The videos document my pilgrimage from Indonesia to the African continent by land (no airplane!). The route: 1.) Indonesia: Traveling through Sumatran Mountains and Prehistoric Sites 2.) Malaysia: Meeting with the Aborigines of the Malay Peninsula 3.) Thailand: Tracing the Southeast Asian Ancient Empires 4.) Laos: Experiencing the Lao-China Railway 5.) China: Backpacking the Tibetan Plateau to the Edge of the Silk Road 6.) Kazakhstan: First Contact with the Central Asians 7.) Uzbekistan: Pilgrimage in the Land of the Timurids 8.) Tajikistan: Lost in the Fenn Mountains 9.) Afghanistan: Visiting Afghanistan after the Taliban Takeover 10.) Iran: Surrounded by the Ancient Civilization of Persia 11.) UAE: Short Transit in Futuristic Cities 12.) Saudi Arabia: Pilgrimage in the Holy Land of the Muslims 13.) Jordan: Catching a Glimpse of Jerusalem 14.) Egypt: Ending in the Land of Pharaohs
Curated by: Bang Jago (174 videos)
On the 144th day, I didn't expect that I would finally be able to visit Bamyan, a place I had always wanted to visit because of its historical value. When I arrived in Bamyan, I found out that there are many historical places here besides the Bamyan Giant Buddha. In the morning, I visited the ruins of Shahr-e Golgolha which was the center of Bamyan when the Bamyan Buddha statues were carved in the 6th to 7th centuries. These ruins are called Golgolha, which means City of Screams because of the wailing that occurred in the city when the entire population of the city was massacred by Genghis Khan's troops in the 1221 as revenge for the death of his favorite grandson in that place. From the ruins on the hill, I could see the entirety of modern Bamyan. The gradation of the landscape is clearly visible, from fields in the middle of the fertile Bamyan Valley to settlements in the hills. A Buddhist monastery consisting of hundreds of caves is visible to the north. I continued walking for 30 minutes to the cliff where these caves are located. Apart from the caves where monks in the past meditated, there are also remains of niches where Buddha statues were carved in the past. The two largest have been world famous ever since the Xuanzang, the legendary Chinese monk, visited them in the 7th century. To the east there is a Buddha niche as high as 38 meters and to the west as high as 55 meters. Unfortunately, the two Buddha statues no longer exist since they were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. However, the cultural splendor of the Bamyan Valley remains eternal. ___ Stage 1 Route - Sumatra (DONE!): Jakarta - Bandar Lampung - Baturaja - Lahat - Pagar Alam - Bengkulu - Lebong Tandai - Kerinci - Jambi - Kuala Tungkal - Batam - Johor Bahru Stage 2 Route - ASEAN Mainland (DONE!): Johor Bahru - Kuala Tahan - Kota Bharu - Su-Ngai Kolok - Nakhon Si Thammarat - Chaiya - Nakhon Pathom - Bangkok - Nakhon Ratchasima - Phimai - Nong Khai - Vientiane - Vang Vieng - Luang Prabang - Chiang Rai - Chiang Mai - Pai - Chiang Mai - Chiang Rai - Boten - Kunming, China Stage 3 Route - China (DONE!): Kunming - Dali - Lijiang - Shangri-La - Shambala - Litang - Chengdu - Leshan - Chengdu - Xi'an - Zhangye - Jiayuguan - Dunhuang - Turpan - Urumqi - Almaty, Kazakhstan Stage 4 Route - Central Asia (DONE!): Almaty - Shymkent - Tashkent - Nukus - Muynak - Turtkul - Khiva - Bukhara - Samarkand - Tashkent - Khujand - Fann Mountains - Dushanbe - Kunduz, Afghanistan Stage 5 Route - Afghanistan: Kunduz - Samangan - Mazar-i-Sharif - Balkh - Kabul - Bamiyan - Band-e Amir - Yakawlang - Lal - Chagcharan - Herat - Mashhad, Iran *Follow my Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/obeysianipar/) for direct messages **Message me for sponsorship --- Music Credits: And Awaken - Stings by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.