Why this ride
A 225 km round trip from Shofirkon Shahri - roughly 4 h 17 in the saddle. On the way it passes Vobkent Minaret, Bahouddin Naqshband Architectural Complex, Chor Bakh Necropolis and Varakhsha Settlement.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Vardanze Settlement and Varakhsha Settlement
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 225 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 17
- 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.
Scenic road chapters
Uzbekistan Silk Road Route
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 20 km this is Uzbekistan Silk Road Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 20 km
- Named road
- Uzbekistan Silk Road Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
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. 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 21 km into the recorded legs. Next is Bahouddin Naqshband Architectural Complex.
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 56 km into the recorded legs you reach Bahouddin Naqshband Architectural Complex. Next is Chor Bakh Necropolis.
4. Chor Bakh Necropolis
A short ride west of Bukhara, in the village of Sumitan, a complex of courtyards, mosques and family tombs sits behind high walls, with blue-tiled portals rising above the surrounding houses. This is Chor Bakr, a necropolis built around the grave of Abu Bakr Said, a descendant of the Prophet who died in the tenth century. In the sixteenth century, the Shaybanid rulers of Bukhara built a memorial complex here, with a khanaqah, a mosque and a madrasa, and the cemetery became a resting place for the powerful Juybari sheikhs, a dynasty of religious leaders with great influence over the khanate. The name means "four brothers", referring to the four Abu Bakrs said to be buried here.
Read the complete Chor Bakh Necropolis write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Chor Bakh Necropolis, about halfway. Next is Varakhsha Settlement.
5. Varakhsha Settlement
Thirty kilometres or so west of Bukhara, beyond the last irrigated fields, the land turns to sand and salt crust at the edge of the Kyzylkum desert, and here a low mound of eroded mud brick rises from the flat ground. This is Varakhsha, once a flourishing town and the residence of the Bukhar Khudats, the pre-Islamic rulers of the Bukhara oasis. It thrived in the early medieval centuries, when the oasis extended further than it does today, and was abandoned around the eleventh century, probably as irrigation failed and the desert advanced.
Read the complete Varakhsha Settlement write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Varakhsha Settlement sits at 113 km, about halfway. Next is back through Chor Bakh Necropolis.
6. back through Chor Bakh Necropolis
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Chor Bakh Necropolis write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Chor Bakh Necropolis comes up about 152 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Bahouddin Naqshband Architectural Complex.
7. back through Bahouddin Naqshband Architectural Complex
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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 172 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Bahouddin Naqshband Architectural Complex. Next is back through Vobkent Minaret.
8. 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.
9. 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
The route ends here after 225 km.
Leg by leg
Vardanze Settlement to Vobkent Minaret
Vardanze Settlement → Vobkent Minaret is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Vobkent Minaret to Bahouddin Naqshband Architectural Complex
Vobkent Minaret → Bahouddin Naqshband Architectural Complex is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bahouddin Naqshband Architectural Complex to Chor Bakh Necropolis
Bahouddin Naqshband Architectural Complex → Chor Bakh Necropolis is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Chor Bakh Necropolis to Varakhsha Settlement
Chor Bakh Necropolis → Varakhsha Settlement is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Varakhsha Settlement to back through Chor Bakh Necropolis
Varakhsha Settlement → back through Chor Bakh Necropolis is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Chor Bakh Necropolis to back through Bahouddin Naqshband Architectural Complex
back through Chor Bakh Necropolis → back through Bahouddin Naqshband Architectural Complex is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Bahouddin Naqshband Architectural Complex to back through Vobkent Minaret
back through Bahouddin Naqshband Architectural Complex → back through Vobkent Minaret is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Vobkent Minaret to Vardanze Settlement
back through Vobkent Minaret → Vardanze Settlement is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.