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.
A 311 km round trip from Ayní - roughly 4 h 39 in the saddle. On the way it passes Tali Khamtuda Fortress, Proto-urban Site of Sarazm, Kafirkala Settlement and back through Proto-urban Site of Sarazm. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,900 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It crosses from Tajikistan into Uzbekistan - carry ID and check the toll rules. The line favours views over speed.
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 64 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
The fortress of Mugh stands on a rocky hill above the Zeravshan valley in the mountains of northern Tajikistan, about twelve kilometres from Ayní. It looks like little today, a scatter of foundations and fallen mud-brick on a barren summit, but it holds one of the most important finds in Central Asian history. In 1932 a shepherd found a leather bag of old documents, and the manuscripts turned out to be letters, contracts and records written in Sogdian, the language of the merchants who ran the Silk Road across this region.
Read the complete Castle on Mount Mugh write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Castle on Mount Mugh is where the day begins. Next is Tali Khamtuda Fortress.
The Zeravshan valley in northwestern Tajikistan is one of the old arteries of Central Asia, a fertile ribbon of green squeezed between the Turkestan and Zeravshan ranges, and in the hills above it lie the ruins of fortresses that once guarded the eastern approaches to Sogdiana. Tali Khamtuda is one of these, and nearby stands the castle on Mount Mugh, where one of the most dramatic stories of the region took place. In 722 Devashtich, the ruler of Panjakent, fled here with his people from the advancing Arab armies, and after a siege he surrendered and was executed. In 1933 a shepherd found a basket of documents in the ruins, written on leather, paper and wood in the Sogdian language, which turned out to be Devashtich's archive and one of the most important sources for understanding Sogdian society.
Read the complete Tali Khamtuda Fortress write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Tali Khamtuda Fortress comes up about 62 km into the recorded legs. Next is Proto-urban Site of Sarazm.
Five thousand years ago, in the fertile Zeravshan valley of what is now north-western Tajikistan, people built a settlement of mud-brick houses, temples and workshops that became one of the earliest towns in Central Asia. Sarazm, near Panjakent and right next to the Uzbek border, was a centre of metal working, trading copper, tin and turquoise with places as far away as Iran, Afghanistan and India. Inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2010, the site has revealed burials with jewellery, including the richly adorned grave of a woman known as the Princess of Sarazm.
Read the complete Proto-urban Site of Sarazm write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 111 km into the recorded legs you reach Proto-urban Site of Sarazm. Next is Kafirkala Settlement.
A few kilometres south of Samarkand, on a mound beside an old irrigation canal, lie the ruins of Kafirkala, a fortified settlement that was an important centre of the Sogdian civilisation before the Arab conquest in the eighth century. The name means fortress of the infidels, given later by Muslim inhabitants. Excavations have revealed a citadel with walls, a palace and remains that tell of the last days of the Sogdian rulers before the city was burned.
Read the complete Kafirkala Settlement write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Kafirkala Settlement, about halfway. Next is back through Proto-urban Site of Sarazm.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Proto-urban Site of Sarazm write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Proto-urban Site of Sarazm sits at 221 km, about halfway. Next is back through Tali Khamtuda Fortress.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tali Khamtuda Fortress write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Tali Khamtuda Fortress comes up about 245 km into the recorded legs. Next is Castle on Mount Mugh.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Castle on Mount Mugh write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Castle on Mount Mugh closes the day.
Castle on Mount Mugh → Tali Khamtuda Fortress is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tali Khamtuda Fortress → Proto-urban Site of Sarazm is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Proto-urban Site of Sarazm → Kafirkala Settlement is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kafirkala Settlement → back through Proto-urban Site of Sarazm is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Proto-urban Site of Sarazm → back through Tali Khamtuda Fortress is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Tali Khamtuda Fortress → Castle on Mount Mugh is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.