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Published: October 13th 2005
We spend the entire day in and around the City of Love, doing its sights, smells and sounds. Our guide for the day is Gholuya, an old Russian woman from Ashgabat. We start with a tour to the newly constructed gigantic Azadi mosque which is more or less a copy of the Haga Sofia in Istanbul. Unfortunately it is not that popular with the locals, since the construction work was marred by some accidents costing some workers their lives. The big hall under the gigantic dome is covered in red carpets and gives a very peaceful impression at this hour. We continute to the main square in front of the parliament which has a number of interesting sights around it.
Apart from the parliament building there is a similar capitolium styled buliding with a golden dome next to it; the office of the president. The memorial of the Great War (a stylished bull statue carrying the world on its head) is dwarfed by the Arch of Neutrality (a.k.a. the Tower of Power), surely one of the most original buildings around. It is a big three legged tower some 30 meters high, ending at the top with a big golden statue
of the president, his arms open, his face turned towards the sun, as a clockwork slowly rotates the statue to follow the disc across its journey in the sky. Elevators climb the tower legs to a viewpoint underneath the statue, from where you can get a good look of the flat city and the mountains surrounding it.
Similar to Tashkent, Ashgabat was also tormented by a great earthquake that levelled most of the city back in 1948. As a consequence, the city has lost its historical touch and looks fairly modern. However, this sparsely populated desert oasis is sitting atop of major natural gas reserves, and as a consequence, the locals have free access to water and electricity.
Next stop on the itinerary is the carpet museum, and I get something dizzying in my eye, having vivid recollections of the last time I spent in a similar place. Had I been clever I could have got two hours on town on my own, yet instead I reluctantly go along. The interest in carpets never really ceases to amaze me, sure enough they are really nice works of art, but do we really have to analyze each and every
blotch of colour in a design? "The blue line represents fishing and the sea" Oh yeah, that makes sense, here in the desert. All visitors have to wear slippers, but they are only available in megalithic sizes. I am handed a pair of furry pink slippers which are so big that even though I have my shoes on they feel like, and require handling like clown shoes. One false step and it will come off and you will break your neck in the stairs. In defence of the museum though, there are a number of young women in beautiful traditional dresses accompanying the group, making me appreciate my slippers even more...
After two horrible hours I swear never again as we head for lunch in a weird cone-shaped shopping mall. The walls are covered in running water from fountains all around the sides. It lies close to a park area which is currently under construction. It will be decorated with an obscene amount of fountains as a birthday gift to the President. It is obvious that water carries a special meaning in this place.
After lunch we go to the nearby monument of independence, a great monumental spire
in the middle of a large park. Here we have a chance encounter with a whole bus full of traditional dancers in their lovely outfits. Next stop is the historical museum which unfortunately is closed for the day. A number of people in the group are groaning and muttering in disappointment while I am happy to stay outside in the real world a bit longer. We jump into the bus again and ride into the desert outside of the city. The road is lined with fledgling tree plantations, neatly ordered lins of young plants standing to attention as we pass by. I learn that the government has ordered these plantations and that they are funded by local businessmen. Close to Ashagabat we find the excavation site of Nissa, ancient ruins of an old city. The scenery is quite nice, but the findings not very spectacular, and the group is not impressed by what is considered to be too heavy handed reconstruction.
Returning to the city we ask to stay at a local supermarket to run some errands, and I see a perfect opportunity to finally acquire some batteries. However, I am out of luck, they do not have any
batteries of this kind. Ghoulya promises to help me find some. As we walk outside we are asked to remain in place on this side of the street by plain clothes police that have suddenly appeared from nowhere. They can be found at regular intervals keeping the traffic off the main street. It is time for the President to return to his mountain escape from another day at the office. All traffic is temporarily blocked while his motorcade quickly swoops by.
After having returned to the Nissa we have an hour before assembly for dinner. Ghoulya flags down a Lada and asks me to accompany her as we go looking for the nearest bazar. No luck at the first stop, but after transferring to a second place I can finally obtain some much longed for batteries. They come very handy in the evening as we are taken to dinner in a private house where local youth are performing, singing and dancing.
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