Fascinating, but also sad experience.

The Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves are a religious Buddhist site that was built and used between the 4th and 14th century. The setting is breathtaking. Between the Mountain and the river you have great photo opportunities. Unfortunately the cave themselves are a sad sight. In the beginning of the 20th century the statues and mosaics where taken and now can be viewed in Berlin, and other places. What remains are empty caves with broken paintings and a faint memory of what was there. I still enjoyed the visit and gained a better perspective of what many archaeologist have done to previously beautiful sights.