motodraconis (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
motodraconis) wrote2013-09-04 02:36 pm
motodraconis) wrote2013-09-04 02:36 pm
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Turkmenistan!
I've just got back from an epic tour of Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Georgia. I'll start with my first stop Turkmenistan...
The "Palace of Happiness" or Wedding Palace in Ashgabat.
I confess I was a little nervous... I always aim to arrive a day before my tour (in case of flights missed from delays - as has happened in the past) but then I'm always a bit hazy until my airport transfer has arrived (once it didn't!) and gets me to the hotel where I can get my bearings. I needn't have worried, the capital, Ashgabat turned out to be very agreeable, with an almost French boulevard feel (in the bit near my hotel) and soon I was out and exploring quite happily.
View from the hotel window - of the circus and Ashgabat. (Through tinted glass.) That truck you can see on the left was our overlanding truck.
There were plenty of Turkmen ladies wandering about, some dressed in western-style clothes, others in traditional Turkmen dress, and I felt pretty safe. Particularly as one of the first places I stumbled across was a cake shop.
Turkmen cakes, like pretty much everything in Ashgabat, are built on a grand scale!
Sadly, I was already stuffed full or I would have sampled one there and then.
My guide arrived early so I was filled in quickly and able to go out and eat with the guys from the previous tour (who were finishing in Ashgabat after coming in from Uzbekistan.) The next day we went to Tolkuchka Bazaar, the largest open-air market in Central Asia.
I really wanted to buy one of the traditional Turkmen dresses...
And bullied the local guide into helping me find one. Tricky, as usually these are made to measure. Sewn to be highly fitted to the body on younger ladies, or a little more loose and relaxed on older ladies. But always rather gorgeous, and often topped with a special head dress. While Turkmenistan is a muslim country, the headscarf was not something I ever saw. Ladies either wore their traditional tribal head dress (small cap for young girls) or went bare headed or wore western-style clothes.
As luck would have it, we found 2 ready made dresses, one blue and one red. Both (amazingly) fitted me, and I caused some amusement and fascination to the local ladies shuffling over to the back of the stall and being helped into the dresses one by one by the stall holder to try. I am unusual in being a tourist who actually wants to buy local dress where possible - and wear it. The blue had better embroidery, but the red suited me better, so I got it for 50 manat (11 quid.) Bargain! I did wear it a fair bit too, and it was perfect in the 37 degree heat.
You can buy anything at Tolkuchka, including sheep, goats...
Camels...
Duckings by the box-load and much more!
In contrast to the vibrant colours of the market, the afternoon and next day was spent exploring the White-Marble City.
The Monument of Neutrality...
Topped with a 12-metre (39 ft) tall gold-plated statue of the late President Saparmurat Niyazov.
Views from the monument...
Me in one of the cafes next to the monument - in my Turkmen dress.
Monument to the Independence of Turkmenistan...
Otherwise known as "the Plunger"
For obvious reasons!
A highlight of the tour was a ride on the Ashgabat Stargate... I mean of course, "The biggest indoor ferris wheel in the World"
The Eight-Pointed Star is the motif of Turkmenistan and you'll see it everywhere. (I even managed to get a Turkman Brooch - as worn by local ladies, in this motif.) Within the star or otherwise near it, you'll often see 5 points. These represent the 5 tribes of Turkmenistan. A motif within a motif.
Clad in white marble, natch. After a while, you start to wonder if there's any white marble left in Italy, though I'm told they also ship it in from Iran and somewhere else I cannot remember.
Some colour! I did manage to get some cake eventually...
See how pleased I am to try some cake!
Leaving Ashgabat behind now, Kipchak Mosque...
Saparmurad Hajji Mosque...
On the road to Turkmenbashi, where we would catch a ferry across the Caspian Sea.
Every day is melon day...
Deserty...
Statue of the Pioneers, Balkanabat...
Next up... the Caspian Sea!
