Band-e Amir

Band-e Amir is a chain of six lakes at nearly three thousand metres in the Hazarajat, held in by natural dams of travertine that the mineral water built up over thousands of years and is still building. The colour is a deep blue that looks wrong in photographs. It was declared the first national park in Afghanistan in 2009 and is the most visited place in the country, with Afghan families picnicking on the rim and pedal boats on the largest lake. A shrine to Ali stands at the outflow. Two hours west of Bamyan on a rough road. The park covers about six hundred square kilometres of the surrounding highland.