Located in Pakistan, this was by far the largest Buddhist site we visited. Literally meaning “Spring on Flat Surface of Hill”, the spring still exists on the west side (pictured below) Therefore the Buddhist sanctuary and nearby village were named for this spring. Dating from the 2nd Century B.C. to the 5th Century A.D. and scattered over 32.9 hectares, the site was excavated by Dr. DB Spooner and Mr. Hargreaves from 1907 through 1911. The remains consist primarily of a main stupa, votive stupas, a court, lofty chapels, prayer and monastic chambers…

This wild mountain goat started yelling at us as soon as we arrived. Anytime you’re greeted by a goat, you know you’re in for a positive experience…

Headed up the mountain… The Buddhists seem to have delighted in construction projects that are a pain in the ass to get to…

The first good view of the ruins…

An entrance to the meditation chambers…

Some of the Buddhist relics smashed by religious fanatics and the countless invaders that have passed through this area…

Allegedly, a Buddhist monk was tied to this statue and beheaded along with the statue in one fell swoop from a sword…

The stupa platform…

Like us, this couple was visiting from Peshawar… They were very friendly and we spoke to them for several minutes.

I continued up the mountain to get an overhead view of the ruins…

A tower I passed on the way to the top of the mountain…

Goats were roaming freely throughout the ruins which I thought was just completely awesome…

This is the spring for which this area is named… It is at the top of the mountain.