Why this ride
From Konimex it runs 109 km to Konimex; allow about 2 h 01 of riding. It goes by way of Deggaron Mosque, Mir Sayid Bakhrom Mausoleum and back through Deggaron Mosque. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Rabati Malik Sardoba and Mir Sayid Bakhrom Mausoleum
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 109 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 01
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Rabati Malik Sardoba
Halfway between Samarkand and Bukhara, the old caravan road crosses a stretch of steppe that is flat, dry and almost empty, and in the eleventh century someone decided that a traveller crossing it deserved a proper stopping place. Rabati Malik, the Rabat of the King, was built in the 1070s by a Karakhanid ruler named Shams al-Mulk Nasr, on one of the main branches of the Silk Road. The caravanserai itself is now mostly collapsed, and what remains is a tall brick entrance portal, ornamented with carved terracotta, standing alone in the plain like the front of a theatre set.
Read the complete Rabati Malik Sardoba write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Rabati Malik Sardoba is where the day begins. Next is Deggaron Mosque.
2. Deggaron Mosque
In the village of Hazara, in the Zarafshan valley between Bukhara and Samarkand, stands one of the oldest mosques in Central Asia. The Deggaron mosque dates from the eleventh century, and from the outside it looks almost humble: a square, squat brick building with a cluster of low domes. Inside, it is a revelation, with massive brick columns supporting a forest of small domes and arches, the brickwork laid in patterns that play with light and shadow. It is a rare survivor of the pre-Mongol architecture of the region, and it forms part of the Silk Roads listing for the Zarafshan-Karakum corridor, inscribed by UNESCO in 2023.
Read the complete Deggaron Mosque write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Deggaron Mosque comes up about 17 km into the recorded legs. Next is Mir Sayid Bakhrom Mausoleum.
3. Mir Sayid Bakhrom Mausoleum
Navoi is a strange and rather brilliant city. It does not appear on any old caravan map, because it was founded in 1958 in the middle of the Kyzylkum desert, to house the workers of the gold and uranium industries and to give the Soviet planners a clean slate. It was named after Alisher Navoi, the fifteenth-century poet who wrote in Chagatai Turkic and who has become the national literary hero. Wide avenues, tidy parks and rows of apartment blocks give it the air of a model town, and in the heat of the afternoon it is remarkably quiet.
Read the complete Mir Sayid Bakhrom Mausoleum write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 56 km into the recorded legs you reach Mir Sayid Bakhrom Mausoleum. Next is back through Deggaron Mosque.
4. back through Deggaron Mosque
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Deggaron Mosque write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Deggaron Mosque, late in the day. Next is Rabati Malik Sardoba.
5. Rabati Malik Sardoba
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Rabati Malik Sardoba write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Rabati Malik Sardoba. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Rabati Malik Sardoba to Deggaron Mosque
Rabati Malik Sardoba → Deggaron Mosque is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Deggaron Mosque to Mir Sayid Bakhrom Mausoleum
Deggaron Mosque → Mir Sayid Bakhrom Mausoleum is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mir Sayid Bakhrom Mausoleum to back through Deggaron Mosque
Mir Sayid Bakhrom Mausoleum → back through Deggaron Mosque is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Deggaron Mosque to Rabati Malik Sardoba
back through Deggaron Mosque → Rabati Malik Sardoba is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.