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 Panjakent it runs 140 km to Panjakent; allow about 2 h 13 of riding. It goes by way of Mausoleum of Khoja Mukhammad Bashoro, Proto-urban Site of Sarazm and back through Mausoleum of Khoja Mukhammad Bashoro. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,600 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It crosses from Tajikistan into Uzbekistan - carry ID and check the toll rules. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Sanjarshakh lies in the Zarafshan valley of Tajikistan, a short ride from the town of Panjakent, and its low mounds and walls are the remains of a Sogdian settlement. The Sogdians were the great merchants of Central Asia, who spoke an Iranian language and carried silk, spices, paper and ideas along the Silk Road from China to Persia and beyond, and their language was the common tongue of the trade routes for several centuries. Their towns lay in the valleys of the Zarafshan and the Kashkadarya, and Panjakent, a few kilometres from here, is the best known, with houses decorated with wall paintings of epic stories, banquets and gods, that are now in the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg.
Read the complete Sanjarshakh Settlement write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Sanjarshakh Settlement 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 22 km into the recorded legs. 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.
about 70 km into the recorded legs you reach Proto-urban Site of Sarazm. 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 Sanjarshakh Settlement.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sanjarshakh Settlement write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Sanjarshakh Settlement. That is the ride.
Sanjarshakh Settlement → Mausoleum of Khoja Mukhammad Bashoro is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mausoleum of Khoja Mukhammad Bashoro → Proto-urban Site of Sarazm is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Proto-urban Site of Sarazm → back through Mausoleum of Khoja Mukhammad Bashoro is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Mausoleum of Khoja Mukhammad Bashoro → Sanjarshakh Settlement is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.