Once there were few cities in the world as big as Merv. At its height, in the twelfth century, under the Seljuk sultans, the oasis city on the Murghab river, in the sands of what is now Turkmenistan, may have been the largest on the planet, with a population counted in the hundreds of thousands, libraries that Arab geographers praised and a position on the Silk Road between Persia and Central Asia. In 1221, the Mongols arrived, and the chroniclers say that the slaughter was beyond counting. The city never recovered its size, but the ruins, which cover a vast area of low walls, mounds and shattered brick, were listed as a World Heritage site in 1999.
A koshk, in this region, is a fortified house or pavilion, a defended country residence of the kind that wealthy families built on the edge of a city, and Kelte Minara is one of those in the Merv oasis. The oasis holds buildings from many centuries: the high mud-brick walls of Erk Kala, the oldest part of the city, the heavy tomb of Sultan Sanjar, topped with a great double dome, and the huge fortified farmhouses of Greater and Lesser Kyz Kala.
The setting is the Karakum desert, a flat, pale country of sand, scrub and irrigated fields, and the roads are long and straight, with distant dust devils and heat shimmer in summer. The temperature can exceed forty-five degrees from June to August, so the best times are spring and autumn, with mild, clear weather. Winter can be cold at night. Wind and drifting sand cover the road in places, and camels and sheep wander on to the carriageway. Turkmenistan is a tightly controlled country, with strict entry rules, and foreign visitors normally need a visa and an arranged itinerary or guide, so a self-guided ride needs planning well in advance.
Bayramaly, seven kilometres away, is a town of about seventy-five thousand people, and Mary, the regional capital, is close by, with fuel stations, shops and hotels. Fuel in Turkmenistan is very cheap, because it is subsidised, although supplies for foreigners can be restricted. Carry plenty of water, shade and sun protection when you walk the ruins, and take your time, as the scale of the site is hard to take in at once. In the evening, the light on the old walls turns them a glowing red-gold.