The First Afghan National Park

In 2009, Karzai government announced this dam called Band-e-Amir the first Afghan National Park. Named after the fourth Caliphate of Islam, Hazarat Ali, Band-e-Amir means the dam of Amir is located in Bamiyan, 140 km from Kabul. The legend goes that Hazrat Ali, when he set foot in early Islam, sliced the mountain by his Zulfiqar (sword), to form these dams because the flowing water killed many people, washing away their bodies. In turn the local people converted to Islam. Visiting this dam in 2010, I found Afghanistan has beautiful landscape that because of ongoing conflict, the beauty is less known