Took a nearly two-hour drive to the Tash-Rabat Caravanserai, a Silk Road inn built in the 15th century. Apparently archeologists found evidence of a ninth century monastery there, too.
The views on the road there are shocking, as if the mountains instantly rise up from the steppe, like a wall with no foothills or gradual increase in elevation as you approach them. It’s difficult to capture on camera…I can’t think of anywhere I’ve been quite like it:
The inn:
Arguably the best picture of Claire I’ve ever taken:
Yes, I’m sunburned. You should see the tops of my feet…I missed them with sunblock at the beach yesterday:
The road out:
Everybody Yurts 
Those way stations are always interesting. The great difficulty of trading over those distances, the danger, and the exotic travelers thrown together with all their diverse stories…must have been a heck of a place to stay.
Did you mean “exotic” or “noxious”?