Route Dashoguz → Kunya-Urgench → Darvaza crater → Ashgabat → Nisa → Mary → Merv → Turkmenabat Distance 1200 km Duration 7 days, ~28 hours in the saddle
6 overnight stops, one of them in the desert Best Months April to May, or September to October
The Karakum tops 45°C in high summer World Heritage Ancient Merv
Kunya-Urgench
Parthian Fortresses of Nisa Parks & Protected Areas Repetek Biosphere Reserve
The Karakum, black sand end to end
Kopet Dag foothills Signature Roads The M37 across the desert
The sand track in to Darvaza

Route Map

Open in Google Maps The Plan

Seven days on a line across the black sand, entered and left through Uzbekistan. Three ancient capitals, one white-marble modern one, and a burning hole in the ground for the middle night. Of everything I have wanted to ride, this is the route I am least likely to be allowed to.

Notes

This is the one that may only ever exist on this page. Turkmenistan is among the hardest countries on earth to enter: a tourist visa needs a letter of invitation from a state-approved operator and a guide who stays with you throughout, and the five-day transit visa is too short and too restrictive to fit any of this. Bringing a bike of your own is harder still.

The Darvaza crater has dimmed. Methane wells have cut the fire by two-thirds since 2022 and the government means to put it out altogether. The mile-wide inferno of the old photographs is gone; a smaller glow remains for now.

Fuel is cheap but far apart in the desert, so carry range. Ride the Karakum stretches early against the heat. And keep the camera down around Ashgabat's marble ministries – photographing them is not allowed.