Balkh rewards visitors with an interest in deep history. The sites are mostly ruins — not carefully excavated and interpreted ruins, but raw ancient remains scattered through a landscape that has been inhabited for 3,500 years. There is little tourist infrastructure, and getting here requires passing through or near Mazar-i-Sharif. But for anyone interested in the ancient Silk Road, Zoroastrianism, or the lost cities of Central Asia, Balkh is one of the most evocative places in the world.