Why this ride
On the way it passes Konegala Caravanserai, Repetek, Amul Settlement and back through Repetek. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai and Amul Settlement
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 890 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 15 h 21
- 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. Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai
The Karakum desert covers most of Turkmenistan, and its eastern edge is where the Murghab river fans out into the oasis of Merv, one of the great cities of the ancient world. In the Seljuk age, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, Merv was said to be among the largest cities on earth, and the countryside around it was threaded with canals, fortresses and the roadside inns the Persians called caravanserais. This point lies in that old orbit, in the plain near Bayramaly, where the desert and the irrigated fields meet.
Read the complete Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai is where the day begins. Next is Konegala Caravanserai.
2. Konegala Caravanserai
What I can tell you is what a caravanserai was, because the answer explains the place. Along the Silk Road, travellers needed to eat, sleep and water their animals every day or two, and rulers and merchants built fortified inns at intervals along the way, with thick walls, a single gate, a central courtyard and small rooms around the edge for people, with stables and storerooms.
Read the complete Konegala Caravanserai write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Konegala Caravanserai comes up about 87 km into the recorded legs. Next is Repetek.
3. Repetek
Repetek has the reputation of being one of the hottest places in the former Soviet Union, and on a summer afternoon in the Karakum desert, standing among the dunes with the air shimmering, you will not doubt it. A desert research station was founded here in 1912, and the surrounding area became a nature reserve, later a biosphere reserve, protecting a typical stretch of the sandy desert of Turkmenistan. Scientists have studied the plants, animals and dunes here for over a century, and the station has been a pioneer in understanding how life survives in extreme heat and drought.
Read the complete Repetek write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 269 km into the recorded legs you reach Repetek. Next is Amul Settlement.
4. Amul Settlement
Amul was the old name for the crossing that later became Türkmenabat, and the settlement sits only six kilometres from that modern city on the Amu Darya, the river the ancients called the Oxus. It is a flat, dusty place of low mounds and eroded walls, and you might drive past without noticing. What it marks is a ford on one of the great Silk Road routes, where caravans coming from Merv in the southwest met the river before heading on toward Bukhara.
Read the complete Amul Settlement write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Amul Settlement, about halfway. Next is back through Repetek.
5. back through Repetek
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Repetek write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Repetek sits at 593 km, about halfway. Next is back through Konegala Caravanserai.
6. back through Konegala Caravanserai
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Konegala Caravanserai write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Konegala Caravanserai comes up about 800 km into the recorded legs. Next is Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai.
7. Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai closes the day.
Leg by leg
Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai to Konegala Caravanserai
Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai → Konegala Caravanserai is 87 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Konegala Caravanserai to Repetek
Konegala Caravanserai → Repetek is 182 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Repetek to Amul Settlement
Repetek → Amul Settlement is 175 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Amul Settlement to back through Repetek
Amul Settlement → back through Repetek is 175 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Repetek to back through Konegala Caravanserai
back through Repetek → back through Konegala Caravanserai is 182 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Konegala Caravanserai to Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai
back through Konegala Caravanserai → Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai is 87 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.