Afghanistan’s Bamiyan on frontline of warzone tourism

BAMIYAN, Afghanistan: Trudging halfway up a jagged goat trail, guide Mohammad Ibrahim extolled the panoramic view¬—a vast, ancient landscape of russet-hued cliffs that is on the frontline of Afghan efforts to jumpstart warzone tourism.

Bamiyan—famous for empty hillside niches that once sheltered giant Buddha statues that were blown up by the Taliban—is a rare oasis of tranquility that has largely been spared the wrenching conflict that afflicts the rest of Afghanistan.