This is an interview with Prof. Erika Forte from Kyoto University, discussing her research on Buddhism in Khotan during the first millennium AD. Khotan was an oasis kingdom along the Southern Silk Road, with a thriving Buddhist culture. Prof. Forte talks about her work as an archaeologist without being able to excavate in the region, as well as the inherent difficulties of having much fewer material than sites such as Dunhuang. She also mentions her idea of Khotan having had more than one capital, which is a hypothesis that seems to be supported by the paintings and manuscripts found in the desert.