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.
258 km from Ayní to Ayní, about 4 h 06 of riding. The stops in between: Tali Khamtuda Fortress, Town of Ancient Penjikent, Mausoleum of Khoja Mukhammad Bashoro and back through Town of Ancient Penjikent. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,900 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.
Khisor, or Hissar, is a word that turns up across Central Asia for a fortress, and Gardani Khisor is one of those lonely fortress-hills of the upper Zeravshan valley in Tajikistan. It stands a few kilometres from the river, west of the little town of Ayní, in country where the plain narrows and the Fan Mountains start to rear up to the south. I can tell you the setting better than the ruin, because there is not much published on the site and what stands is mostly broken walls and mounds, but the pattern is familiar. The Sogdians and their successors put small forts on rocky knolls to watch the river road and the side valleys, and the villagers below kept orchards and flocks within shouting distance of safety.
Read the complete Gardani Khisor Settlement write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Gardani Khisor Settlement 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 60 km into the recorded legs. Next is Town of Ancient Penjikent.
On a dusty loess terrace just outside modern Panjakent, a few low mud ridges and pits are all that remain of one of the richest cities on the Silk Road. Fourteen centuries ago this was a Sogdian town of merchants, with two-storey houses, temples and walls covered in paintings of feasts, heroes and gods. The best frescoes went to the Hermitage in St Petersburg and to the Rudaki museum in town, so bring some imagination with you, but standing among the excavated streets with the Zeravshan glittering below, the scale of the place still lands.
Read the complete Town of Ancient Penjikent write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 97 km into the recorded legs you reach Town of Ancient Penjikent. Next is Mausoleum of Khoja Mukhammad Bashoro.
Panjakent sits in the upper Zeravshan valley in north-western Tajikistan, close to the border with Uzbekistan and Samarkand, and the valley has been a corridor for traders, armies and ideas since long before the Silk Road had a name. Near the village of Mazori Sharif, in the hills south of the river, stands the mausoleum of Khoja Muhammad Bashoro, built in the eleventh century, famous for its portal decorated with intricate carved terracotta, a fine example of early Islamic architecture in Central Asia. It remains a place of pilgrimage, and visitors should dress modestly and respect those who come to pray.
Read the complete Mausoleum of Khoja Mukhammad Bashoro write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Mausoleum of Khoja Mukhammad Bashoro, about halfway. Next is back through Town of Ancient Penjikent.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Town of Ancient Penjikent write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Town of Ancient Penjikent sits at 159 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 196 km into the recorded legs. Next is Gardani Khisor Settlement.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Gardani Khisor Settlement write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Gardani Khisor Settlement closes the day.
Gardani Khisor Settlement → Tali Khamtuda Fortress is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tali Khamtuda Fortress → Town of Ancient Penjikent is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Town of Ancient Penjikent → Mausoleum of Khoja Mukhammad Bashoro is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mausoleum of Khoja Mukhammad Bashoro → back through Town of Ancient Penjikent is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Town of Ancient Penjikent → back through Tali Khamtuda Fortress is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Tali Khamtuda Fortress → Gardani Khisor Settlement is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.