Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery and Tugay forests of the Tigrovaya Balka Natur

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery

   In the Vakhsh valley of southern Tajikistan, near the city of Bokhtar, once called Qurghonteppa, a low mound of earth in the fields hides the remains of a Buddhist monastery from the seventh and eighth centuries. Excavations at Ajina Tepa, which means the hill of the demons in local tradition, revealed a complex of courtyards, cells, corridors and stupas, built of mud brick and decorated with paintings and clay sculptures. The most spectacular find, uncovered in 1966, was a giant reclining Buddha, around thirteen metres long, depicting the Buddha entering nirvana.

   Read the complete Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery is where the day begins. Next is Shahrtepa.

2. 2. Shahrtepa

   Shahrtepa lies in the lowlands of southern Tajikistan, in Khatlon province, within sight of the Panj river and the Afghan hills beyond. The word tepa means a mound, and it is the right word: a mound that has built up over centuries as one settlement was layered over another, in the Bactrian country that Alexander crossed and that later fed the Kushan empire. A Buddhist temple site is linked with this area, a reminder that this was once a place where monks, merchants and caravans met on the way between India, Central Asia and China.

   Read the complete Shahrtepa write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Shahrtepa comes up about 145 km into the recorded legs. Next is Tugay forests of the Tigrovaya Balka Natur.

3. 3. Tugay forests of the Tigrovaya Balka Natur

   The Tigrovaya Balka, the Tiger Gully, lies in the far south of Tajikistan where the Vakhsh river runs down to meet the Panj and the Amu Darya, and it is an odd, lush corner in a dry country. The nature reserve protects tugay, the riverine forest of poplar, willow, tamarisk and wild olive that grows along the flood plains of Central Asian rivers, with thick reed beds and clearings of tall grass. It looks like a jungle, which is why it was called a gully of tigers. The Turan tiger, a relative of the Siberian tiger, lived here until the 1950s, when hunting and the clearing of reed land for cotton drove it to extinction.

   Read the complete Tugay forests of the Tigrovaya Balka Natur write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 292 km into the recorded legs you reach Tugay forests of the Tigrovaya Balka Natur. Next is back through Shahrtepa.

4. 4. back through Shahrtepa

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Shahrtepa write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Shahrtepa, late in the day. Next is Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery.

5. 5. Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery. That is the ride.