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Saimaluu Tash Valley, Kyrgyzstan —
Under the dark canopy of night, the starry sky is reflected by the stones. Ten thousand rocks, carved with nearly 90,000 petroglyphs, catch the beam of a headlamp, telling stories as ancient and vast as the constellations above.
Near the top of the Saimaluu Tash valley, a small sacred pond brings land and sky together at a point that has been used for centuries of Tengrist religious rituals.
Known in Kyrgyz as “Embroidered Stones,” or Saimaluu Tash, one of Central Asia’s most spectacular cultural sights is also one of the most difficult to reach.
