Band-e Amir National Park is a national park in Afghanistan. It was established on 22 April 2009 as Afghanistan's first national park to promote and protect the natural beauty of a series of intensely blue lakes created by natural dams high in the Hindu Kush. Band-e-Amir is a chain of six lakes in the mountainous desert of central Afghanistan. The lakes formed from mineral-rich water that seeped out of faults and cracks in the rocky landscape. Over time, the water deposited layers of hardened mineral that built up into walls that now …five star California

Beautiful place. Luckily, I got in and spend an entire day in the park. The park is not busy as Afghan women are officially not allowed to be in the park. Hopefully, it will change in the future. Every single woman deserves to see this place.

In this season Band-e-Amer was attractive and pretty, covered with beautiful snow, it was a little cold.

tremendous. the guy at the lake advertised a long boat tour for $20 but only took us around for a few minutes; however, this is to be expected. 5 stars

It is a wonderful place to visit and the first national park of Afghanistan. The security is very good in here. The park is equipped with some basic patio, public restroom and signboards.

An absolutely phenomenal place to visit. This place is spectacular and has breath taking view like Grand Canary in US. The lake itself is something unbelievable as how clear and cold the water is despite having no source and walls stand still. I always wanted to travel there but couldn't and this time had the chance. But HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Nice enough, but less impressive than expected, and unfortunately...less enjoyable than anticipated due to the behaviours of some local people - notably the greed from the pedalo racket who charge ("apparently"), 400 Afghan for locals for 1-hour use and 600 for foreigners when they have 95% of their boats/pedalos sitting unused at the shore. We didn't bother, and "politely" told them to F off. Additionally there were almost no decent food options and mounting trash throughout the "park" - though fees are still taken for entry (240 per foreigner and substantially less for locals). I wouldn't recommend visiting the lake but rather ascending to a point with a bird's-eye visual as that's where its beauty can be appreciated. Going physically to the lake would revoke it's impressiveness.

Amazing place for picnic.

What a beautiful scenic place this was 😍. Amazing welcoming and hospitable people glad I travelled to this remote part of Afghanistan, crystal clear waters with pre-existing huts for visitors to camp. Highly recommend a visit to this gem of a place, I would suggest staying over at least 2 nights there is plenty to do plenty to see.

Band Amir is wonderful and full of joy. I recommend to visit at least once in your lives.

One of the natural wonders of Afghanistan is Amir Dam in Bamiyan Province.

A must see when in Bamyan. About 45 drive in good pavement and some dirt road to follow after the entrance gate. Very well kept. The clear water from natural spring is just so clear. Differenr shade of blue catches youe eyes thanks to its purness but also surrounding red mountains and rocks. Band e Amir is held by the giant rock cup if you like. Some men swim in the lake while others get on swan boat to cross the lake. Horse back riding too. Be ready to get wet! Water is just tempting. I dipped my legs with ling skirt as culturally accepted soaked wet but could not resist the beauty. Absolutely breath taking. Lots of food shops around too to enjoy kebabu or just a cup of tea. Summer time is ideal. I went in late August and weather was perfect for me. Band e Amir national Park has entrance fee of 3 usd for non afghan. A must!

The Mission is part of Santa Clara University which is a beautiful campus to stroll through or even have a picnic. The mission is open to the public and also an event venue. In December we love attending the winter choir inside the Church, great experience! Parking is easy and free.

Eighth mission of 21 in California, right on the Santa Clara campus. What a beautiful place that's richly deep rooted in California history.

I had my wedding here in June 2023. Please note that you have to be a Santa Clara University student, alumni, or faculty member to get married here (I did my graduate program at SCU). It is very cost-effective to reserve this space and the administration is very helpful in ensuring all paperwork and documentation is completed. Upon reserving our spot, we received a detailed wedding planning outline that helped us plan our wedding day. The mission is absolutely beautiful with such rich history. It is beautiful inside and does not require much decoration as the beauty speaks for itself! The on-site director helped make our wedding rehearsal go very smoothly so that on the day of, all attendants knew exactly what to do. I highly recommend this venue if you are capable! Photos courtesy of Katelyn Bradley Photography

First and foremost, the mission is a beautiful piece of history and a cool place to go and see. I went to SCU for undergrad and had my wedding ceremony in the mission. Their staff is so organized and helped guide us through the process from start to finish. They have a coordinator on site for the ceremony and our coordinator, Charlie was just wonderful! He was such a calming and positive presence during what can be a very stressful and chaotic time. He made sure everything with the ceremony went smoothly. Pro tip though- if you’re getting married at the mission- give yourself ample time to find a priest to officiate the wedding, as many priests don’t do weddings outside their parish.

The mission at Santa Clara is a must see. The church is beautiful with interesting paintings and statues The campus is bigger then we expected and the landscaping is awesome! Stop at the book store on campus for gifts.

Gorgeous! This is a great place for pictures. It's so beautiful with it's many rose bushes some so large they look like trees. There is also a cemetery (gated, no access but you can see it through the fence) and a plaque for the Natives who once lived there. The college campus also has vast lawns, is beautifully landscaped with great architecture; a photographer's dream from family photos to nature to selfies you're going to get a great picture around the Santa Clara campus.

Located on the SCU campus. It’s mainly the church itself is what to visit. I didn’t see much museum information and the staff let us know there is not gift shop or much of a museum that is attached with the mission itself. There are a few magnets I believe at the campus book store but otherwise it’s the church itself that stands.

This Mission is simply gorgeous inside and out. Pristine gardens everywhere and the church itself was quite the jewel. Well worth visiting.

Cool experience seeing this historic Mission in person. We didn't go inside, but walked through the garden. This is a very photogenic place. It's on Santa Clara University campus.

I’ve been to this lovely place many times to enjoy the performance of the choir and the symphony group of Santa Clara University. It’s a wonderful place the enjoy the concert.

Beautiful Catholic Mission and University grounds. The roses were some of the prettiest I’ve ever seen. I didn’t see candles to light in church but there was a prayer request book to leave prayers.