Kelleli; Adji Kui; Taip and Bairam Ali Ding

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Kelleli; Adji Kui; Taip

   Four thousand years ago, in the delta of the Murghab river, a civilisation grew up around irrigated fields and fortified settlements that archaeologists call Margiana, or the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex. Kelleli, Adji Kui and Taip are names of mounds in that delta, low hills of eroded mud brick standing in the flat plain of the Karakum, where the river once split into channels and watered an oasis. People lived here between about 2300 and 1700 BC, building walled compounds with towers, workshops, graves and what may have been temples with fire altars.

   Read the complete Kelleli; Adji Kui; Taip write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Kelleli; Adji Kui; Taip is where the day begins. Next is Gonur Tepe.

2. 2. Gonur Tepe

   Gonur Tepe lies deep in the sands north of Mary, at the end of a long track into what was once the delta of the Murghab river. Today the river runs dry long before it gets here and the desert has taken over, but four thousand years ago this was the capital of a Bronze Age civilisation that archaeologists call Margiana, or the Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex. Palaces, temples, fortifications and huge cemeteries have been excavated from the mounds, and walking among the mud-brick foundations in the silence of the desert is eerie and moving.

   Read the complete Gonur Tepe write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Gonur Tepe comes up 35 km in. Next is Besh Agyz koshk.

3. 3. Besh Agyz koshk

   Out on the edge of the Merv oasis in southeastern Turkmenistan, where irrigated fields fade into the sand of the Karakum desert, stand the ruins of buildings known as koshks. These were fortified mansions of mud brick, with heavily ribbed walls that look like giant corrugated cardboard, built in the early medieval period by the landed gentry of Merv. Besh Agyz, which means five mouths, is one of them, and it is part of the UNESCO listing of the Silk Roads, alongside the vast ruined cities of Ancient Merv, a World Heritage Site since 1999. Merv was for centuries one of the great cities of the Islamic world and a key stop on the routes between China and the Mediterranean, until the Mongols destroyed it in the thirteenth century.

   Read the complete Besh Agyz koshk write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   71 km in you reach Besh Agyz koshk. Next is Bairam Ali Ding.

4. 4. Bairam Ali Ding

   North of Bayramaly, toward the edge of the irrigated land of the Merv oasis, the remains of a ding stand on the flat plain: a fortified building of mud brick, often square or rectangular, with thick walls and corner towers, used as a manor, a refuge or a watch post. The oasis is scattered with structures like this, from medieval times to the more recent past, and many are associated with the defence of farmland and water channels against raiders from the desert. They are part of the wider archaeological landscape of Merv, one of the richest in Central Asia, where every mound and wall has a story, even if not all of them have been told yet.

   Read the complete Bairam Ali Ding write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Bairam Ali Ding, about halfway. Next is back through Besh Agyz koshk.

5. 5. back through Besh Agyz koshk

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Besh Agyz koshk write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Besh Agyz koshk sits at 141 km, about halfway. Next is back through Gonur Tepe.

6. 6. back through Gonur Tepe

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Gonur Tepe write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Gonur Tepe comes up 177 km in. Next is Kelleli; Adji Kui; Taip.

7. 7. Kelleli; Adji Kui; Taip

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Kelleli; Adji Kui; Taip write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Kelleli; Adji Kui; Taip closes the day.