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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Zhemchug Residential Building and The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve starting at Tashkent

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
562 km
Riding-time estimate
12 h 14
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.

Open this ride in CurveScout

Why this ride

From Tashkent it runs 562 km to Tashkent; allow about 12 h 14 of riding. It goes by way of Big Solar Furnace, The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve, back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve and back through Big Solar Furnace. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,650 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Zhemchug Residential Building

    Zhemchug means pearl in Russian, and it is the name given to a residential building in Tashkent that looks nothing like an ordinary apartment block. In the years after the 1966 earthquake, when the city was rebuilt, Soviet architects used housing as a stage for their ideas, and some of the results are strange and rather wonderful: curved facades, great circular forms, concrete screens that echo Islamic patterns, and apartments arranged around internal courtyards. The Pearl is one of the well-known examples, and photographers of Soviet modernism have made it a favourite subject.

    Read the complete Zhemchug Residential Building write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Zhemchug Residential Building is where the day begins. Next is Big Solar Furnace.

  2. 2. Big Solar Furnace

    In the foothills of the Tian Shan, about an hour north-east of Tashkent, there is a building that looks as if it belongs in a science fiction film: a huge curved mirror, made of thousands of smaller mirrors, facing a field of tracking mirrors that follow the sun and focus its light onto a single point. This is the Big Solar Furnace near Parkent, built in the Soviet era in the 1980s, and still used for research into materials that can withstand extremely high temperatures.

    Read the complete Big Solar Furnace write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Big Solar Furnace comes up 40 km in. Next is The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve.

  3. 3. The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve

    East of Tashkent, the land rises steeply into the western ranges of the Tian Shan, and the Chatkal range forms the border with Kyrgyzstan. The Chatkal State Biosphere Reserve, established in the Soviet era, protects a stretch of these mountains, with juniper forests, walnut and wild fruit trees, alpine meadows and rocky peaks.

    Read the complete The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    79 km in you reach The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve. Next is The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve.

  4. 4. The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve

    East of Tashkent, the Western Tian Shan rises in a series of ridges, and the Chatkal range is one of the most accessible of them, its snowy peaks visible from the capital on a clear day. The Chatkal State Biosphere Reserve protects a part of this landscape, with forests of juniper, walnut, maple and wild fruit trees, and alpine meadows above, home to Tian Shan brown bears, snow leopards, ibex, wild boar and many birds of prey. The Western Tian Shan, shared by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, is on the UNESCO list.

    Read the complete The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve, about halfway. Next is back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve.

  5. 5. back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve sits at 159 km, about halfway. Next is back through Big Solar Furnace.

  6. 6. back through Big Solar Furnace

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Big Solar Furnace write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through Big Solar Furnace comes up 198 km in. Next is Zhemchug Residential Building.

  7. 7. Zhemchug Residential Building

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Zhemchug Residential Building write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Zhemchug Residential Building closes the day.

Leg by leg

Zhemchug Residential Building to Big Solar Furnace

Zhemchug Residential Building → Big Solar Furnace is 53 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Big Solar Furnace to The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve

Big Solar Furnace → The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve to The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve

The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve → The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve to back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve

The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve → back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve to back through Big Solar Furnace

back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve → back through Big Solar Furnace is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Big Solar Furnace to Zhemchug Residential Building

back through Big Solar Furnace → Zhemchug Residential Building is 53 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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