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.
129 km from Samarkand to Samarkand, about 2 h 10 of riding. It goes by way of Jartepa II Temple, Town of Ancient Penjikent and back through Jartepa II Temple. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,150 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.
Many Central Asian cities used to keep a namazgoh, an open prayer ground just outside the walls, where the whole male population gathered for the great feast days, in rows on the bare earth, led by an imam at a niche in a wall. The one at Samarkand lies on the southern fringe of the old town, a little way from the dense maze of lanes around the Registan, and it tells the story of how the city lived rather than how its rulers showed off. The structure, with its niche, a screen of arches and later additions, has been repaired and rebuilt over the centuries, so it is best seen as a layered place rather than a single period piece.
Read the complete Namazgoh Mosque write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Namazgoh Mosque 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 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 65 km into the recorded legs you reach Town of Ancient Penjikent. 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, late in the day. Next is Namazgoh Mosque.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Namazgoh Mosque write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Namazgoh Mosque. That is the ride.
Namazgoh Mosque → Jartepa II Temple is 37 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 → back through Jartepa II Temple is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Jartepa II Temple → Namazgoh Mosque is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.