TASH RABAT, KYRGYZSTAN

Tucked into the very definition of a bucolic valley, the stone building known as Tash Rabat is built directly into the side of the soaring hills, looking out onto a perfectly burbling brook and a string of yurts.  Tash Rabat (roughly translated as "stone fortification") is a surprisingly mysterious building.  Little is known about its founding, other than the fact that it wasn't built by the Kyrgyz, who as a nomadic people didn't build permanent settlements, and the fact that it must have been important, because of the immense amount of work it must have taken to build.  In fact, it is even unclear which general time period it was built in, with educated guesses ranging from the 10th to 15th century.  

Despite all of these mysteries, or perhaps because of them, the building has an amazing historical sense to it.  As I walked forward into the main room, dominated by a large stone cupola, my friend stepped into a beam of light coming from one of the three windows, perfectly timed with our arrival to create what in the tenth century must have seemed a magical or religious moment.  Even today, it retains some of that mystical power, with empty rooms that seem to echo with the sounds of ancient fires and conversations of traders in myriad languages of centuries past.  You can practically hear all the tall tales of desert crossings, wild monsters, and exotic women encountered along the way, all discussed over some artisanal fermented horse milk.