Why this ride
From Bayramaly it runs 860 km to Bayramaly; allow about 14 h 51 of riding. It goes by way of Togoluk, Akja Gala Caravanserai and back through Togoluk. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
State Historical and Cultural Park “Ancien and Akja Gala Caravanserai
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 860 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 14 h 51
- 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: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. State Historical and Cultural Park “Ancien
South of the Karakum and just outside the modern city of Mary, the ground is littered with the ghosts of cities. Nagym Kala, the Greater and Lesser forts, are two of the walled settlements that make up the old Merv oasis, one of the great cities of the Silk Road. The Murgab river spreads out here into a delta that has fed farmers for thousands of years, and Merv grew up where the water met the desert.
Read the complete State Historical and Cultural Park “Ancien write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
State Historical and Cultural Park “Ancien is where the day begins. Next is Togoluk.
2. Togoluk
What I can say is that the surrounding land belongs to the Murghab oasis, where a river born in the Afghan mountains fans out into irrigated fields, then dies in the sand. This is one of the oldest farming and trading landscapes in Central Asia, and everything around here is shaped by water and by the lack of it.
Read the complete Togoluk write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Togoluk comes up about 203 km into the recorded legs. Next is Akja Gala Caravanserai.
3. Akja Gala Caravanserai
The Silk Road across the Karakum was never a single road. It was a series of wells, forts and caravanserais, a day's travel apart, where camels could drink and merchants could sleep behind walls. Akja Gala is one of these shelters, a square brick building with a central courtyard and rooms around it, set in sand and saxaul scrub between Merv and the Amu Darya, the river called the Oxus by the Greeks.
Read the complete Akja Gala Caravanserai write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 428 km into the recorded legs you reach Akja Gala Caravanserai. Next is back through Togoluk.
4. back through Togoluk
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Togoluk write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Togoluk, late in the day. Next is State Historical and Cultural Park “Ancien.
5. State Historical and Cultural Park “Ancien
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete State Historical and Cultural Park “Ancien write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at State Historical and Cultural Park “Ancien. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
State Historical and Cultural Park “Ancien to Togoluk
State Historical and Cultural Park “Ancien → Togoluk is 203 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Togoluk to Akja Gala Caravanserai
Togoluk → Akja Gala Caravanserai is 225 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Akja Gala Caravanserai to back through Togoluk
Akja Gala Caravanserai → back through Togoluk is 225 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Togoluk to State Historical and Cultural Park “Ancien
back through Togoluk → State Historical and Cultural Park “Ancien is 203 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.