It was raining when I got up at 5.00am on Friday. This trip seemed cursed: there hadn't been any rain for weeks and now that we wanted to drive to Bamiyan it was raining steadily.

Undeterred, however, I, my housemate and two of her friends set off at 6am.

It took us ten hours to reach Bamiyan. The road turns left north of Charikar and from there onward it is unpaved rubble road all the way. The continuing rain didn't make things easier. Mud and potholes characterised the road. We even had to cross two rivers without bridge. One tributary to the Ghorband river, which flows down the valley leading to Bamiyan, had swollen so much due to the rain that only our four-wheel drive could power through while all other taxis and vans stood by watching as we crossed.

After some 7 hours bouncy drive I had racked up a splitting headache and at some point signalled the driver to stop the car as I was drawing saliva in my mouth - the tell-tale sign that I was going to through up any second. And indeed: soon my breakfast was merging into the mud and rain.

While the road is rough and should not be attempted with anything less than a solid four-wheel drive, the landscape is stunningly beautiful. Like in most parts of Afghanistan it is the rural beauty which amazes, peaceful and untouched. From the moment we turned west to drive into those mountains, my heart opened and - despite the rain - I wound down the window to breathe in the fresh air.

Ten hours later we arrived at our hotel - The Roof of Bamiyan. While the hotel is simple, it really is "the roof of Bamiyan". It is located on top of a plateau overlooking the entire valley and with a wonderful view onto the Buddha cliffs.

Our host - the eclectic Sher - glanced towards a mountain rising in the West and declared "the mountain is free of clouds - so the weather will be nice tomorrow". And indeed: when we got up the next morning the most incredible view presented itself: the whole valley was flooded with spring sunshine and a blue canapé stretched above it. The early morning sun gave the cliffs depth and all its crevices could be seen. As it had happened to me before - when I went to Panjshir the first time - I was so gripped by this beauty spread before me that I had tears well up.

After breakfast in the hotel we went to explore the Buddha cliffs. Despite the incredible loss of this cultural heritage per se, it is still interesting to explore the site, climb up the mountain, into the caves and up the Buddhas themselves. At the time when the Buddhas were carved from the mountains monks populated the cliffs, living secluded lives in caves also carved out of the stone. Many of the caves had contained small carvings of the Buddha and were richly decorated in wall paintings.

Today - since March 2001 that is - all this is lost. The Taliban on their march across the country destroyed the Buddhas as symbols of an “un-islamic” age and a representation of “God” which is Haram in Islam. With the help of a tank and dynamite the 18 centuries old statues were reduced to rubble.

Interestingly most people seem to blame the destruction on the Pakistanis as they seem to believe that the Taliban did not consist of Afghans at all. While we know that Pakistan has been instrumental at builing and supplying the religious students and that even Pakistani army regulars fought on Afghan soil, it still struck me that people seem to assume that there were hardly any Afghans among them.

The Shiite Hazaras were not spared by the Sunni Talibs either. Much of their town and old bazaar was destroyed and many ended up homeless, seeking refuge in the caves. It is good to see that now there do not seem to be any people living in those caves any more.

After lunch in a small Bamiyan restaurant we moved on to the entrance of the valley where the ruins of a 12^th century castle can be found: Shar-e-Zoohak. This castle is located at the east end of the Bamiyan Valley and was the seat of local rulers dating back to the Ghorid period. It was destroyed by Gengis Khan when he invaded the valley in 1221. This country and its history are so ancient that most of these remains are in ruins and one must study the history in order to appreciate them.

Same goes for the ruins of another fortress located at the other end of the valley: Shar-e-Gholghola (city of screams). Gingis Khan - the infamous Mongol leader - had invaded Afghanistan from the north in 12^th century and by 1221 had reached Bamiyan. Ruling with an iron fist he sacked many towns including Bamiyan and Balkh. The destruction of Shar-e-Gholghola was an act of revenge for locals killing his grandson.

Gingis Khan's men mixed with the local population. This is why the inhabitants of the Hazarajat to this day have mongoloid features and the Hazara dialect of Dari contains some Mongolian words.

Our last stop of the day was "Dragon Valley". This extraordinary sight is located some 5 kilometres east of the Buddhas. It is essentially a volcanic structure which resembles a dragon lying on top of a mountain. According to folk tale he has been slain by Ali, the grandson of the Prophet. His "back" was slit open by one single blow of the sword. The slit is a volcanic crack which reveals spring water bubbling to the surface, making a groaning sound. This sound has been associated with the "dragon" groaning. There are springs at the north end of the formation. These are seen as the "dragon's" eyes. With these spring waters calcium is swept to the surface. These residues are seen as the "dragon's" tears.

We returned to the hotel with the setting sun and took in a last view of the Buddha cliffs. The next day we left at 5 am, anticipating another 10 hour drive back to Kabul. But then, due to the good weather we made it back in eight. Eight hours drive through rural beauty at the onset of spring.

See my photo album for some pictures