Kurtly ‘caravanserai’ and Kelleli; Adji Kui; Taip

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. 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’ is where the day begins. Next is Ovliali koshk.

2. 2. Ovliali koshk

   In the oasis of Merv, in southern Turkmenistan, the landscape is dotted with strange buildings of mud brick with walls that look like they have been folded or pleated, rising like fortresses from the fields. These are koshks, fortified manor houses built by the landed elite in the early Islamic period, from about the seventh to the tenth centuries, and the corrugated walls were not just decorative: they strengthened the structure and cast shadows that kept the interior cool. Ovliali koshk, near the town of Murgab, is one of them, and like the others it is part of the World Heritage site of Ancient Merv, one of the great cities of the Silk Road.

   Read the complete Ovliali koshk write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Ovliali koshk comes up 91 km in. Next is Kelleli; Adji Kui; Taip.

3. 3. 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

   182 km in you reach Kelleli; Adji Kui; Taip. Next is back through Ovliali koshk.

4. 4. back through Ovliali koshk

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Ovliali koshk write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Ovliali koshk, late in the day. Next is Kurtly ‘caravanserai’.

5. 5. Kurtly ‘caravanserai’

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   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

   Back at Kurtly ‘caravanserai’. That is the ride.