Asian Current

Band-e Amir - Five Lakes High in the Hindu Kush Mountains

High in the Koh-e-Baba range (3000 meters) of the Hindu Kush Mountains, the five lakes of the Band-e Amir are Afghanistan’s greatest natural wonder. They used to attract tourists in hordes from all over the world before the problems started. And the problems have continued for so many years that the Band-e Amir lakes have now been forgotten by the outside world.

The amazing thing about them is the high retaining wall that surrounds each lake. The five Band-e Amir chain of lakes constitute of the Band-e Gholaman (slaves), Band-e Qamber (Caliph Ali’s slave), Band-e Haibat (grandiose), Band-e Panir (cheese), Band-e Pudina (wild mint) and Band-e Zulfiqar (sword of Ali). Of these, the Band-e Haibat is the largest and the deepest with an average depth of more than 80 meters. Although the high retaining walls appear to have been formed by calcium carbonate precipitates, the local legends tell a different story. Caliph Ali is believed to have miraculously raised the walls to dam a perilous river course and thus gain the confidence of the local pagan king whom he converted to Islam. Next to the legendary Bamian Buddha statues (alas no more there), the Band-e Amir lakes are one of the most amazing sights in Asia. The landscape is stunning and looks other-worldly.

Tourists used to throng the lakes to witness the astounding change of hue of each lake according to the light and timing of the day, due no doubt to the high mineral content of the water in the lakes. “Just at sunset - we reached some large terraces of snow, so flat that I realized that they were a chain of frozen lakes. The waterfall had frozen into bloated stalactites, streaked with intense copper oxide green and turquoise blue and sulfur yellow, creamy with snow where they had struck the water”, described a veteran tourist.

After destroying the Bamiyan Buddha despite worldwide protests against such vandalism, why the Taliban did not mine the lakes remains a mystery. The bad news is, the adjoining area still remains unsafe even for pedestrians. The road that takes the visitor to the fascinating Band-e Amir lakes lying approximately 75 km west of Bamiyan should only be attempted during the height of summer or autumn, because there is a lot of snow at other times. In favorable weather, the trip takes about five hours and the vehicle should be hired from Bamiyan.

Since the lakes could not be declared either a heritage site nor given the status of a national Park, many ecological and conservation problems hang high over the Band-e Amir lakes. Several warring factions planted numerous landmines along the route to the lakes in 2001. Though some of the explosives have been cleared, enough remain to pose serious threat to all life forms around the area. As peace is limping slowly back in Afghanistan, the volume of tourism is sure to grow and so the environmental protection wing of the local government would do well to raise awareness for preservation of the lakes and its surrounding areas. The outside world will hopefully one day soon again discover the incredibly wondrous beauty of the 5 lakes in the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan.