The 5 Stans of the Silk Road

[RooFlyer]

One of the things that is very noticeable walking around is the dress of the women. Some young women are dressed as per their peers in the West. Tank tops or t shirts, skinny jeans etc. But the vast majority are in what I might call ( perhaps mistakenly) as 'traditional dress's. A to the ankle somewhat form hugging dress, usually in a colourful pattern. Many young women wear red patterns which I'm pretty sure is traditional. Long plaited hair is common.

Married women were what looks like a turban type thing, but I'm told it's a foam cap type of thing, covered in a scarf or piece of fabric.

Many of the outfits are gorgeous in pattern and very colourful. I'd love to get better pics but one has to be discreet!

 

[RooFlyer]

The hotel unfortunately isn't near anything in particular (except the Circus!) so my orientation walk had to be jusy towards the botanical gardens, a few km away,

Typical footpath along a main road. The city is very green.



Random fancy monument.



After walking a few km, the fence revealed the botanical gardens to be a bit odd - lots of buildings and pretty dry. I kept going to the other side and the entrance and it was shut (its Thursday). These 8 pointed 'stars' are a feature here. 8 is the local lucky number.



So here is a pic of some plants to keep the botanists happy.



Local flags:



Another pic of the 'falcon' airport terminal building, taken this morning.

 

[egoode]

The red dresses are for school. They have different colours depending on which level of school they are at. Young primary students wear green, I think it was red for high school and purple for university. I was there when it was the beginning of the school year and they had special ceremonies and things happening for the first day of school which were pretty cool.

 

[Norjet441]

Very good observation. Perhaps history has its part to play in creating that impression. I'm quite sure you're noticed though! You're only once of a few hundred foreign tourists visiting each year. And the expat head count probably doesn't reach double figures.

We always used to say the streets were so clean first thing in the morning you could almost eat your breakfast off them. Noticed lots of white marble and the occasional water fountain? Hope the cable car was working. On a clear day, the view is tremendous.

 

[RooFlyer]

We are doing the cable car this early evening, to get the sunset view. Also the 'indoor ferris wheel' which should be ... interesting.

Last night a group of us went to a nearby beer garden for dinner. Mainly because we found out beforehand that they had an English menu. Just one, mind you, but that was enough.

Beers! 5 manat (A$2) for 0.5 litre .



Menu was still a bit hard to follow (this was just 1 page of 5, but the one we all ordered from) ,



Most of us ordered the 'roast vegetables' and lamb shiskabob

The roast veges were a surprise ... served cold and like a compote, but nice enough.



Lamb served de-skewer6 and tender and tasty. We had tried to convey 'no slad' (unsafe, we were told by our tour guide due to washing in local water), but salad came, and was left by all.



Dinner came to A$17, incl an automatic 10% service charge. So the place isn't dirt cheap, but economical enough.

Got back to the hotel to crash, but discovered the hotel disco had opened up. I asked to change rooms and was moved without a problem , so a tick to the hotel for that, at least.

 

[Maca44]

As usual, a great TR and looking forward to reading more.

 

[swoof]

I'm enjoying reading your report. I travelled much the same route as yours in May this year with World Expeditions. I enjoyed Turkmenistan although I probably may not have got much below the surface while there. A report on the CNN website on the country, posted a week, ago is worth a look. John Oliver also very recently looked at the country and its <ahem> unique leader. We were told that it's an offence to drive a dirty car in the capital and that all non government and non diplomatic vehicles have to be white.

 

[Skyhawk]

Is it true that women and men can't walk around the streets together?

 

[swoof]

In Turkmenistan, that was not my experience.

 

[RooFlyer]

Is it true that women and men can't walk around the streets together?

Definitely not true. Lots of young men and women walking round, holding hands, gigling, the whole bit. The country is 'Islamic', but about as liberal as you can get.

 

[RooFlyer]

Just been for a long morning walk into the government etc precinct. About 30 degrees by noon.

