Yeradzhi and Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Yeradzhi

   Yeradzhi is a name on the map in the middle of the Karakum, the Black Sand desert that covers most of Turkmenistan. There is no town in the nearby list, which tells you most of what you need to know. The Karakum is one of the largest sand deserts in the world, with ridges, hollows, saxaul scrub and takyrs, the flat clay pans that bake hard in summer. It is cold in winter, brutally hot in summer, and when it rains the clay turns to grease.

   Read the complete Yeradzhi write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Yeradzhi is where the day begins. Next is Mansaf Caravanserai.

2. 2. Mansaf Caravanserai

   Out in the Karakum, the great black-sand desert that covers most of Turkmenistan, the old caravan route between Merv and Amul on the Amu Darya crossed some two hundred kilometres of sand, and along it, at intervals of a day's march, stood caravanserais where travellers could rest, water their animals and find shelter. The ruins of the Mansaf caravanserai lie on this route, a crumbling square of brick walls and gateways in an empty landscape of dunes and saxaul shrubs. They are part of the Silk Roads heritage of Central Asia, and the corridor is on Turkmenistan's list of sites proposed for UNESCO recognition.

   Read the complete Mansaf Caravanserai write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Mansaf Caravanserai comes up about 420 km into the recorded legs. Next is Akja Gala Caravanserai.

3. 3. Akja Gala Caravanserai

   The Silk Road across the Karakum was never a single road. It was a series of wells, forts and caravanserais, a day's travel apart, where camels could drink and merchants could sleep behind walls. Akja Gala is one of these shelters, a square brick building with a central courtyard and rooms around it, set in sand and saxaul scrub between Merv and the Amu Darya, the river called the Oxus by the Greeks.

   Read the complete Akja Gala Caravanserai write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 588 km into the recorded legs you reach Akja Gala Caravanserai.

4. 4. Mansaf Caravanserai

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Mansaf Caravanserai write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Mansaf Caravanserai, about halfway. Next is Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai.

5. 5. Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai

   The Karakum desert covers most of Turkmenistan, and its eastern edge is where the Murghab river fans out into the oasis of Merv, one of the great cities of the ancient world. In the Seljuk age, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, Merv was said to be among the largest cities on earth, and the countryside around it was threaded with canals, fortresses and the roadside inns the Persians called caravanserais. This point lies in that old orbit, in the plain near Bayramaly, where the desert and the irrigated fields meet.

   Read the complete Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Gyzylja Gala Caravanserai sits at 964 km, about halfway. Next is back through Mansaf Caravanserai.

6. 6. back through Mansaf Caravanserai

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Mansaf Caravanserai write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Mansaf Caravanserai comes up about 1162 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Akja Gala Caravanserai.

7. 7. back through Akja Gala Caravanserai

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Akja Gala Caravanserai write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 1330 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Akja Gala Caravanserai.

8. 8. back through Mansaf Caravanserai

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Mansaf Caravanserai write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Mansaf Caravanserai, late in the day. Next is Yeradzhi.

9. 9. Yeradzhi

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Yeradzhi 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 1923 km.