CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
194 km from Samarkand to Samarkand, about 3 h 16 of riding. On the way it passes Jartepa II Temple, Town of Ancient Penjikent, Mausoleum of Khoja Mukhammad Bashoro and back through Town of Ancient Penjikent. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,600 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It crosses from Uzbekistan into Tajikistan - carry ID and check the toll rules. The line favours views over speed.
Samarkand is one of those names that sounds invented, and then you arrive and find it is a real city with real traffic. It sits in the fertile valley of the Zeravshan river, with the Pamir-Alay foothills to the south and the Kyzylkum desert to the west, and it has been a crossroads since before Alexander the Great marched through in 329 BC. The old settlement of Afrasiab, on a plateau at the edge of town, was razed by Genghis Khan's army in 1220. Timur, who made the city his capital in the 1370s, rebuilt it on a far grander scale, filling it with the craftsmen, scholars and stonemasons he dragged back from every conquest.
Read the complete Medieval Timurid and European Cities write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Medieval Timurid and European Cities is where the day begins. Next is Jartepa II Temple.
The Zarafshan valley is the green artery of central Uzbekistan, carrying meltwater from the mountains of Tajikistan west past Samarkand and Bukhara into the desert. South of Samarkand, the land rises into the foothills of the Zarafshan range, and it is here, near Urgut and close to the Tajik border, that the Jartepa site lies, with remains of a temple from the Sogdian era.
Read the complete Jartepa II Temple write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Jartepa II Temple comes up about 36 km into the recorded legs. Next is Town of Ancient Penjikent.
On a dusty loess terrace just outside modern Panjakent, a few low mud ridges and pits are all that remain of one of the richest cities on the Silk Road. Fourteen centuries ago this was a Sogdian town of merchants, with two-storey houses, temples and walls covered in paintings of feasts, heroes and gods. The best frescoes went to the Hermitage in St Petersburg and to the Rudaki museum in town, so bring some imagination with you, but standing among the excavated streets with the Zeravshan glittering below, the scale of the place still lands.
Read the complete Town of Ancient Penjikent write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 64 km into the recorded legs you reach Town of Ancient Penjikent. Next is Mausoleum of Khoja Mukhammad Bashoro.
Panjakent sits in the upper Zeravshan valley in north-western Tajikistan, close to the border with Uzbekistan and Samarkand, and the valley has been a corridor for traders, armies and ideas since long before the Silk Road had a name. Near the village of Mazori Sharif, in the hills south of the river, stands the mausoleum of Khoja Muhammad Bashoro, built in the eleventh century, famous for its portal decorated with intricate carved terracotta, a fine example of early Islamic architecture in Central Asia. It remains a place of pilgrimage, and visitors should dress modestly and respect those who come to pray.
Read the complete Mausoleum of Khoja Mukhammad Bashoro write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Mausoleum of Khoja Mukhammad Bashoro, about halfway. Next is back through Town of Ancient Penjikent.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Town of Ancient Penjikent write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Town of Ancient Penjikent sits at 147 km, about halfway. Next is back through Jartepa II Temple.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Jartepa II Temple write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Jartepa II Temple comes up about 157 km into the recorded legs. Next is Medieval Timurid and European Cities.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Medieval Timurid and European Cities write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Medieval Timurid and European Cities closes the day.
Medieval Timurid and European Cities → Jartepa II Temple is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Jartepa II Temple → Town of Ancient Penjikent is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Town of Ancient Penjikent → Mausoleum of Khoja Mukhammad Bashoro is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mausoleum of Khoja Mukhammad Bashoro → back through Town of Ancient Penjikent is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Town of Ancient Penjikent → back through Jartepa II Temple is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Jartepa II Temple → Medieval Timurid and European Cities is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.