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.
From Samarkand it runs 193 km to Samarkand; allow about 3 h 36 of riding. It goes by way of Jartepa II Temple, Suleimantepa, Proto-urban Site of Sarazm and back through Suleimantepa. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,900 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.
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 37 km into the recorded legs. Next is Suleimantepa.
Urgut is only a few kilometres from here, and if you ride into town on a market day you will understand quickly why the Silk Road needed places like this. The bazaar in Urgut is one of the biggest in Uzbekistan, sprawling, loud and full of everything from suzani embroidery and old coins to cattle and car parts. Suleimantepa, a low mound just outside, is one of the archaeological sites recognised as part of the Zarafshan valley corridor of the Silk Roads, the chain of settlements, forts and caravan stops along the river that fed Samarkand and Bukhara.
Read the complete Suleimantepa write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 61 km into the recorded legs you reach Suleimantepa. Next is Proto-urban Site of Sarazm.
Five thousand years ago, in the fertile Zeravshan valley of what is now north-western Tajikistan, people built a settlement of mud-brick houses, temples and workshops that became one of the earliest towns in Central Asia. Sarazm, near Panjakent and right next to the Uzbek border, was a centre of metal working, trading copper, tin and turquoise with places as far away as Iran, Afghanistan and India. Inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2010, the site has revealed burials with jewellery, including the richly adorned grave of a woman known as the Princess of Sarazm.
Read the complete Proto-urban Site of Sarazm write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Proto-urban Site of Sarazm, about halfway. Next is back through Suleimantepa.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Suleimantepa write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Suleimantepa sits at 139 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 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Jartepa II Temple → Suleimantepa is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Suleimantepa → Proto-urban Site of Sarazm is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Proto-urban Site of Sarazm → back through Suleimantepa is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Suleimantepa → back through Jartepa II Temple is 25 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.