BAND- E-AMIR NATIONAL PARK, Afghanistan — Big dreams are reflected in the azure shimmer of these pristine mountain lakes: Afghanistan’s quixotic ambitions of becoming a tourist paradise.
With the dedication Thursday of the country’s first national park, made up of six linked lakes rimmed with breathtaking travertine cliffs, officials voiced hopes that visitors might slowly begin to return to Afghanistan, which has been embroiled in three decades of war.
U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry was among the dignitaries who joined in the dedication of Band-e- Amir National Park, telling an audience of VIPs and villagers gathered under a makeshift tent that the occasion marked a “proud moment for Afghanistan . . . a reawakening.”
As to when Afghanistan as a whole might be safe enough for the casual traveler, Eikenberry acknowledged, “It’s going to be some time.”
Still, the park’s scenic charms are such that they give rise to a rarity in Afghanistan: the impulse to frolic. At lakeside, the ambassador clambered into a pale blue, swan-shaped, pedal-powered boat and took a spin.
