(Note: portions in italics and quotes are descriptions of activities from the tour brochure)
"In spite of its location on a trade route, Ashkabad never achieved the status and influence of other Silk Road cities like Khiva or Bukhara. Originally known as Konjikala, the city was destroyed by Mongols in the 13th century. In 1881 the Russians built a fortress on the site as a buffer against English-dominated Persia, and by the early 20th century Ashkabad was a prosperous and flourishing city. In 1948 a massive earthquake leveled Ashkabad, killing over two-thirds of the population. Recently Ashkabad has seen a boom in new construction, which has had a major impact on the look of the city."
The quote from the tour brochure doesn't do Ashgabat (Ashkabad) justice--in many ways it's the strangest place I have ever seen, and I've seen a lot of them. According to Lonely Planet, "By far the most mysterious and unexplored of Central Asia’s 'stans, Turkmenistan became famous for the truly bizarre dictatorship of Saparmyrat Niyazov, who ruled as ‘Turkmenbashi’ (‘leader of the Turkmen’) until his death in 2006, covering this little-known desert republic with golden statues of himself and grandiose monuments to the achievements of his ‘golden age’."
The country is rolling in oil and gas money. The guy who succeeded Turkmenbashi (Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov -- say that 3 times), has been building huge marble monuments and (mostly empty) buildings at an incredible rate, so that Ashgabat looks something like Las Vegas without the casinos. Top this off with a completely controlled media and police and military people everywhere, Ashgabat is the closest you can get to North Korea without flying to Pyongyang.
Despite its modern look, our hotel (the Ak-Altyn Plaza) is actually in the older part of Ashgabat, in a mostly residential neighborhood.
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| Ak-Altyn Plaza Hotel |
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| Hotel lobby |
President Berdymuhamedov's face is plastered all over town. I don't know how he has time to run the country, since he must spend all of it having his picture taken.
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| The president greets us in the hotel |
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| All Berdymuhamedov, all the time. |
In the morning we got in the bus and headed out to the Nisa archaeological site, driving through the new part of town, which I shall subsequently refer to as the "Marble Canyon".
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| The older part of town hear the hotel |
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| And the marble wonderland starts. Note the lack of traffic. |
Eventually, we arrived at the Nisa site.
"Visit the site of the capital of the ancient Parthian Kingdom of Nisa. More than two thousand years ago the Parthian Empire spread out from Nisa and took its place among such kingdoms as the Achaemenid under Cyrus the Great and the Macedonian under Alexander the Great. Though Nisa was ruled by a succession of dynasties, it remained an important center in the ancient world until the 13th century, when the Mongols sacked it. Today archaeological work continues at Nisa, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007. Meet with a local archaeologist while visiting the excavations that continue to reveal more about this ancient city."
When we came out of the ruins, we encountered a group of Turkmen art students. By the way, "Turkmen" is the name of the ethnic group so a Turkmen can be a man or a woman.
"On the way back to Ashkabad, make a stop at Kipchuk village to admire Turkmenbashi's personal mosque. The huge $100-million-dollar mosque in former Turkmen President Niyazov's hometown of Kipchuk was inaugurated in 2004. The mosque is big enough to hold 10,000 people. Its 164-foot golden dome had to be lowered in place by helicopter. Verses from Niyazov's own spiritual book, the Ruhnama, are etched on the walls alongside Koranic verses. Niyazov was buried here in the family mausoleum that he built, along with the mosque, with government funds."
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| Kipchuk Village |
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Turkmenbashi's Mausoleum |
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Turkmenbashi's Mosque |
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| Inside the mosque--picture stolen from the internet |
We then headed back to Ashgabat, passing through the Marble Canyon again. Note (again) the lack of traffic and people.
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| The world's largest enclosed Ferris wheel |
Note: There are some excellent pictures of Ashgabat (one of which I stole) here.
We then stopped for lunch in a restaurant in one of the marble buildings.
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| Restaurant is on left side of building |
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| Enjoying Turkmen cuisine |
Then back out again into the Marble Canyon on our way to the National Museum.
