Garam koshk and Kelleli; Adji Kui; Taip

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Garam koshk

   Out on the edge of the Karakum desert near the oasis city of Merv, odd buildings rise from the plain like giant sandcastles with ribbed sides. These are koshks, fortified mansions built of mud brick, their walls shaped into deep vertical corrugations that gave strength and shade and kept the interiors cool. Garam koshk is one of them, battered by centuries of wind and the occasional rainstorm, but still impressive in its bulk. They belong to the world of medieval Merv, and the most famous, the Kyz Kala, stand within the vast archaeological park that UNESCO inscribed in 1999.

   Read the complete Garam koshk write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Garam koshk is where the day begins. Next is Durnali koshk.

2. 2. Durnali koshk

   Merv was once one of the largest cities in the world, and what is left of it lies scattered across a desert plain in southern Turkmenistan. In the twelfth century, under the Seljuk sultans, it was a major capital, with libraries, mosques and markets, and travellers called it the mother of the world. In 1221 the Mongols took it after a siege and, according to the old chronicles, killed a huge proportion of its inhabitants, and the city never recovered. UNESCO listed the park of ancient Merv in 1999.

   Read the complete Durnali koshk write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Durnali koshk comes up 34 km in. Next is Takhirbaj Tepe.

3. 3. Takhirbaj Tepe

   The Murghab river flows out of the mountains of Afghanistan and dies in the sands of the Karakum desert, and where it fans out into a delta lies the oasis of Merv, in what is now southern Turkmenistan. For thousands of years people have farmed here, building cities one beside another as rivers shifted and empires came and went. Takhirbaj Tepe is one of the oldest of these settlements, a mound in the northern part of the oasis dating back to the Bronze and Iron Ages, long before the great medieval city that made Merv famous. It forms part of the State Historical and Cultural Park Ancient Merv, listed by UNESCO in 1999, alongside sites such as Yaz Tepe and Gobekli Tepe nearby.

   Read the complete Takhirbaj Tepe write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   69 km in you reach Takhirbaj Tepe. Next is Kelleli; Adji Kui; Taip.

4. 4. Kelleli; Adji Kui; Taip

   Four thousand years ago, in the delta of the Murghab river, a civilisation grew up around irrigated fields and fortified settlements that archaeologists call Margiana, or the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex. Kelleli, Adji Kui and Taip are names of mounds in that delta, low hills of eroded mud brick standing in the flat plain of the Karakum, where the river once split into channels and watered an oasis. People lived here between about 2300 and 1700 BC, building walled compounds with towers, workshops, graves and what may have been temples with fire altars.

   Read the complete Kelleli; Adji Kui; Taip write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Kelleli; Adji Kui; Taip, about halfway. Next is back through Takhirbaj Tepe.

5. 5. back through Takhirbaj Tepe

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Takhirbaj Tepe write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Takhirbaj Tepe sits at 137 km, about halfway. Next is back through Durnali koshk.

6. 6. back through Durnali koshk

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Durnali koshk write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Durnali koshk comes up 172 km in. Next is Garam koshk.

7. 7. Garam koshk

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Garam koshk write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Garam koshk closes the day.