Just wow. Like they say, Las Vegas meets Pyongyang. Kilometers of incredible buildings clad in white marble.

Unfortunately, most with police and soldiers outside, which means no pictures. They have whistles and who knows what else. When they say no pictures, they mean it. We couldn't even get within half a park distance from the Presidential Palace, let alone sneak a pic.

So a couple pics of some of the non governmental piles. These in no way do the place justice.

 

[RooFlyer]

A kids amusement park, with no-impact dodgem cars!



The country had been isolated for a long time!



A nice park with some buildings of no consequence in the back ground.



Typical vista: apartments and major road with light traffic.



A vast hospital complex. There are many large gleaming medical institutes around town.

 

[JohnM]

Oi, don’t show it all before I get there tomorrow .

If Turkmenistan Airlines hadn’t moved the flight from today until tomorrow, I’d already be there... .

 

[rginoz]

I'm enjoying your trip report very much. Looking forward to seeing more of these very interesting places.

 

[RooFlyer]

Oi, don’t show it all before I get there tomorrow .

I can assure you, after today, you ain't seen nutt'n yet!!!

And when you see it, you just won't believe it!

Consider Las Vegas a dumpy small town side-show.

 

[JohnM]

It’s been a mission this morning. 2h to check in and get through security at DEL but I’m at the gate and due to board soon.

 

[RooFlyer]

Hope the flight goes well, JohnM. See you later today.

Its now my second morning in Ashgabat, after what turned into a long day of sightseeing yesterday. It wasn't a 'tour' day, but since there were 9 Aussies with a day to spare, after a nights sleep, the Turkman guide arranged a minibus from the local tour operator for a 'half day' afternoon/evening tour from 2pm to 9pm, timed so we can go up the cable car behind the city and see the sunset. At a grand total cost of US$60, or about US$6.70/each, plus a dollar or so for some rides!!!

So, after seeing the city very well, all I can say is - this place is the most freak'n bizarre place I've ever seen. There is no other word for it. Kilometre after kilometre after kilometre of gleaming white marble clad buildings and monuments, many of waaaaay out there design; huge parks, immaculately maintained - I mean HUGE. Then, go again with the kilometre after kilometre of the white marble buildings in all the other directions. All linked by freeways with virtually no traffic. Its all sort of beautiful, but surreal is the better word.

Oh, the marble. From Carrara in Italy, of course! The stuff Michelangelo worked with. The finest. The Turkmans have consumed most of the mountain, and are still going strong!

Two 'unfortunatelys'. One, no photos of most government buildings, which is a shame, because they are the grandest and strangest in some cases. Two, its the scale of the place that hits you, and I can't give you any idea of that here. You'll have to visit and see for yourself.

So, to continue with yesterday's preliminary walk, before the bus tour.

'Apartments and an empty freeway.






The 'Continuation' monument with obligatory falcons

 

[RooFlyer]

Then back to the Hotel. A couple of shots of my/our room. You'd call it a 3 star ... a bit grubby in the bathrooms, with old furniture, but basically OK. Apparently the tour is going to ditch it next year and go a bit upmarket.





In this case, the marble isn't real

 

[Skyhawk]

Very few vehicles and pedestrians .... where are all of the people who live in the apartments? Or are they empty?

 

[RooFlyer]

And so to the bus tour. Again, unfortunately, many sections of 'no photos' and often no opportunity to stop on the freeways, so they are 'drive by' shots out the bus window. These pics myy give you a taste.

Two years ago they hosted the Asian 'indoor' games (plus soccer) .. Australia participated, apparently. So naturally they built a HUGE, grand 'Olympic area' (complete with Olympic rings), with a huge monorail connecting it all. All mostly unused now, except for the accommodation.

Monorail:





The 'Olympic Stadium', with horse's head ... horses are a BIG thing here. Especially with the President.



A glimpse of the stadium



The mascot, of course



I think this was part of the athlete's village