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.
A 221 km round trip from Panjakent - roughly 3 h 23 in the saddle. It goes by way of Mausoleum of Khoja Mukhammad Bashoro, Gardani Khisor Settlement and back through Mausoleum of Khoja Mukhammad Bashoro. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,900 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.
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 is where the day begins. 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 comes up about 48 km into the recorded legs. Next is Gardani Khisor Settlement.
Khisor, or Hissar, is a word that turns up across Central Asia for a fortress, and Gardani Khisor is one of those lonely fortress-hills of the upper Zeravshan valley in Tajikistan. It stands a few kilometres from the river, west of the little town of Ayní, in country where the plain narrows and the Fan Mountains start to rear up to the south. I can tell you the setting better than the ruin, because there is not much published on the site and what stands is mostly broken walls and mounds, but the pattern is familiar. The Sogdians and their successors put small forts on rocky knolls to watch the river road and the side valleys, and the villagers below kept orchards and flocks within shouting distance of safety.
Read the complete Gardani Khisor Settlement write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 109 km into the recorded legs you reach Gardani Khisor Settlement. Next is back through Mausoleum of Khoja Mukhammad Bashoro.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mausoleum of Khoja Mukhammad Bashoro write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Mausoleum of Khoja Mukhammad Bashoro, late in the day. Next is Proto-urban Site of Sarazm.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Proto-urban Site of Sarazm write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Proto-urban Site of Sarazm. That is the ride.
Proto-urban Site of Sarazm → Mausoleum of Khoja Mukhammad Bashoro is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mausoleum of Khoja Mukhammad Bashoro → Gardani Khisor Settlement is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gardani Khisor Settlement → back through Mausoleum of Khoja Mukhammad Bashoro is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Mausoleum of Khoja Mukhammad Bashoro → Proto-urban Site of Sarazm is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.