The "Palace of Happiness" or Wedding Palace in Ashgabat.
I confess I was a little nervous... I always aim to arrive a day before my tour (in case of flights missed from delays - as has happened in the past) but then I'm always a bit hazy until my airport transfer has arrived (once it didn't!) and gets me to the hotel where I can get my bearings. I needn't have worried, the capital, Ashgabat turned out to be very agreeable, with an almost French boulevard feel (in the bit near my hotel) and soon I was out and exploring quite happily.
View from the hotel window - of the circus and Ashgabat. (Through tinted glass.) That truck you can see on the left was our overlanding truck.
There were plenty of Turkmen ladies wandering about, some dressed in western-style clothes, others in traditional Turkmen dress, and I felt pretty safe. Particularly as one of the first places I stumbled across was a cake shop.
Turkmen cakes, like pretty much everything in Ashgabat, are built on a grand scale!
Sadly, I was already stuffed full or I would have sampled one there and then.
My guide arrived early so I was filled in quickly and able to go out and eat with the guys from the previous tour (who were finishing in Ashgabat after coming in from Uzbekistan.) The next day we went to Tolkuchka Bazaar, the largest open-air market in Central Asia.
I really wanted to buy one of the traditional Turkmen dresses...
And bullied the local guide into helping me find one. Tricky, as usually these are made to measure. Sewn to be highly fitted to the body on younger ladies, or a little more loose and relaxed on older ladies. But always rather gorgeous, and often topped with a special head dress. While Turkmenistan is a muslim country, the headscarf was not something I ever saw. Ladies either wore their traditional tribal head dress (small cap for young girls) or went bare headed or wore western-style clothes.
As luck would have it, we found 2 ready made dresses, one blue and one red. Both (amazingly) fitted me, and I caused some amusement and fascination to the local ladies shuffling over to the back of the stall and being helped into the dresses one by one by the stall holder to try. I am unusual in being a tourist who actually wants to buy local dress where possible - and wear it. The blue had better embroidery, but the red suited me better, so I got it for 50 manat (11 quid.) Bargain! I did wear it a fair bit too, and it was perfect in the 37 degree heat.
You can buy anything at Tolkuchka, including sheep, goats...
Camels...
Duckings by the box-load and much more!
In contrast to the vibrant colours of the market, the afternoon and next day was spent exploring the White-Marble City.
The Monument of Neutrality...
Topped with a 12-metre (39 ft) tall gold-plated statue of the late President Saparmurat Niyazov.
Views from the monument...
Me in one of the cafes next to the monument - in my Turkmen dress.
Monument to the Independence of Turkmenistan...
Otherwise known as "the Plunger"
For obvious reasons!
A highlight of the tour was a ride on the Ashgabat Stargate... I mean of course, "The biggest indoor ferris wheel in the World"
The Eight-Pointed Star is the motif of Turkmenistan and you'll see it everywhere. (I even managed to get a Turkman Brooch - as worn by local ladies, in this motif.) Within the star or otherwise near it, you'll often see 5 points. These represent the 5 tribes of Turkmenistan. A motif within a motif.
Clad in white marble, natch. After a while, you start to wonder if there's any white marble left in Italy, though I'm told they also ship it in from Iran and somewhere else I cannot remember.
Some colour! I did manage to get some cake eventually...
See how pleased I am to try some cake!
Leaving Ashgabat behind now, Kipchak Mosque...
Saparmurad Hajji Mosque...
On the road to Turkmenbashi, where we would catch a ferry across the Caspian Sea.
Every day is melon day...
Deserty...
Statue of the Pioneers, Balkanabat...
Next up... the Caspian Sea!
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All I 'knew' about Turkmenistan was roughly where it was, and that they have special horses. Looks fascinating (as all the places you visit do, to be honest!)
Love that statue at the end too! Now I want a windswept, stoic camel statue (though probably a lot smaller).
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