Why this ride
From Farkhor it runs 87 km to Farkhor; allow about 1 h 43 of riding. The stops in between: Shahristoni Zoli Zar, Kalai Hulbuk and back through Shahristoni Zoli Zar.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Shahrtepa and Kalai Hulbuk
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 87 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 43
- 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. Shahrtepa
Shahrtepa lies in the lowlands of southern Tajikistan, in Khatlon province, within sight of the Panj river and the Afghan hills beyond. The word tepa means a mound, and it is the right word: a mound that has built up over centuries as one settlement was layered over another, in the Bactrian country that Alexander crossed and that later fed the Kushan empire. A Buddhist temple site is linked with this area, a reminder that this was once a place where monks, merchants and caravans met on the way between India, Central Asia and China.
Read the complete Shahrtepa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Shahrtepa is where the day begins. Next is Shahristoni Zoli Zar.
2. Shahristoni Zoli Zar
Down in the far south of Tajikistan, in Khatlon province, the land flattens into the wide floodplain of the Panj, the river that forms the border with Afghanistan. The site named Shahristoni Zoli Zar lies in this country, some eighteen kilometres from Farkhor, and it is one of many ancient settlement mounds scattered across the region. Southern Tajikistan was part of ancient Bactria, later the heartland of the Kushan empire, and the fields here have yielded Buddhist and early Islamic remains. A shahriston, in the old local sense, was the inner walled town, and the name suggests that this mound once held a proper urban core.
Read the complete Shahristoni Zoli Zar write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Shahristoni Zoli Zar comes up about 21 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kalai Hulbuk.
3. Kalai Hulbuk
Hulbuk was the capital of a small principality of the Samanid era in what is now southern Tajikistan, and it is one of the most evocative ruins in the Khatlon region. Its location is on the plains south of Vose, near the Kyzylsu, within sight of the Afghan border country. Archaeologists dug out a palace complex of mud-brick and fired brick from the ninth to eleventh centuries, with remarkable carved terracotta panels and a ceramic tradition that left glazed bowls with sharp, graceful script. Some of this is displayed in a small museum on site, and part of the citadel has been reconstructed so you can see how the high rooms were arranged.
Read the complete Kalai Hulbuk write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 43 km into the recorded legs you reach Kalai Hulbuk. Next is back through Shahristoni Zoli Zar.
4. back through Shahristoni Zoli Zar
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Shahristoni Zoli Zar write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Shahristoni Zoli Zar, late in the day. Next is Shahrtepa.
5. Shahrtepa
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Shahrtepa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Shahrtepa. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Shahrtepa to Shahristoni Zoli Zar
Shahrtepa → Shahristoni Zoli Zar is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Shahristoni Zoli Zar to Kalai Hulbuk
Shahristoni Zoli Zar → Kalai Hulbuk is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kalai Hulbuk to back through Shahristoni Zoli Zar
Kalai Hulbuk → back through Shahristoni Zoli Zar is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Shahristoni Zoli Zar to Shahrtepa
back through Shahristoni Zoli Zar → Shahrtepa is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.