We had a day off from the games to go sightseeing and were joined by John from the UK who had previously done a tour with YPT to North Korea and Chernobyl and was going to stay on to see the closing ceremony.
On the way to the lake we stopped a few kilometres outside the capital at the Turkmanbashi Mausoleum and mosque. It is not considered a true mosque as it contains writings from the late President Niyazov and not from the Koran. The mausoleum houses himself and his family killed in the earthquake and war. The late president Saparmurat Niyazov declared Turkmenistan independent from USSR on October 27, 1991. His cult of personality started when he made an order that everyone call him Turkmenbashi which translated to 'leader of the Turkmen'. He erected gold statues of himself and spent the countries oil and gas money on public works, placating the public dissenters with subsidies for gas, water and electricity.
He built gold statues but banned people from having gold fillings, commanding they eat bones to toughen their teeth. He banned opera, ballet and the circus. He reduced or discontinued pensions. Dogs were banished from the city. He made it illegal to play recorded music at weddings. He renamed the Turkmen words for the days of the week and months of the year replacing them with the names of his family, Turkmen heroes, poets and historical events.The Turkmen word for bread became his mother's name. A meteorite, a moon crater, a breed of horse, airports, a canal and a city (now Turkmanbashi) also had their names changed. All hospitals outside the capital were closed and people had to go to Ashgabat.
He wrote his own religious text, The Ruhmana. All the libraries were closed because he believed you needed no other books other than his and the Koran. You had to have knowledge from his Ruhmana to pass your driver's licence. The media was controlled by him.
From here we drove through the countryside to Kow Ata lake. The entrance is through a small cave in a mountain and stairs take you 65 metres underground. The warm 36 DegC lake at the bottom was busy with Russian families on school holidays. A few bats clung to the rock walls being disturbed now and then. There was a small changing room but nothing else.
Above ground was a small community of shashlik kitchens with raised tea beds so we ordered lunch and even managed a cold beer or two.
We visited the Parthian Fortresses of Nisa, a UNESCO site 15 kms from Ashgabat. Nisa would have been a trading hub.
That night we made a tour of the city by night. Every government building is lit up as are the fountains and statues.
The Health Walk is lit up from left to right over a hill on the outskirts of Ashgabat. It was established to encourage exercise.The Yyldyz Hotel is to the far left. The greenish Wedding Palace is in the centre. The uppermost building is in the Guinness Book of Records for being the largest star shaped building in the world. Other Guinness records include the large flagpole, largest handmade carpet, and largest indoor Ferris wheel.
City and Ferris wheel
The Yyuldyz.
The Yyldyz is a 24 storey, 5 star hotel on a hill overlooking the city and we were booked into it for dinner. It was an amazingly plush place with a sweeping staircase of marble and gold. We were given our own dining room and the menu was huge. Fresh food is flown in every day. Ben was so confident with the Japanese chefs skills he ordered chicken tartare and steak tartare. I went for the venison. They too had beer. The food was very cheap because of our black market exchange rates and we booked for a second visit.
We left quite late and luckily were not stopped for being outside the 11pm city curfew.
The next day we visited the shrine of Seyit Jamal Ad Din in Anau, 15 kms from the capital. Originally the complex was comprised of 4 buildings: the mosque, a building on top of the grave and two large high domed halls. The mosque was built in 14 century and is unique because of its two yellow dragons depicted on the front. Islamic art does not depict animals. Some locals were at the site paying homage and circling the tomb. The complex was destroyed in the 1948 earthquake.
Nearby we walked down into an old well where people come to make wishes. Someone had left their car key and drawn a house in the dust. I drew an aeroplane hoping for a safe flight, departing on time as Ben had told us that Fly Dubai was always late.
We returned to Ashgabat for lunch at a hipster cafe, where we had to wait for our four wheel drive vehicles to take us to the Darvaza Craters, so it was a comfortable place to wait.
