Why this ride
A 314 km round trip from Bayramaly - roughly 6 h 52 in the saddle. The stops in between: Greater and Lesser Nagym Kalas, Takhirbaj Tepe, Kelleli; Adji Kui; Taip and back through Takhirbaj Tepe. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
State Historical and Cultural Park “Ancien and Kelleli; Adji Kui; Taip
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 314 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 52
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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. 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 Greater and Lesser Nagym Kalas.
2. Greater and Lesser Nagym Kalas
Two ruined buildings stand a short distance apart on the plain of Merv, and both are called Kyz Kala, the maidens' fort. The larger one is a vast square block of mud brick with walls that are corrugated, with a row of vertical flutes that give the surface a strange rhythmic texture, and the smaller one is a similar building on a smaller scale. They are among the best-preserved structures from the early Islamic period at Merv, probably dating from the sixth or seventh century or thereabouts, though historians still discuss their exact date and purpose.
Read the complete Greater and Lesser Nagym Kalas write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Greater and Lesser Nagym Kalas comes up 36 km in. Next is Takhirbaj Tepe.
3. Takhirbaj Tepe
The Murghab river flows out of the mountains of Afghanistan and dies in the sands of the Karakum desert, and where it fans out into a delta lies the oasis of Merv, in what is now southern Turkmenistan. For thousands of years people have farmed here, building cities one beside another as rivers shifted and empires came and went. Takhirbaj Tepe is one of the oldest of these settlements, a mound in the northern part of the oasis dating back to the Bronze and Iron Ages, long before the great medieval city that made Merv famous. It forms part of the State Historical and Cultural Park Ancient Merv, listed by UNESCO in 1999, alongside sites such as Yaz Tepe and Gobekli Tepe nearby.
Read the complete Takhirbaj Tepe write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
72 km in you reach Takhirbaj Tepe. Next is Kelleli; Adji Kui; Taip.
4. Kelleli; Adji Kui; Taip
Four thousand years ago, in the delta of the Murghab river, a civilisation grew up around irrigated fields and fortified settlements that archaeologists call Margiana, or the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex. Kelleli, Adji Kui and Taip are names of mounds in that delta, low hills of eroded mud brick standing in the flat plain of the Karakum, where the river once split into channels and watered an oasis. People lived here between about 2300 and 1700 BC, building walled compounds with towers, workshops, graves and what may have been temples with fire altars.
Read the complete Kelleli; Adji Kui; Taip write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kelleli; Adji Kui; Taip, about halfway. Next is back through Takhirbaj Tepe.
5. back through Takhirbaj Tepe
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Takhirbaj Tepe write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Takhirbaj Tepe sits at 143 km, about halfway. Next is back through Greater and Lesser Nagym Kalas.
6. back through Greater and Lesser Nagym Kalas
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Greater and Lesser Nagym Kalas write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Greater and Lesser Nagym Kalas comes up 179 km in. Next is State Historical and Cultural Park “Ancien.
7. 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
State Historical and Cultural Park “Ancien closes the day.
Leg by leg
State Historical and Cultural Park “Ancien to Greater and Lesser Nagym Kalas
State Historical and Cultural Park “Ancien → Greater and Lesser Nagym Kalas is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Greater and Lesser Nagym Kalas to Takhirbaj Tepe
Greater and Lesser Nagym Kalas → Takhirbaj Tepe is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Takhirbaj Tepe to Kelleli; Adji Kui; Taip
Takhirbaj Tepe → Kelleli; Adji Kui; Taip is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kelleli; Adji Kui; Taip to back through Takhirbaj Tepe
Kelleli; Adji Kui; Taip → back through Takhirbaj Tepe is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Takhirbaj Tepe to back through Greater and Lesser Nagym Kalas
back through Takhirbaj Tepe → back through Greater and Lesser Nagym Kalas is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Greater and Lesser Nagym Kalas to State Historical and Cultural Park “Ancien
back through Greater and Lesser Nagym Kalas → State Historical and Cultural Park “Ancien is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.