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| A veritable traffic jam |
"Visit the National Museum of History and Ethnography with its superb collection of carved ivory drinking horns from Nisa"
The National Museum was certainly striking from an architectural standpoint, but what I noticed most was that our group was (were?) the only people in the museum on a Saturday afternoon.
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| Exterior of the National Museum |
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| Interior of National Museum (picture stolen from Web). Still no people. |
From the museum we headed back to the hotel, through the Marble Canyon.
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| Monument to Neutrality |
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| Another traffic jam |
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| Back in the older part of town, near our hotel |
We had a couple of hours to kill before dinner, so I and another tour member went to a bar about a block away from the hotel for a beer. There was an outdoor grill on the bar premises, and the "griller" graciously agreed to be photographed. Inside the bar, we managed to order and pay for two beers without a word of English being spoken. Beer is universal.
Returning to the hotel, we made sure that we did not stand up to the rooms, as that was strictly prohibited.
After getting back to the hotel, I took a few shots of Ashgabat from my room.
Dinner was at a rather swanky restaurant....
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| Dining in Turkmenistan |
....and then we drove around for some nighttime shots.
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| The "Palace of Happiness", where wedding parties go to have pictures taken |
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| Yyldyz Hotel (not a misspelling) |
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| Another view of the Yyldyz Hotel |
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| Turkmenian Akhaltekin Horses Monument |
November 9: More of Ashgabat
Our destination this morning was the Altyn Asyr bazaar, the largest in Turkmenistan. To get there, we had to pass through the Marble Canyon again.
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| Some non-modern housing near the hotel |
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| The world's largest thermometer |
"Explore the Altyn-Asyr Bazaar, one of the largest in Central Asia, located about an hour's drive from the city center. The huge market is brimming with all types of goods including traditionally patterned carpets, Turkomen jewelry and animals for sale."
Photography was not permitted at the bazaar, so I stole a few pictures from the internet.
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| Entrance to the bazaar, with a picture of guess who |
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| One of the buildings in the baazar |
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| Aerial view of the bazaar |
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| Inside the bazaar |
We were able to take pictures of animals at the bazaar, just not people or buildings.
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| Sheep awaiting their ride home |
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| Obligatory camel shot |
Below are some shots of the countryside near the bazaar. The area is basically desert, so they have to pump in water to keep the city "green".
Lunch was in a small yurt in the rear yard of a house in Ashgabat.
After lunch we were treated to a fashion show and a Turkmen folk music performance.
Part of the performance involved a re-creation of a Turkmen wedding ceremony. Guess who got to be the groom....
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| Polygamy is apparently legal in Turkmenistan |
The afternoon activity was a choice between a visit to a horse farm, or free time to explore Ashgabat. I took the free time and walked about 5 miles through (mostly) the older part of the city. The city was crawling with police whose job it was to make sure that nobody took any pictures of government buildings. Being careful to stay out of jail, I took a few pictures of non-government buildings and people.
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| In the older part of Ashgabat--they have traffic there |
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| The old stadium, which is being replaced by a spectacular new one |
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| Housing in the old part of town |
Eventually, I approached the edge of the newer part of town.
I returned to the hotel in time for dinner. Our flight out of Ashkabad to Frankfurt was scheduled until 3:00 AM, so we had plenty of time to kill in our hotel rooms. The hotel TV potentially received over 300 channels, but most of them (including all American and British networks) were blacked out. The channels that were available were a combination of Russian soap operas, Arabic news, Islamic religious programming, and Christian religious programming, including Jimmy Swaggart(!).
Another series of channels, clearly aimed at the Arabic-speaking population, contained ads for chat-rooms, with some photos that I didn't expect to see in this part of the world. (In Iran, call 00-374-9158-8112: Girls are waiting!)
Several members of our group signed up for a tour extension to Iran (I didn't), so those of us who weren't going to Iran headed to the airport and, in my case, a leisurely 33-hour trip home.
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| Au revior to Turkmenistan! |
Epilogue: What Ashgabat Looks Like in Good Weather
We had lousy weather for photography, and my camera was malfunctioning, so most of the photographs above (that I didn't steal) are not up to my standards. Below are a few (which I stole) that show what the city looks like when the weather is clear.
That's it! You've been a wonderful audience!
