South of the Karakum and just outside the modern city of Mary, the ground is littered with the ghosts of cities. Nagym Kala, the Greater and Lesser forts, are two of the walled settlements that make up the old Merv oasis, one of the great cities of the Silk Road. The Murgab river spreads out here into a delta that has fed farmers for thousands of years, and Merv grew up where the water met the desert.
Merv was at various times the capital of a Persian satrapy, a Seljuk imperial city and a centre of learning that rivalled Baghdad and Nishapur. The Mongols sacked it in 1221, and the accounts of the slaughter are among the grimmest in the medieval record, though numbers in the chronicles are almost certainly exaggerated. What survives now are mud-brick walls, mausolea and the ruined fortresses of several different cities, built side by side as the centre shifted. UNESCO listed the site in 1999.
The ride is flat and hot. The roads run through irrigated cotton fields and canals, then out into low desert where the horizon is wide and the sky is huge. Expect rough patches of asphalt, livestock and slow vehicles, and a very strong sun between May and September. Turkmenistan is a tightly controlled country, and travelling by motorbike requires permits, a guide and careful planning. Check what is allowed before you go, because rules change and checkpoints are common.
Bayramaly, nine kilometres away, is a town of some size, and Mary, a bit further, is the regional capital with hotels and fuel. Between them they cover your needs. The best light for the ruins is early morning or late afternoon, when the walls turn the colour of honey and the heat drops. Bring a hat and a lot of water. Walking the walls of Greater Kyz Kala or the Sultan Sanjar mausoleum nearby gives a better sense of scale than any photo. It is an empty, quiet place, and its emptiness is the point.