Shahristoni Hulbuk and Tugay forests of the Tigrovaya Balka Natur

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Shahristoni Hulbuk

   Shahristoni is an old word for the inner town of a medieval city, and Hulbuk was a large one. In the ninth to eleventh centuries, when the Samanid dynasty ruled much of Central Asia from Bukhara, Hulbuk was the capital of Khuttal, a rich district in the south-east of what is now Tajikistan, and its rulers built a palace complex with courtyards, halls and fortified walls. Excavators have found fine carved alabaster panels, painted ceramics, glazed bowls and bits of mosaic, which show how sophisticated the court was, a Persian-speaking world that produced scholars, poets and astronomers. The city was destroyed in the Mongol invasion of the thirteenth century and never rebuilt.

   Read the complete Shahristoni Hulbuk write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Shahristoni Hulbuk is where the day begins. Next is Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery.

2. 2. Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery

   In the Vakhsh valley of southern Tajikistan, near the city of Bokhtar, once called Qurghonteppa, a low mound of earth in the fields hides the remains of a Buddhist monastery from the seventh and eighth centuries. Excavations at Ajina Tepa, which means the hill of the demons in local tradition, revealed a complex of courtyards, cells, corridors and stupas, built of mud brick and decorated with paintings and clay sculptures. The most spectacular find, uncovered in 1966, was a giant reclining Buddha, around thirteen metres long, depicting the Buddha entering nirvana.

   Read the complete Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery comes up about 128 km into the recorded legs. Next is Tugay forests of the Tigrovaya Balka Natur.

3. 3. Tugay forests of the Tigrovaya Balka Natur

   The Tigrovaya Balka, the Tiger Gully, lies in the far south of Tajikistan where the Vakhsh river runs down to meet the Panj and the Amu Darya, and it is an odd, lush corner in a dry country. The nature reserve protects tugay, the riverine forest of poplar, willow, tamarisk and wild olive that grows along the flood plains of Central Asian rivers, with thick reed beds and clearings of tall grass. It looks like a jungle, which is why it was called a gully of tigers. The Turan tiger, a relative of the Siberian tiger, lived here until the 1950s, when hunting and the clearing of reed land for cotton drove it to extinction.

   Read the complete Tugay forests of the Tigrovaya Balka Natur write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 236 km into the recorded legs you reach Tugay forests of the Tigrovaya Balka Natur. Next is back through Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery.

4. 4. back through Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery, late in the day. Next is Shahristoni Hulbuk.

5. 5. Shahristoni Hulbuk

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Shahristoni Hulbuk write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Shahristoni Hulbuk. That is the ride.