According to the guidebook (MacLeod'), this is one of the region’s oldest and most influential architectural prototypes: "The tomb is best known as Central Asia's earliest surviving example of a domed tomb with a monumental portal...and has influenced the construction of generations of local mausoleums."

Local villagers were only too happy to show the visitors the way to the mausoleum, built in 977. It resembles the Ismael Samani mausoleum in Bukhara - in this case, the architectural jewel is nestled in the foothills that rise from the dry, endless steppes. Adjacent to the mausoleum is a small hillock which villagers say may have housed an ancient Zoroastrian temple - only archeological research will tell us for sure, and there is talk of digging a research tunnel into the hill to find out. A quiet spring feeds cool clear water into a tiny stream that winds next to the path leading to a pond where children swim in the hot, dry climate.

A 1000-year old fir tree stands next to the schoolhouse, no longer sprouting leaves but still the object of attention on the part of adventurous children who scale its branches. The group also visited the 15th Century White Mosque where Tim's residents still worship.

There is a paved road to Tim, which carries on (after two bumpy hours) to the main road to Samarkand. The scenery is stark, bone dry, and impressive. Uzbekistan is a vast country with many interesting back roads to explore if one makes the time.