Mausolea of Imam Bakr and Shafi and Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Mausolea of Imam Bakr and Shafi

   The Merv oasis in southern Turkmenistan was once one of the greatest cities of the medieval world. Watered by the Murghab river, which flows north from Afghanistan and fans out into the Karakum desert, it was a capital of the Seljuk sultans in the eleventh and twelfth centuries and a key stop on the Silk Road. The Mongols destroyed it in 1221, and the ruins of successive cities, spread over a huge area, now form the Ancient Merv archaeological park, inscribed on the UNESCO list in 1999. Among the ruins stand several mausolea of revered figures, small domed buildings that have drawn pilgrims for centuries and still do today.

   Read the complete Mausolea of Imam Bakr and Shafi write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Mausolea of Imam Bakr and Shafi is where the day begins. Next is Besh Agyz koshk.

2. 2. 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

   Besh Agyz koshk comes up about 192 km into the recorded legs. Next is Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai.

3. 3. 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

   about 391 km into the recorded legs you reach Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai. Next is back through Besh Agyz koshk.

4. 4. 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, late in the day. Next is Mausolea of Imam Bakr and Shafi.

5. 5. Mausolea of Imam Bakr and Shafi

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Mausolea of Imam Bakr and Shafi write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Mausolea of Imam Bakr and Shafi. That is the ride.