CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
It goes by way of Toksankoriz Irrigation System, Proto-urban Site of Sarazm and back through Toksankoriz Irrigation System. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,600 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It crosses from Tajikistan into Uzbekistan - carry ID and check the toll rules. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
The Zeravshan valley in northwestern Tajikistan is one of the old arteries of Central Asia, a fertile ribbon of green squeezed between the Turkestan and Zeravshan ranges, and in the hills above it lie the ruins of fortresses that once guarded the eastern approaches to Sogdiana. Tali Khamtuda is one of these, and nearby stands the castle on Mount Mugh, where one of the most dramatic stories of the region took place. In 722 Devashtich, the ruler of Panjakent, fled here with his people from the advancing Arab armies, and after a siege he surrendered and was executed. In 1933 a shepherd found a basket of documents in the ruins, written on leather, paper and wood in the Sogdian language, which turned out to be Devashtich's archive and one of the most important sources for understanding Sogdian society.
Read the complete Tali Khamtuda Fortress write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Tali Khamtuda Fortress is where the day begins. Next is Toksankoriz Irrigation System.
Water is the oldest story in Central Asia, and the Zeravshan valley has told it for thousands of years. The river, whose name means gold-bearing, runs down from the glaciers of the Pamir-Alay in Tajikistan and into the desert of Uzbekistan, and every village along it lives by canals and underground channels. The word koriz, or kariz, is the local name for a qanat, a gently sloping tunnel that carries groundwater from the foothills to the fields, and the name Toksankoriz, as I read it, points to a system of many such channels.
Read the complete Toksankoriz Irrigation System write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Toksankoriz Irrigation System comes up about 27 km into the recorded legs. Next is Proto-urban Site of Sarazm.
Five thousand years ago, in the fertile Zeravshan valley of what is now north-western Tajikistan, people built a settlement of mud-brick houses, temples and workshops that became one of the earliest towns in Central Asia. Sarazm, near Panjakent and right next to the Uzbek border, was a centre of metal working, trading copper, tin and turquoise with places as far away as Iran, Afghanistan and India. Inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2010, the site has revealed burials with jewellery, including the richly adorned grave of a woman known as the Princess of Sarazm.
Read the complete Proto-urban Site of Sarazm write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 61 km into the recorded legs you reach Proto-urban Site of Sarazm. Next is back through Toksankoriz Irrigation System.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Toksankoriz Irrigation System write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Toksankoriz Irrigation System, late in the day. Next is Tali Khamtuda Fortress.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tali Khamtuda Fortress write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Tali Khamtuda Fortress. That is the ride.
Tali Khamtuda Fortress → Toksankoriz Irrigation System is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Toksankoriz Irrigation System → Proto-urban Site of Sarazm is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Proto-urban Site of Sarazm → back through Toksankoriz Irrigation System is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Toksankoriz Irrigation System → Tali Khamtuda Fortress is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.