Tash-Rabat, Kyrgyzstan
About 520 km from Bishkek, 125 km, from Naryn, 17 km from the end of the paved road 90 km short of the border at Torugart, and at an altitude of about 3500m above sea level is the ancient caravanserai of Tash Rabat. According to one author, this is probably the best-preserved Silk Road site you will find and “no other retains as much of its original atmosphere”.
This is a carefully restored stone building that once housed an inn on the Great Silk Road. Its date of origin is strictly unknown – but there is archaeological evidence to suggest that the site was occupied in the 10th century. Set some 15 km up a small, beautiful valley in the foothills of the Tian Shan, embedded against the hillside. There is evidence that it was a place of both rest and worship and would have served to protect caravans to and from China from both the ravages of the weather and of bandits – from before the time of either Tamerlane or Genghis Khan.
Epic Kyrgyzstan Culture & Adventure Route © Monika Newbound
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