Nov 26, 2012 - Turkmenistan

Meine zweite Reise nach Turkmenistan. Diesmal geht es nach Ashgabat, nach Mary und Turkmenabat. Ashgabat wie immer unglaublich abgefahren - die Stadt wächst und wäschst, überall die weißen Marmorbauten, neue Prunkbauten und Ministerien, ein Riesenrad, und alles nachts in bunten Farben beleuchtet. Die Stadt ist sauberer als sauber, nirgends liegt ein Blatt oder geschweige ein Papierchen. Im Gegensatz dazu Mary und Turkmenabat, zwei klassischen zentralasiatische Provinzstädte, wie man sie auch in Kasachstan oder Usbekistan finden kann. Als...

Jun 24, 2012 - City of Marble

This morning I met the rest of the tour group. A fair mix of people but out of 18 or so I think only 2 were younger than me. Its a who's who of travellers. Think of a place and someone in the group has been there. I'm impressed with the age and fitness of many of the older members of the group. As it turns out the next few days will be tough, but today was a stroll in the markets. Our first group trip was to the Tolkuchka Bazaar. It recently moved locations as it was apparently too cramped. Now its this massive spread out place that is an...

Jun 8, 2011 - Turkmenistan (Ashgabat) - Ben au Turkmenistan (Ashgabat)

Zum ersten Mal in Turkmenistan. Nach einigen Wochen Wartezeit habe ich endlich ein Visa bekommen. Ankunft auf dem Flughafen in Ashgabat. Mitten in der Wüste, mit mehr Springbrunnen als in Las Vegas, breiten Prachtstraßen, Ampelsäulen aus Edelstahl, überalll Prachtbauten aus weißem Marmor und die Statuen des letzten und aktuellen Präsidenten in Gold - das Geld aus dem Öl- und Gasgeschäft lässt grüßen. Die City ist so sauber, dass man fast überall vom Boden essen könnte. An fast jeder Ecke steht ein Polizist, fotografieren ist nicht so gern...

Sep 29, 2009 - White White White

Hey I have finally made it to Ashgabat the end of the truck trip. I t was quite emotional yesterday when the truck left and I was waving good bye. Especially as I then had to get moving and make some different than planned travel arrangements for myself. Ashgabat is a very interesting city it is literally all white the previous president planned the city himself and it is really sprawling with wide roads lots of parks and beautiful buildings which get boring because there are so many of them. To get to the bank was a 5km trip to a...

Oct 13, 2008 - Ashghabat

10/13/08 Monday Ashghabat We commenced our city tour with our local guide Eliah. Martin, our Czech tour manager, somehow managed to offend someone in the Turkmen government and has been unable to secure a Turkmenistan visa for the past four years. He is unclear as to the nature of his offense and the government, being the totalitarian outfit that they are, feel no need to disclose their reasons to him. He will rejoin us tomorrow when we arrive in Uzbekistan. It took a while for the pieces to fall into place but I finally realized that Eliah...

Oct 12, 2008 - Baku/Ashghbat

10/12/08 Sunday – Baku/Ashgabat After a late morning checkout from our hotel, we had 12 hours to kill before our evening flight to Turkmenistan. It turned out to be a rewarding 12 hours. We drove northeast of Baku on the Abseron Peninsula to Suraxani, site of the Atesgeh Fire Temple. For centuries it was a sacred Zoroastrian site where an underground vent of natural gas provided an “eternal” flame, particularly appropriate for fire worshipping Zoroastrians. By the 18th C. the grounds were occupied by Indian Shivas who indulged in a...

Sep 9, 2008 - Ashghabat after tour of Merv

9-9 Pic #3976-86 & 3987-4000 Tour of Merv 5th century BC – Razik canal, is largest city site undisturbed in C. Asia. Sites…Mausoleum Sultan Sanjar, one of the ‘Alexandrias’, Merv from 5th cent BC to 2nd AD rivaled Damascus, Bagdad, & Cairo as trading ctr. Known for its libraries and splendid & legendary architecture. Craftsmen developed highly prized Damascus steel here centuries before products came from European foundries. CIS’s most extensive archaeological site. Zayd & Talkhatam Baba – sufi & dervish mausoleums. Four hour drive to...

Jan 28, 2008 - Ashgabat

Llegamos a Ashgabat y me llevaron al hotel....el ex-Sheraton! Mismo "from rags to riches"! Cuarto caliente, cama grande, banho impecable, TV y hasta room service! Era como haber ido de una prision a un hotel 5 estrellas. En los siguientes 2 dias me dedique a recorrer Ashgabat por mi cuenta (fue lo unico que pude hacer solo en Turkmenistan). Fui al Toltuchka Bazaar, un mercado dominical gigantesco, donde lo mas interesante era la parte de alfombras "persas" (en realidad, turkmenas). Habia miles de gente y las mujeres andaban vestidas de mil...

Sep 18, 2007 - Ashgabat

For 3-4 aar siden leste jeg en artikkel i aftenposten om et lite isolert oerkenland med en diktator av uvant kaliber. Jeg syntes det var for fantatastisk til aa vaere sant at presidenten kunne kalle seg Turkmenbashi (alle turkmeneres far) og bygge en gullstatue av seg selv om roterer slik at den alltid er vendt mot solen. Turkmenistan er definitivt ikke som andre land. Saa naar Jo ville inn i sentralasia, ble det nedsatt veto for aa inkludere Turkmenistan! Som turistattraksjon er Ashgabat en sensasjon. Vi gikk i en permanent tilstand av...

Jul 8, 2006 - Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

Hi Everyone, After a difficult climb up a rough road from Iran to the border crossing at 2000 mtrs, getting through the mountain of paperwork and passed suspicious officials (they eventually revealed their sense of humour when we showed them through Claude and we left after four hours the best of friends), we arrived in the weird city of Ashgabat. For those of you who can be bothered try googling 'Turkmenbashi' or 'Niyazov' or even 'Ashgabat' and see what comes up. President Niyazov is the ex local republic Communist Party Chairman who has...

May 10, 2006 - De Iran a Turkmenistan

(Sigo viva! No he podido escribir los dias pasados debido a problemas logisticos en todo el pais. Lo que se lee a continuacion lo he ido escribiendo off-line en un cuaderno estupendo que compre en Iran y que, como esta pensado para farsi, tiene la portada en nuestra trasera y nuestra trasera es su portada. El mundo al reves.) 10 Mayo 2006, Mashad, Iran, 08:00 AM Exito en el consulado turkmeno! Haciamos cola un turco, dos uzbekos y un irani. Eran todos camioneros que entre un poquito de ingles, un poquito de gestos y muchas risas se...

Aug 11, 2005 - Asjabad

Después de 2 noches en autobús, haber pasado por la ciudad más sagrada del chiita Irán, Mashhad (lamentablemente sin visitar la mezquita-mauseleo del Imán Reza por las limitaciones de la visa de Turkmenistán), y un cruce de fronteras regular, estoy en la capital de Turkmenistán, un país extraño. Turquía parecía paraíso turístico al haber entrado a Irán, ahora ocurre que Irán es paraíso comparado con este país. Para comenzar, me he cruzado con un solo mochilero en 2 días (es muy difícil obtener una visa). Otro nota importante es que sólo hay...