday, May 17, 2014

DAY 82 - HAJIGAK PASS



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.)   

Great Buddha in BAMYAN - Photo : Dan Baldini / Bing images search
 
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.

Great Buddha in BAMIYAN - Photo : wikipedia.org / Google images search


 
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.

BAMIYAN Valley - Photo : Bing images search


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.

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 





Photo : wikipedia.org / creepingsharia.wordpress.com









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