Why this ride
The stops in between: Mosque/Mausoleum of Talkhattan Baba, Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of, Takhirbaj Tepe and Thulli koshk. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Yaz and Gobekli Tepes and Thulli koshk
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 404 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 11 h 13
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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. Yaz and Gobekli Tepes
Out on the edge of the Murghab oasis in south-eastern Turkmenistan, where irrigated cotton fields meet the sand of the Karakum, low mounds rise from the flat land. Tepe means hill, and these hills are the eroded remains of ancient settlements: Yaz Depe, which gave its name to an Iron Age culture of the early first millennium BC, and Gobekli Depe nearby. To an untrained eye they are just humps of clay, but they belong to one of the longest continuous stories of settlement in Central Asia.
Read the complete Yaz and Gobekli Tepes write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Yaz and Gobekli Tepes is where the day begins. Next is Mosque/Mausoleum of Talkhattan Baba.
2. Mosque/Mausoleum of Talkhattan Baba
The Karakum desert surrounds the oasis of Merv on three sides, and the Murghab river, which feeds the oasis, ends in the sand a little downstream. Talkhatan Baba, a brick mosque and mausoleum in the area of Mary, belongs to the medieval Islamic centuries when Merv was one of the great cities of the world, a Seljuk capital with libraries, observatories and a population that rivalled any in Europe.
Read the complete Mosque/Mausoleum of Talkhattan Baba write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mosque/Mausoleum of Talkhattan Baba comes up 35 km in. Next is Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of.
3. Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of
The oasis of Merv, in south-eastern Turkmenistan, was for centuries one of the great cities of Central Asia, a stop on the Silk Road and at one point, under the Seljuks in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, possibly one of the largest cities in the world. Today its ruins are spread over a vast area of desert and farmland near the town of Bayramaly, and they form the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ancient Merv. Scattered among them are small mausolea, tombs of holy men and companions of the Prophet, and the Mausoleum of Huday Nazar is one of these, a modest brick structure that has long been a place of local pilgrimage.
Read the complete Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
70 km in you reach Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of. Next is Takhirbaj Tepe.
4. Takhirbaj Tepe
The Murghab river flows out of the mountains of Afghanistan and dies in the sands of the Karakum desert, and where it fans out into a delta lies the oasis of Merv, in what is now southern Turkmenistan. For thousands of years people have farmed here, building cities one beside another as rivers shifted and empires came and went. Takhirbaj Tepe is one of the oldest of these settlements, a mound in the northern part of the oasis dating back to the Bronze and Iron Ages, long before the great medieval city that made Merv famous. It forms part of the State Historical and Cultural Park Ancient Merv, listed by UNESCO in 1999, alongside sites such as Yaz Tepe and Gobekli Tepe nearby.
Read the complete Takhirbaj Tepe write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Takhirbaj Tepe, about halfway. Next is Thulli koshk.
5. Thulli koshk
Koshk is the local word for a fortified house, and around the oasis of Merv, in south-eastern Turkmenistan, dozens of these buildings survive from the early medieval period. Thulli koshk is one of them, a mud-brick structure with walls built in a distinctive corrugated pattern, like the folds of a curtain, which made them both stronger and more striking. These buildings were probably the homes of wealthy landowners, built to defend against raids, with rooms on two floors around a central hall.
Read the complete Thulli koshk write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Thulli koshk sits at 140 km, about halfway. Next is back through Takhirbaj Tepe.
6. back through Takhirbaj Tepe
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Takhirbaj Tepe write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Takhirbaj Tepe comes up 175 km in. Next is back through Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of.
7. back through Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
210 km in you reach back through Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of. Next is back through Mosque/Mausoleum of Talkhattan Baba.
8. back through Mosque/Mausoleum of Talkhattan Baba
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mosque/Mausoleum of Talkhattan Baba write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Mosque/Mausoleum of Talkhattan Baba, late in the day. Next is Yaz and Gobekli Tepes.
9. Yaz and Gobekli Tepes
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Yaz and Gobekli Tepes 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 404 km.
Leg by leg
Yaz and Gobekli Tepes to Mosque/Mausoleum of Talkhattan Baba
Yaz and Gobekli Tepes → Mosque/Mausoleum of Talkhattan Baba is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mosque/Mausoleum of Talkhattan Baba to Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of
Mosque/Mausoleum of Talkhattan Baba → Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of to Takhirbaj Tepe
Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of → Takhirbaj Tepe is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Takhirbaj Tepe to Thulli koshk
Takhirbaj Tepe → Thulli koshk is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Thulli koshk to back through Takhirbaj Tepe
Thulli koshk → back through Takhirbaj Tepe is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Takhirbaj Tepe to back through Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of
back through Takhirbaj Tepe → back through Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of to back through Mosque/Mausoleum of Talkhattan Baba
back through Mausoleum of Huday Nazar; the Mausolea of → back through Mosque/Mausoleum of Talkhattan Baba is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Mosque/Mausoleum of Talkhattan Baba to Yaz and Gobekli Tepes
back through Mosque/Mausoleum of Talkhattan Baba → Yaz and Gobekli Tepes is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.