Hailed as the epi­cen­ter of the Bac­tri­an Empire of old, the aged town of Balkh has a his­to­ry going back almost 4,000 years! In fact, it was here, high up in the gaps of the north­ern ridges of the Hin­du Kush, that Zoroas­tri­an­ism and Bud­dhism first flour­ished in these reach­es.