Why this ride
A 776 km round trip from Bayramaly - roughly 13 h 24 in the saddle. On the way it passes Takhirbaj Tepe, Akja Gala Caravanserai and back through Takhirbaj Tepe. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Greater and Lesser Kiz Kala and Akja Gala Caravanserai
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 776 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 13 h 24
- 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: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Greater and Lesser Kiz Kala
Two squat, ribbed fortresses stand on the plain outside ancient Merv, and they have kept their purpose a mystery. Greater Kiz Kala and Lesser Kiz Kala, the Maiden Fortresses, are fortified buildings dating from the sixth to the seventh century AD, when Merv was a provincial capital of the Sasanian Persian Empire, and they are a fine example of the fortified country house of the period. The larger one is about thirty metres square, with massive walls, rounded corner towers, and a surface made of shallow vertical grooves and arrow slits that give it a corrugated look, and the smaller one stands a short distance away, built in much the same style.
Read the complete Greater and Lesser Kiz Kala write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Greater and Lesser Kiz Kala is where the day begins. Next is Takhirbaj Tepe.
2. 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
Takhirbaj Tepe comes up about 192 km into the recorded legs. Next is Akja Gala Caravanserai.
3. Akja Gala Caravanserai
The Silk Road across the Karakum was never a single road. It was a series of wells, forts and caravanserais, a day's travel apart, where camels could drink and merchants could sleep behind walls. Akja Gala is one of these shelters, a square brick building with a central courtyard and rooms around it, set in sand and saxaul scrub between Merv and the Amu Darya, the river called the Oxus by the Greeks.
Read the complete Akja Gala Caravanserai write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 386 km into the recorded legs you reach Akja Gala Caravanserai. Next is back through Takhirbaj Tepe.
4. 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, late in the day. Next is Greater and Lesser Kiz Kala.
5. Greater and Lesser Kiz Kala
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Greater and Lesser Kiz Kala write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Greater and Lesser Kiz Kala. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Greater and Lesser Kiz Kala to Takhirbaj Tepe
Greater and Lesser Kiz Kala → Takhirbaj Tepe is 192 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Takhirbaj Tepe to Akja Gala Caravanserai
Takhirbaj Tepe → Akja Gala Caravanserai is 195 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Akja Gala Caravanserai to back through Takhirbaj Tepe
Akja Gala Caravanserai → back through Takhirbaj Tepe is 195 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Takhirbaj Tepe to Greater and Lesser Kiz Kala
back through Takhirbaj Tepe → Greater and Lesser Kiz Kala is 192 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.