Why this ride
It goes by way of Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai, Thulli koshk, Takhirbaj Tepe and Kurtly ‘caravanserai’. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Konegala Caravanserai and Kurtly ‘caravanserai’
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 1338 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 23 h 03
- 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. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai.
2. 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 comes up about 168 km into the recorded legs. Next is Thulli koshk.
3. Thulli koshk
Koshk is the local word for a fortified house, and around the oasis of Merv, in south-eastern Turkmenistan, dozens of these buildings survive from the early medieval period. Thulli koshk is one of them, a mud-brick structure with walls built in a distinctive corrugated pattern, like the folds of a curtain, which made them both stronger and more striking. These buildings were probably the homes of wealthy landowners, built to defend against raids, with rooms on two floors around a central hall.
Read the complete Thulli koshk write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 345 km into the recorded legs you reach Thulli koshk. Next is Takhirbaj Tepe.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is Kurtly ‘caravanserai’.
5. Kurtly ‘caravanserai’
Kurtly sits on the flat plain near Merv, in the south of the Karakum, and the caravanserai that gives the place its label is a reminder that the old Silk Road was a network of small stops as much as great cities. A caravanserai was a fortified inn where merchants and animals could rest, drink and sleep within walls, usually a day's travel from the next one. Some were grand, with arcades and domed rooms. Others were simple compounds of mud brick. Few survive intact, and the ones in Turkmenistan are often reduced to low walls and mounds.
Read the complete Kurtly ‘caravanserai’ write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kurtly ‘caravanserai’ sits at 671 km, about halfway. Next is back through Takhirbaj Tepe.
6. 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 comes up about 835 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Thulli koshk.
7. back through Thulli koshk
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Thulli koshk write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 989 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Thulli koshk. Next is back through Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai.
8. back through 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
back through Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai, late in the day. Next is Konegala Caravanserai.
9. 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
The route ends here after 1338 km.
Leg by leg
Konegala Caravanserai to Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai
Konegala Caravanserai → Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai is 168 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai to Thulli koshk
Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai → Thulli koshk is 177 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Thulli koshk to Takhirbaj Tepe
Thulli koshk → Takhirbaj Tepe is 154 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Takhirbaj Tepe to Kurtly ‘caravanserai’
Takhirbaj Tepe → Kurtly ‘caravanserai’ is 168 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kurtly ‘caravanserai’ to back through Takhirbaj Tepe
Kurtly ‘caravanserai’ → back through Takhirbaj Tepe is 168 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Takhirbaj Tepe to back through Thulli koshk
back through Takhirbaj Tepe → back through Thulli koshk is 154 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Thulli koshk to back through Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai
back through Thulli koshk → back through Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai is 177 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai to Konegala Caravanserai
back through Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai → Konegala Caravanserai is 168 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.