Into modern day Afghanistan

After leaving Central Asia, Hsuan Tsang crossed the Amu Darya River and entered what is now Afghanistan. He then headed southeast and went up the "Big Snow Mountains" (now the Hindu Kush mountain range). After traversing challenging mountainous areas teeming with bandits, he came upon the Bamiyan Valley. There he saw the two giant statues of the Buddha, the most valued treasures in the history of Buddhism.

The two standing statues were carved out of precipitous sandstone cliffs on the north side of Bamiyan Valley. One of the statues was a 38-meter [125-foot] Sakyamuni Buddha; the other, the Incarnated Buddha, was as tall as 53 meters [175 feet]. At one time, the two statues, decorated with dazzling precious stones, radiated golden rays. Today, we can no longer see these two great legacies to humanity as both of them were destroyed by the Taliban regime in 2001.

The Bamiyan Valley, known as "the Valley of the Gods," now lies in ruins. Refugees fleeing the ravages of war occupy caves hewn out of the cliffs in the valley that once served as niches for Buddhist statues. After the recent ending of long periods of hostilities, the people of this nation are yearning to march irreversibly towards peace, hope, and recovery.