In Afghanistan, 900-foot Sleeping Buddha eludes archaeologistsBut researchers are finding and preserving other ancient riches. By Mark Sappenfield | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor from the August 7, 2007 edition BAMIYAN, AFGHANISTAN - After the Taliban fell, France sent Zemaryalai Tarzi to this Afghan valley on a quest bordering on the mythological. His goal: to find Sleeping Buddha, the reclining sculpture that, at 900 feet long, would be nearly 10 times the size of the Buddhas destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. He brought the ultimate treasure map – the journal of a 7th- century Chinese pilgrim who...