Why this ride
A 690 km round trip from Shahritus - roughly 14 h 49 in the saddle. The stops in between: Halevard, Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery, Cultural Heritage Sites of Ancient Khuttal and Manzaratepa. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Tugay forests of the Tigrovaya Balka Natur and Manzaratepa
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 690 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 14 h 49
- 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. Tugay forests of the Tigrovaya Balka Natur
The Tigrovaya Balka, the Tiger Gully, lies in the far south of Tajikistan where the Vakhsh river runs down to meet the Panj and the Amu Darya, and it is an odd, lush corner in a dry country. The nature reserve protects tugay, the riverine forest of poplar, willow, tamarisk and wild olive that grows along the flood plains of Central Asian rivers, with thick reed beds and clearings of tall grass. It looks like a jungle, which is why it was called a gully of tigers. The Turan tiger, a relative of the Siberian tiger, lived here until the 1950s, when hunting and the clearing of reed land for cotton drove it to extinction.
Read the complete Tugay forests of the Tigrovaya Balka Natur write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Tugay forests of the Tigrovaya Balka Natur is where the day begins. Next is Halevard.
2. Halevard
Southern Tajikistan is a land of wide river valleys and dry hills, where the Vakhsh and the Panj rivers flow towards the Amu Darya, the Oxus of the ancients, on the border with Afghanistan. Near the town of Kolkhozobod, known today by its newer name, lies Halevard, an archaeological site in the fertile Vakhsh valley. This region was part of ancient Bactria, a land of cities and fortresses that flourished under the Persians, the Greeks who followed Alexander the Great, and the Kushans.
Read the complete Halevard write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Halevard comes up about 60 km into the recorded legs. Next is Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery.
3. Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery
In the Vakhsh valley of southern Tajikistan, near the city of Bokhtar, once called Qurghonteppa, a low mound of earth in the fields hides the remains of a Buddhist monastery from the seventh and eighth centuries. Excavations at Ajina Tepa, which means the hill of the demons in local tradition, revealed a complex of courtyards, cells, corridors and stupas, built of mud brick and decorated with paintings and clay sculptures. The most spectacular find, uncovered in 1966, was a giant reclining Buddha, around thirteen metres long, depicting the Buddha entering nirvana.
Read the complete Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 107 km into the recorded legs you reach Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery. Next is Cultural Heritage Sites of Ancient Khuttal.
4. Cultural Heritage Sites of Ancient Khuttal
Khuttal was a medieval kingdom in the south of what is now Tajikistan, centred on the fertile valleys between the Vakhsh and Panj rivers, and it flourished as a crossroads of trade and culture between Central Asia, Iran and India. The region's heritage includes the ruins of palaces, towns and religious buildings, such as the citadel of Hulbuk, near Vose', a royal residence from the ninth to the eleventh centuries, with richly decorated walls, and the town of Kulob, with the mausoleum of the fourteenth-century Sufi scholar Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani. Several of these sites have been nominated together for UNESCO recognition.
Read the complete Cultural Heritage Sites of Ancient Khuttal write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cultural Heritage Sites of Ancient Khuttal, about halfway. Next is Manzaratepa.
5. Manzaratepa
Tepa means mound, and in southern Tajikistan the plains are dotted with them: hills built up over centuries from the remains of mud-brick towns, each layer burying the one before. Manzaratepa, near the town of Vose' in the Khatlon region, is one of these ancient settlement mounds, part of a network of sites in the fertile valleys between the Panj and Vakhsh rivers that were inhabited from the Bronze Age through the Kushan and early Islamic periods. Archaeological work has revealed traces of fortifications, houses and ceramics, and the sites are part of Tajikistan's long, rich and little-known history along the Silk Roads.
Read the complete Manzaratepa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Manzaratepa sits at 199 km, about halfway. Next is back through Cultural Heritage Sites of Ancient Khuttal.
6. back through Cultural Heritage Sites of Ancient Khuttal
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cultural Heritage Sites of Ancient Khuttal write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Cultural Heritage Sites of Ancient Khuttal comes up about 463 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery.
7. back through Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 578 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery. Next is back through Halevard.
8. back through Halevard
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Halevard write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Halevard, late in the day. Next is Tugay forests of the Tigrovaya Balka Natur.
9. Tugay forests of the Tigrovaya Balka Natur
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tugay forests of the Tigrovaya Balka Natur write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 690 km.
Leg by leg
Tugay forests of the Tigrovaya Balka Natur to Halevard
Tugay forests of the Tigrovaya Balka Natur → Halevard is 60 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Halevard to Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery
Halevard → Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery to Cultural Heritage Sites of Ancient Khuttal
Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery → Cultural Heritage Sites of Ancient Khuttal is 118 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cultural Heritage Sites of Ancient Khuttal to Manzaratepa
Cultural Heritage Sites of Ancient Khuttal → Manzaratepa is 118 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Manzaratepa to back through Cultural Heritage Sites of Ancient Khuttal
Manzaratepa → back through Cultural Heritage Sites of Ancient Khuttal is 120 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cultural Heritage Sites of Ancient Khuttal to back through Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery
back through Cultural Heritage Sites of Ancient Khuttal → back through Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery is 115 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery to back through Halevard
back through Ajinatepa Buddhist monastery → back through Halevard is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Halevard to Tugay forests of the Tigrovaya Balka Natur
back through Halevard → Tugay forests of the Tigrovaya Balka Natur is 61 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.