Why this ride
784 km from Bayramaly to Bayramaly, about 13 h 32 of riding. 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
Historic urban centre of the Merv oasis and Akja Gala Caravanserai
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 784 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 13 h 32
- 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. Historic urban centre of the Merv oasis
Merv is what is left of a city that once argued with Baghdad about which of them was the greatest in the Muslim world. Today it lies as a wide spread of mud-brick walls, domes and mounds in the Karakum desert of Turkmenistan, a few kilometres from the town of Bayramaly and not far from the regional capital Mary. The Murgab river fans out here into an oasis, and for more than two thousand years that thin green strip made Merv the natural halt on the Silk Road between Persia and Central Asia.
Read the complete Historic urban centre of the Merv oasis write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Historic urban centre of the Merv oasis 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 193 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 392 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 Historic urban centre of the Merv oasis.
5. Historic urban centre of the Merv oasis
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Historic urban centre of the Merv oasis write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Historic urban centre of the Merv oasis. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Historic urban centre of the Merv oasis to Takhirbaj Tepe
Historic urban centre of the Merv oasis → Takhirbaj Tepe is 193 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 199 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 199 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Takhirbaj Tepe to Historic urban centre of the Merv oasis
back through Takhirbaj Tepe → Historic urban centre of the Merv oasis is 193 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.