CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
125 km from Samarkand to Samarkand, about 2 h 24 of riding. On the way it passes Jartepa II Temple, Suleimantepa and back through Jartepa II Temple. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,900 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.
Samarkand as the Mongols found it lay not where the tourists now go but on a high, dusty plateau north of the modern town. That plateau is Afrosiab, the old city, and it was already ancient when Alexander the Great took it in 329 BC under the name Marakanda. It flourished as a Sogdian capital, saw Arab armies arrive in the eighth century, and kept growing until 1220, when Genghis Khan swept in and destroyed it so thoroughly that it was never rebuilt. The survivors drifted south, and Timur later raised his capital on the new ground.
Read the complete Afrosiab Archaeological Area write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Afrosiab Archaeological Area is where the day begins. Next is Jartepa II Temple.
The Zarafshan valley is the green artery of central Uzbekistan, carrying meltwater from the mountains of Tajikistan west past Samarkand and Bukhara into the desert. South of Samarkand, the land rises into the foothills of the Zarafshan range, and it is here, near Urgut and close to the Tajik border, that the Jartepa site lies, with remains of a temple from the Sogdian era.
Read the complete Jartepa II Temple write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Jartepa II Temple comes up about 38 km into the recorded legs. Next is Suleimantepa.
Urgut is only a few kilometres from here, and if you ride into town on a market day you will understand quickly why the Silk Road needed places like this. The bazaar in Urgut is one of the biggest in Uzbekistan, sprawling, loud and full of everything from suzani embroidery and old coins to cattle and car parts. Suleimantepa, a low mound just outside, is one of the archaeological sites recognised as part of the Zarafshan valley corridor of the Silk Roads, the chain of settlements, forts and caravan stops along the river that fed Samarkand and Bukhara.
Read the complete Suleimantepa write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 62 km into the recorded legs you reach Suleimantepa. Next is back through Jartepa II Temple.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Jartepa II Temple write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Jartepa II Temple, late in the day. Next is Afrosiab Archaeological Area.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Afrosiab Archaeological Area write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Afrosiab Archaeological Area. That is the ride.
Afrosiab Archaeological Area → Jartepa II Temple is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Jartepa II Temple → Suleimantepa is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Suleimantepa → back through Jartepa II Temple is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Jartepa II Temple → Afrosiab Archaeological Area is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.