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Bamyan Band-e-Amir National Park Lakes

Visit Band-e-Amir — Afghanistan's first national park, a series of six deep blue travertine lakes at 2,900 meters in the Hindu Kush that represent some of the most extraordinary natural scenery in Central Asia, the lakes separated by natural travertine dams built up over millennia by calcium carbonate deposits from the spring water.

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1
Band-e-Haibat First Lake
Band-e-Haibat — the Awe-inspiring Lake, the largest of the six Band-e-Amir lakes, its deep cobalt blue water retained by a natural travertine dam rising 10 meters above the lower ground, the color of the water produced by the mineral content of the springs, the lake dramatically set in the bare red and ochre cliff landscape of the Hindu Kush.
2
Travertine Dam Formation
The natural travertine dam at Band-e-Haibat — the calcium carbonate formation built up over thousands of years by mineral-rich spring water overflowing and depositing carbonate on the lip of the dam, the formation similar to those at Pamukkale in Turkey and Plitvice in Croatia but at a scale and altitude unique in Central Asia.
3
Band-e-Panir Cheese Lake
Band-e-Panir — the Cheese Lake, named for the cream-colored travertine formations surrounding it, the lake a more intimate scale than Band-e-Haibat with its clear shallow waters revealing the travertine formations beneath the surface, the surrounding cliffs and the blue sky reflection making the small lake one of the most photographed in Afghanistan.
4
Swimming and Boating
Swimming and boating on the Band-e-Amir lakes — the crystal-clear water cold even in July at this altitude, the pedal boats and small rowboats available for hire allowing visitors to experience the lakes from the water, the combination of swimming in natural lakes with mountain scenery one of the most accessible outdoor experiences in Afghanistan.
5
Wildlife Observation
Wildlife in the Band-e-Amir national park — the Marco Polo sheep, ibex, and wolves that inhabit the surrounding mountains, the migratory waterbirds using the lakes as a stopover on the Central Asian flyway, the national park status providing some protection to the ecosystem that has been largely unaffected by human activity.
6
Sunset Over Six Lakes
Sunset over the Band-e-Amir lake system — the sequence of lakes catching the evening light in different shades of blue and turquoise as the sun drops behind the Hindu Kush peaks, the travertine dams glowing orange and pink in the alpenglow, the silence of the high plateau broken only by wind and the call of waterbirds.