Why this ride
A 222 km round trip from Vobkent Shahri - roughly 5 h 09 in the saddle. The stops in between: Vardanze Settlement, Chasma-i Ayub Khazira, Bahouddin Naqshband Architectural Complex and Chor Bakh Necropolis.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Vobkent Minaret and Chor Bakh Necropolis
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 222 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 09
- 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. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Vardanze Settlement.
2. 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 comes up about 21 km into the recorded legs. Next is Chasma-i Ayub Khazira.
3. Chasma-i Ayub Khazira
North of Bukhara, the green irrigated oasis of the Zarafshan river spreads out in a patchwork of cotton fields, orchards, mulberry trees and villages, and the point named Chasma-i Ayub Khazira lies in this landscape, near the village of Khazara, between Vobkent and Gijduvon. Chashma-i Ayub, the spring of Job, is a name given to several holy springs in Central Asia, linked to the legend that the prophet Job struck the ground with his staff and water gushed forth in a time of drought. The most famous is in Bukhara itself, a mausoleum over a spring, and this site near Khazara may be another shrine of the same tradition, listed as part of the Silk Roads corridor of the Zarafshan valley.
Read the complete Chasma-i Ayub Khazira write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 60 km into the recorded legs you reach Chasma-i Ayub Khazira. Next is Bahouddin Naqshband Architectural Complex.
4. 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
Bahouddin Naqshband Architectural Complex, about halfway. Next is Chor Bakh Necropolis.
5. 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 sits at 111 km, about halfway. Next is back through Bahouddin Naqshband Architectural Complex.
6. 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
back through Bahouddin Naqshband Architectural Complex comes up about 128 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Chasma-i Ayub Khazira.
7. back through Chasma-i Ayub Khazira
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Chasma-i Ayub Khazira write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 163 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Chasma-i Ayub Khazira. Next is back through Vardanze Settlement.
8. back through 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 through Vardanze Settlement, late in the day. Next is Vobkent Minaret.
9. 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
The route ends here after 222 km.
Leg by leg
Vobkent Minaret to Vardanze Settlement
Vobkent Minaret → Vardanze Settlement is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Vardanze Settlement to Chasma-i Ayub Khazira
Vardanze Settlement → Chasma-i Ayub Khazira is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Chasma-i Ayub Khazira to Bahouddin Naqshband Architectural Complex
Chasma-i Ayub Khazira → Bahouddin Naqshband Architectural Complex is 28 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 back through Bahouddin Naqshband Architectural Complex
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 Chasma-i Ayub Khazira
back through Bahouddin Naqshband Architectural Complex → back through Chasma-i Ayub Khazira is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Chasma-i Ayub Khazira to back through Vardanze Settlement
back through Chasma-i Ayub Khazira → back through Vardanze Settlement is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Vardanze Settlement to Vobkent Minaret
back through Vardanze Settlement → Vobkent Minaret is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.