with the brown , mud brick architecture of Bamiyan Valley . But the hotel is probably the largest foreign private investment in Bamiyan 's fledgling tourism industry since the overthrow of the Taliban eight years ago . See photos of the Bamiyan Province '' Aid workers say tourism is one of the greatest economic hopes for reviving this isolated , yet visually -- and archaeologically -- stunning part of Afghanistan , a region that has seen little infrastructure development over the last eight years , even though Bamiyan is one of the safest parts of the country . Tour the Bamiyan Valley 's caves '' `` The natural resources and cultural resources here are probably the single best place for economic development to happen , around revitalizing the tourism industry here , '' says Bob Thelen , the representative for the Aga Khan Development Network in Bamiyan . The nonprofit organization has been working with the government of New Zealand to distribute $ 1.2 million over a three-year period to develop eco-tourism as an industry in Bamiyan . Bamiyan first attracted widespread international attention in 2001 , when Taliban militants spent weeks blowing up two giant statues of Buddha .
Editor 's note : Ivan Watson is CNN 's correspondent based in Istanbul , Turkey . The Bamiyan Valley is a visually and archaeologically stunning part of Afghanistan . The region hopes to build its tourism industry . -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Thursday is `` Chinese night '' at the Hotel Silk Road in Afghanistan 's Bamiyan province . Hungry guests sip cans of Coke and nonalcoholic beer and pick at a buffet that includes General Tsao 's chicken , egg drop soup and slices of sweet green melon grown in nearby fields . When a vegetarian diner arrives , the hotel 's Japanese owner , Hiromi Yasui , runs back to the kitchen to whip up a dish of spinach , garlic and steamed rice . `` This is the most clean kitchen in Bamiyan , '' she boasts in heavily accented English , as she directs her staff of Afghan assistants in fluent Dari . Yasui proudly points to an electric dishwasher , perhaps the only one of its kind in this battle-scarred Afghan province . The Hotel Silk Road has been open for less than two years . The green concrete walls of this compound jar somewhat