Kelte Minara koshk and Akja Gala Caravanserai

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Kelte Minara koshk

   Once there were few cities in the world as big as Merv. At its height, in the twelfth century, under the Seljuk sultans, the oasis city on the Murghab river, in the sands of what is now Turkmenistan, may have been the largest on the planet, with a population counted in the hundreds of thousands, libraries that Arab geographers praised and a position on the Silk Road between Persia and Central Asia. In 1221, the Mongols arrived, and the chroniclers say that the slaughter was beyond counting. The city never recovered its size, but the ruins, which cover a vast area of low walls, mounds and shattered brick, were listed as a World Heritage site in 1999.

   Read the complete Kelte Minara koshk write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Kelte Minara koshk is where the day begins. Next is Takhirbaj Tepe.

2. 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 217 km into the recorded legs. Next is Akja Gala Caravanserai.

3. 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 396 km into the recorded legs you reach Akja Gala Caravanserai. Next is back through Takhirbaj Tepe.

4. 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 Kelte Minara koshk.

5. 5. Kelte Minara koshk

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Kelte Minara koshk write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Kelte Minara koshk. That is the ride.