Takht-i Rustam stupa - carved on a hill-top outside Haibak, Samangan Province, Afghanistan - Stockfoto

Takht-e Rustam, Aybak, Samangan Province, Afghanistan: visitors at Takht-e Rustam, meaning 'Rustam's throne', Buddhist stupa cut into a mountain top, resembling the monolithic churches of Ethiopia, part of a stupa-monastery dating from the Kushano-Sasanian period 4th-5th century AD - the square building atop the stupa is the 'Harmika', it once held relics of the Buddha. The circular corridor was used by pilgrims for circumambulation. Snwo covered mountains in the background.