Why this ride
A 277 km round trip from Bukhara - roughly 5 h 50 in the saddle. The stops in between: Chasma-i Ayub Khazira, Vardanze Settlement, Deggaron Mosque and back through Vardanze Settlement. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Historic Centre of Bukhara and Deggaron Mosque
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 277 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 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.
Scenic road chapters
Uzbekistan Silk Road Route
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 34 km this is Uzbekistan Silk Road Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 34 km
- Named road
- Uzbekistan Silk Road Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Historic Centre of Bukhara
Bukhara is a city that feels like a lived-in museum. For more than two thousand years it has been a trading town on the routes across Central Asia, and in the ninth and tenth centuries, under the Samanid dynasty, it was one of the great centres of Islamic learning, home to scholars such as Ibn Sina, known in the West as Avicenna. Genghis Khan sacked it in 1220, but the Kalyan Minaret, built in 1127, survived, and legend says even the conqueror was impressed. Today the old city is a remarkable ensemble of mosques, madrasas, caravanserais and domed bazaars, and it entered the World Heritage list in 1993.
Read the complete Historic Centre of Bukhara write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Historic Centre of Bukhara is where the day begins. Next is Chasma-i Ayub Khazira.
2. Chasma-i Ayub Khazira
North of Bukhara, the green irrigated oasis of the Zarafshan river spreads out in a patchwork of cotton fields, orchards, mulberry trees and villages, and the point named Chasma-i Ayub Khazira lies in this landscape, near the village of Khazara, between Vobkent and Gijduvon. Chashma-i Ayub, the spring of Job, is a name given to several holy springs in Central Asia, linked to the legend that the prophet Job struck the ground with his staff and water gushed forth in a time of drought. The most famous is in Bukhara itself, a mausoleum over a spring, and this site near Khazara may be another shrine of the same tradition, listed as part of the Silk Roads corridor of the Zarafshan valley.
Read the complete Chasma-i Ayub Khazira write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Chasma-i Ayub Khazira comes up about 34 km into the recorded legs. Next is Vardanze Settlement.
3. Vardanze Settlement
North of Bukhara the irrigated land eventually runs into the sand, and on that edge lies Vardanze, the ruins of an ancient city that was once the capital of a local principality in the Bukhara oasis. Its mound of collapsed mud-brick walls and citadel rises above the fields near Shofirkon, and archaeologists have traced its history back more than two thousand years. It flourished as a trading post on the Silk Road and later declined, partly because the desert advanced and the water supply failed, and its ruins are part of the Zarafshan-Karakum corridor listed by UNESCO in 2023.
Read the complete Vardanze Settlement write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 73 km into the recorded legs you reach Vardanze Settlement. Next is Deggaron Mosque.
4. Deggaron Mosque
In the village of Hazara, in the Zarafshan valley between Bukhara and Samarkand, stands one of the oldest mosques in Central Asia. The Deggaron mosque dates from the eleventh century, and from the outside it looks almost humble: a square, squat brick building with a cluster of low domes. Inside, it is a revelation, with massive brick columns supporting a forest of small domes and arches, the brickwork laid in patterns that play with light and shadow. It is a rare survivor of the pre-Mongol architecture of the region, and it forms part of the Silk Roads listing for the Zarafshan-Karakum corridor, inscribed by UNESCO in 2023.
Read the complete Deggaron Mosque write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Deggaron Mosque, about halfway. Next is back through Vardanze Settlement.
5. back through Vardanze Settlement
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Vardanze Settlement write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Vardanze Settlement sits at 188 km, about halfway. Next is back through Chasma-i Ayub Khazira.
6. back through Chasma-i Ayub Khazira
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Chasma-i Ayub Khazira write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Chasma-i Ayub Khazira comes up about 242 km into the recorded legs. Next is Historic Centre of Bukhara.
7. Historic Centre of Bukhara
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Historic Centre of Bukhara write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Historic Centre of Bukhara closes the day.
Leg by leg
Historic Centre of Bukhara to Chasma-i Ayub Khazira
Historic Centre of Bukhara → Chasma-i Ayub Khazira is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Chasma-i Ayub Khazira to Vardanze Settlement
Chasma-i Ayub Khazira → Vardanze Settlement is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Vardanze Settlement to Deggaron Mosque
Vardanze Settlement → Deggaron Mosque is 66 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Deggaron Mosque to back through Vardanze Settlement
Deggaron Mosque → back through Vardanze Settlement is 64 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Vardanze Settlement to back through Chasma-i Ayub Khazira
back through Vardanze Settlement → back through Chasma-i Ayub Khazira is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Chasma-i Ayub Khazira to Historic Centre of Bukhara
back through Chasma-i Ayub Khazira → Historic Centre of Bukhara is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.