Vardanze Settlement and Bahouddin Naqshband Architectural Complex

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Vardanze Settlement

   North of Bukhara the irrigated land eventually runs into the sand, and on that edge lies Vardanze, the ruins of an ancient city that was once the capital of a local principality in the Bukhara oasis. Its mound of collapsed mud-brick walls and citadel rises above the fields near Shofirkon, and archaeologists have traced its history back more than two thousand years. It flourished as a trading post on the Silk Road and later declined, partly because the desert advanced and the water supply failed, and its ruins are part of the Zarafshan-Karakum corridor listed by UNESCO in 2023.

   Read the complete Vardanze Settlement write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Vardanze Settlement is where the day begins. Next is Vobkent Minaret.

2. 2. Vobkent Minaret

   Vobkent's minaret is a tall brick finger rising out of a small Uzbek town on the edge of the Bukhara oasis. It was built in the late twelfth century, in the same tradition as the more famous Kalyan minaret in Bukhara, which it predates in style by a few years and rivals in elegance. Standing nearly forty metres high, it is made entirely of fired brick laid in bands of geometric patterns, with a tapering shaft and a lantern top. Up close, the craftsmanship is startling: no two courses seem quite the same.

   Read the complete Vobkent Minaret write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Vobkent Minaret comes up about 20 km into the recorded legs. Next is Bahouddin Naqshband Architectural Complex.

3. 3. Bahouddin Naqshband Architectural Complex

   Bahauddin Naqshband died in 1389 in the village where he was born, a short ride from Bukhara, and the Sufi order that bears his name went on to spread across Central Asia, India, the Ottoman Empire and beyond. The Naqshbandi order emphasised silent remembrance of God and living a spiritual life within the everyday world, and its founder's tomb became one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Central Asia, so much so that locals sometimes call it the Mecca of Central Asia. The complex, with its mosques, minaret, courtyards and the tomb itself, was largely built in the sixteenth century under the Shaybanid rulers and restored in recent decades.

   Read the complete Bahouddin Naqshband Architectural Complex write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 54 km into the recorded legs you reach Bahouddin Naqshband Architectural Complex. Next is back through Vobkent Minaret.

4. 4. back through Vobkent Minaret

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Vobkent Minaret write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Vobkent Minaret, late in the day. Next is Vardanze Settlement.

5. 5. Vardanze Settlement

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Vardanze Settlement write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Vardanze Settlement. That is the ride.