A single brick tower stands alone on the steppe south of the Chu river, and that tower is nearly all that remains of Balasagun, a city that once rivalled the great towns of the Silk Road. It was a capital of the Karakhanids, a Turkic dynasty that ruled much of Central Asia around the tenth to twelfth centuries, and it was here that the poet Yusuf Balasaguni wrote the Kutadgu Bilig, an early work of Turkic literature on how to govern and live well. Today the site is known as Burana, and Tokmok, eleven kilometres away, is the town you pass on the way.
The tower was once a minaret of perhaps forty-five metres. An earthquake brought down the top in the fifteenth century or thereabouts, and it now stands at about twenty-five, with a spiral stair inside that you can climb in the dark, hand on the wall. Around it lie the grassy outlines of a mausoleum, the foundations of the old citadel, and a row of weathered carved stones called balbals, set up on the steppe by earlier nomads to mark graves, each a rough human figure with hands folded at the belly. Wind plays across the grass.
The ride here comes from Bishkek, about sixty kilometres to the west, along a good road through the Chu valley, flat farmland of maize, sunflowers and poplar windbreaks, with the snow line of the Kyrgyz Ala-Too range standing to the south like a painted wall. The valley is wide and the traffic is mixed, with minibuses, lorries and the occasional horseman, so keep an eye on the verges. Summer afternoons are hot, but mornings are clear and the mountains are sharp. Spring is lovely, with fruit blossom and green slopes.
Tokmok is a real town with fuel, cafes and shops, so fill up and eat there; a plate of lagman noodles or fresh flatbread and a pot of tea will do nicely. The site has a small museum and an entry fee, and the old mound is open to wander. Ask a local if the stair is open, and watch your head. It is an easy, quiet stop that gives a sense of how far this region's history goes back.