We stopped briefly at the Derweze village to buy snacks and drinks at the local store. It was a dusty, sandy, windy place with a few shabby houses, car wrecks and yurts. Goats and sheep were penned up and camels munched on dry grass taking no notice of us.
The Darvaza Crater, in Derweze ( in the Karakum desert ), is also known as 'Door to Hell'. The Russians, drilling in the area thought it to be an oil field site but they hit a pocket of methane gas causing the ground to collapse and the rig to be buried. Some records say the gas was lit at this time to burn it off while others say it was done in the 80s. However, it did not succeed in burning off the escaping gas as it has continued to burn since the late 1940's.
The only person known to have entered the crater is George Kourounis a Canadian stormchaser, who entered the cavern to take soil samples for National Geographic. He wore a heat reflective suit, breathing apparatus and kevlar harnesses. Thermal loving bacteria living at that depth were found that did not exist outside the crater.
Our drivers set up our tents and prepared a wood fire for us to cook our mutton, chicken and vegetable shashliks over the embers. We sat around the crater with beers and vodka solving the problems of the world and getting to know more about each other.
Some local teen goat herders arrived on their motorbikes looking to cadge cigarettes and a tour group of Germans and Swiss travelling in motor homes sat around a camp fire eating their dinner. They could not drive their vehicles up to the crater and had to have a truck and minder bring them up to the site. They left quite early and a small group of Russian teens arrived to party in their vehicles opposite us.
The next day, after a breakfast of long life yoghurt and muffins we headed off to look at two more craters in the area.
We saw lots of camels in the sandy hills and the odd goat herder on our three and a half hour journey back to Ashgabat.
On the way to the lake we stopped a few kilometres outside the capital at the Turkmanbashi Mausoleum and mosque. It is not considered a true mosque as it contains writings from the late President Niyazov and not from the Koran. The mausoleum houses himself and his family killed in the earthquake and war. The late president Saparmurat Niyazov declared Turkmenistan independent from USSR on October 27, 1991. His cult of personality started when he made an order that everyone call him Turkmenbashi which translated to 'leader of the Turkmen'. He erected gold statues of himself and spent the countries oil and gas money on public works, placating the public dissenters with subsidies for gas, water and electricity.
He built gold statues but banned people from having gold fillings, commanding they eat bones to toughen their teeth. He banned opera, ballet and the circus. He reduced or discontinued pensions. Dogs were banished from the city. He made it illegal to play recorded music at weddings. He renamed the Turkmen words for the days of the week and months of the year replacing them with the names of his family, Turkmen heroes, poets and historical events.The Turkmen word for bread became his mother's name. A meteorite, a moon crater, a breed of horse, airports, a canal and a city (now Turkmanbashi) also had their names changed. All hospitals outside the capital were closed and people had to go to Ashgabat.
He wrote his own religious text, The Ruhmana. All the libraries were closed because he believed you needed no other books other than his and the Koran. You had to have knowledge from his Ruhmana to pass your driver's licence. The media was controlled by him.
From here we drove through the countryside to Kow Ata lake. The entrance is through a small cave in a mountain and stairs take you 65 metres underground. The warm 36 DegC lake at the bottom was busy with Russian families on school holidays. A few bats clung to the rock walls being disturbed now and then. There was a small changing room but nothing else.
Above ground was a small community of shashlik kitchens with raised tea beds so we ordered lunch and even managed a cold beer or two.
We visited the Parthian Fortresses of Nisa, a UNESCO site 15 kms from Ashgabat. Nisa would have been a trading hub.
Excavations have revealed mausoleums, shrines, documents and coins.
The site was destroyed in an earthquake in the first decade BC.
Listening to the guide, a descendant of the Parthian king's family.
Many ivory rhytons were discovered. An animal shaped vessel common in ancient Persia used for holding liquid. We have seen this as a symbol on the lamp posts and in Berkarar Mall.
That night we made a tour of the city by night. Every government building is lit up as are the fountains and statues.
