Why this ride
A 178 km round trip from Bayramaly - roughly 4 h 50 in the saddle. On the way it passes Yaz and Gobekli Tepes, Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of, Besh Agyz koshk and Yaki Pir koshk.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Garam koshk and Yaki Pir koshk
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 178 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 50
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
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 Yaz and Gobekli Tepes.
2. Yaz and Gobekli Tepes
Out on the edge of the Murghab oasis in south-eastern Turkmenistan, where irrigated cotton fields meet the sand of the Karakum, low mounds rise from the flat land. Tepe means hill, and these hills are the eroded remains of ancient settlements: Yaz Depe, which gave its name to an Iron Age culture of the early first millennium BC, and Gobekli Depe nearby. To an untrained eye they are just humps of clay, but they belong to one of the longest continuous stories of settlement in Central Asia.
Read the complete Yaz and Gobekli Tepes write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Yaz and Gobekli Tepes comes up about 24 km into the recorded legs. Next is Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of.
3. Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of
The oasis of Merv, in south-eastern Turkmenistan, was for centuries one of the great cities of Central Asia, a stop on the Silk Road and at one point, under the Seljuks in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, possibly one of the largest cities in the world. Today its ruins are spread over a vast area of desert and farmland near the town of Bayramaly, and they form the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ancient Merv. Scattered among them are small mausolea, tombs of holy men and companions of the Prophet, and the Mausoleum of Huday Nazar is one of these, a modest brick structure that has long been a place of local pilgrimage.
Read the complete Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 52 km into the recorded legs you reach Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of. Next is Besh Agyz koshk.
4. Besh Agyz koshk
Out on the edge of the Merv oasis in southeastern Turkmenistan, where irrigated fields fade into the sand of the Karakum desert, stand the ruins of buildings known as koshks. These were fortified mansions of mud brick, with heavily ribbed walls that look like giant corrugated cardboard, built in the early medieval period by the landed gentry of Merv. Besh Agyz, which means five mouths, is one of them, and it is part of the UNESCO listing of the Silk Roads, alongside the vast ruined cities of Ancient Merv, a World Heritage Site since 1999. Merv was for centuries one of the great cities of the Islamic world and a key stop on the routes between China and the Mediterranean, until the Mongols destroyed it in the thirteenth century.
Read the complete Besh Agyz koshk write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Besh Agyz koshk, about halfway. Next is Yaki Pir koshk.
5. Yaki Pir koshk
Yaki Pir koshk is a name that points to a ruined building, probably a fortified house or pavilion of the kind that medieval rulers and landowners built in the Merv oasis, and it stands close to Takhirbaj Tepe, the other ride mentioned here. The word koshk comes from the Persian for a palace or pavilion, and in the Karakum world it often means a strongly built mudbrick residence with towers.
Read the complete Yaki Pir koshk write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Yaki Pir koshk sits at 72 km, about halfway. Next is back through Besh Agyz koshk.
6. back through Besh Agyz koshk
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Besh Agyz koshk write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Besh Agyz koshk comes up about 105 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of.
7. back through Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 127 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of. Next is back through Yaz and Gobekli Tepes.
8. back through Yaz and Gobekli Tepes
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Yaz and Gobekli Tepes write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Yaz and Gobekli Tepes, late in the day. Next is Garam koshk.
9. 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
The route ends here after 178 km.
Leg by leg
Garam koshk to Yaz and Gobekli Tepes
Garam koshk → Yaz and Gobekli Tepes is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Yaz and Gobekli Tepes to Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of
Yaz and Gobekli Tepes → Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of to Besh Agyz koshk
Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of → Besh Agyz koshk is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Besh Agyz koshk to Yaki Pir koshk
Besh Agyz koshk → Yaki Pir koshk is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Yaki Pir koshk to back through Besh Agyz koshk
Yaki Pir koshk → back through Besh Agyz koshk is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Besh Agyz koshk to back through Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of
back through Besh Agyz koshk → back through Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of to back through Yaz and Gobekli Tepes
back through Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of → back through Yaz and Gobekli Tepes is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Yaz and Gobekli Tepes to Garam koshk
back through Yaz and Gobekli Tepes → Garam koshk is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.