Site of Ornek and Site of Kostobe

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Site of Ornek

   Ornek is a place where the Silk Road becomes tangible in the grass. It lies in the foothills of the Talas Alatau, at the western end of the Tian Shan, in southern Kazakhstan near the border with Kyrgyzstan, and it was a settlement of the Turkic peoples who dominated these steppes between roughly the eighth and twelfth centuries. Its earthen walls, the outline of its citadel and the lines of houses are visible as low mounds, and scattered around are balbals, carved stone figures with faces, raised by the Turks to honour the dead. Ornek, like nearby Kulan and Kostobe, was inscribed as part of the Silk Roads corridor running from Chang'an to the Tian Shan.

   Read the complete Site of Ornek write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Site of Ornek is where the day begins. Next is Site of Akyrtas.

2. 2. Site of Akyrtas

   Out on the steppe east of Taraz, in southern Kazakhstan, the remains of Akyrtas are a puzzle that no one has fully solved. Rows of massive blocks of red sandstone lie in a vast rectangle, the foundations of a palace or fortified complex that seems to have been planned on an enormous scale and never finished. Its date is usually placed around the eighth or ninth century, but who built it, an Arab governor, a Turkic ruler of the Karluks, or someone else entirely, remains open. The stones are carefully cut, the layout is formal, with a central courtyard and rooms around it, and the whole thing sits in an empty landscape that only deepens the mystery. It is part of the transnational World Heritage site of the Silk Roads.

   Read the complete Site of Akyrtas write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Site of Akyrtas comes up 35 km in. Next is Site of Kostobe.

3. 3. Site of Kostobe

   The ruined town of Kostobe lies in the broad valley of the Talas river, a few kilometres from Sarykemer and about sixteen from Taraz, in the south of Kazakhstan. It belongs to the string of settlements along the Silk Road that UNESCO recognised in 2014 as the Chang'an-Tianshan corridor, and its low mounds and eroded walls recall a time when caravans passed through here between China, Central Asia and the Middle East. Details of the excavations are the business of archaeologists, but the general picture is clear: a walled medieval trading town on fertile land, close to a river and a major route.

   Read the complete Site of Kostobe write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   70 km in you reach Site of Kostobe. Next is back through Site of Akyrtas.

4. 4. back through Site of Akyrtas

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Site of Akyrtas write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Site of Akyrtas, late in the day. Next is Site of Ornek.

5. 5. Site of Ornek

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Site of Ornek write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Site of Ornek. That is the ride.