The green Wedding Palace is 11 stories high. The structure has a tier of the star, a cube and ball. It has 6 registration rooms, 3 wedding hall, 7 banquet rooms, 36 shops and an underground 300 car park. The Yyldyz Hotel is to the right.
We managed to get into the Arch of Neutrality building and were accompanied by a group of female university students still in their school uniforms. One of them was particularly taken with our Andrew posing with him and giggling every time she saw him. Andrew pretended I was his his mother and just before she left she asked him to bring me to meet her mother to talk about marriage. It was hilarious. The lift goes up the right leg of the building.
The Plunger
The Health Walk is lit up from left to right over a hill on the outskirts of Ashgabat. It was established to encourage exercise.The Yyldyz Hotel is to the far left. The greenish Wedding Palace is in the centre. The uppermost building is in the Guinness Book of Records for being the largest star shaped building in the world. Other Guinness records include the large flagpole, largest handmade carpet, and largest indoor Ferris wheel.
The Yyuldyz.
The Yyldyz is a 24 storey, 5 star hotel on a hill overlooking the city and we were booked into it for dinner. It was an amazingly plush place with a sweeping staircase of marble and gold. We were given our own dining room and the menu was huge. Fresh food is flown in every day. Ben was so confident with the Japanese chefs skills he ordered chicken tartare and steak tartare. I went for the venison. They too had beer. The food was very cheap because of our black market exchange rates and we booked for a second visit.
We left quite late and luckily were not stopped for being outside the 11pm city curfew.
The next day we visited the shrine of Seyit Jamal Ad Din in Anau, 15 kms from the capital. Originally the complex was comprised of 4 buildings: the mosque, a building on top of the grave and two large high domed halls. The mosque was built in 14 century and is unique because of its two yellow dragons depicted on the front. Islamic art does not depict animals. Some locals were at the site paying homage and circling the tomb. The complex was destroyed in the 1948 earthquake.
Nearby we walked down into an old well where people come to make wishes. Someone had left their car key and drawn a house in the dust. I drew an aeroplane hoping for a safe flight, departing on time as Ben had told us that Fly Dubai was always late.
We returned to Ashgabat for lunch at a hipster cafe, where we had to wait for our four wheel drive vehicles to take us to the Darvaza Craters, so it was a comfortable place to wait.
We stopped briefly at the Derweze village to buy snacks and drinks at the local store. It was a dusty, sandy, windy place with a few shabby houses, car wrecks and yurts. Goats and sheep were penned up and camels munched on dry grass taking no notice of us.
The Darvaza Crater, in Derweze ( in the Karakum desert ), is also known as 'Door to Hell'. The Russians, drilling in the area thought it to be an oil field site but they hit a pocket of methane gas causing the ground to collapse and the rig to be buried. Some records say the gas was lit at this time to burn it off while others say it was done in the 80s. However, it did not succeed in burning off the escaping gas as it has continued to burn since the late 1940's.
The only person known to have entered the crater is George Kourounis a Canadian stormchaser, who entered the cavern to take soil samples for National Geographic. He wore a heat reflective suit, breathing apparatus and kevlar harnesses. Thermal loving bacteria living at that depth were found that did not exist outside the crater.
Our drivers set up our tents and prepared a wood fire for us to cook our mutton, chicken and vegetable shashliks over the embers. We sat around the crater with beers and vodka solving the problems of the world and getting to know more about each other.
Some local teen goat herders arrived on their motorbikes looking to cadge cigarettes and a tour group of Germans and Swiss travelling in motor homes sat around a camp fire eating their dinner. They could not drive their vehicles up to the crater and had to have a truck and minder bring them up to the site. They left quite early and a small group of Russian teens arrived to party in their vehicles opposite us.The next day, after a breakfast of long life yoghurt and muffins we headed off to look at two more craters in the area.
We saw lots of camels in the sandy hills and the odd goat herder on our three and a half hour journey back to Ashgabat.
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