Blogs from Turkmenistan, Asia - page 3

Sept 27 - 28 Mary/Merv This morning we were set to visit Gonur Depe, an ancient settlement that dates back to 7000BC !!! A two hour journey from Mary in a 4WD vehicle, to Gonur regarded by the Russian archaeologist Sarianidi who discovered the site in 1971 as 'one of the greatest civilisations on the world', this site was the birthplace of Zoroastrianism. There is evidence of four fire temples on this huge site which is surrounded by city walls. There is some limited excavation going on which has revealed an astonishing scale of housing, temples, palaces, kitchens, pottery firing ovens. By 3000BC, this civilisation had moved they think because of the changed river direction which left the area barren. We were amazed at the lack of protection as it was possible for us to walk ... read more

Darvaza The Darvaza gas crater is probably the best attraction in Turkmenistan. The government has been trying to close it for years, but has not yet succeeded. The Russians were drilling for gas in 1971 and the ground collapsed, leaving a large crater. Gas was escaping, so they decided to burn it off. It has been burning for forty years or so. The temperature was 110 F abandnd the road was poor. There were lots of camels and lots of nothing along the way. At least we were allowed to drive out of Ashgabat. We spent a hot night camping in the desert so we could see the crater in the dark. The following day was only 106 F. It was escape from Turkmenistan day. The three best things about Turkmenistan are the gas crater, the ... read more

Turkmenbashi There were 18 other tourists on an overland adventure tour on the ferry. They are on a 6 month excursion on a big converted truck. The ferry trip across the Caspian took 14 hours. We anchored a little after noon to wait for the previous rail ferry to clear the dock. The ferry docked at 6:30, and we unloaded at 9:30. Then the fun began. The Turkmenistan entry process is incredibly slow, tedious, and incomprehensible. Everything is written by hand and stamped several times. Wehad to visit 10 different windows, some several times, make 4 different payments in two different currencies, and collect up 14 different documents (all filled in by hand). We set a new record. Into customs at 9:30 PM and out at 7:00 AM. Nine and one half hours just to get ... read more

The blog wıll not let me ınput the correct country so here we are for real, ın Istanbul... We love Istanbul! It ıs so refreshıng and clean ( a stark contrast from Egypt, where garbage ıs all over the place). The weather ıs pleasant and we are meltıng ınto the crowds a bıt more, as opposed to beıng hassled at every turn for money, as was the case ın Caıro. Our host Basak, ıs great!!! She ıs refreshıngly frıendly and so helpful. She set us up for tourıng the cıty wıth ease. She lıves wıth her whole famıly ın an apt. bldg. - parents downstaırs wıth her 30 year old brother and she (34) lıves upstaırs - we are ın a really nıce and spacoıous spare room on the second floor wıth her - nıce to ... read more

Lokasi : Old Nissa, Ahal Province, Turkmenistan Tarikh lawatan : 12 March 2011 Hari sabtu, selalunya aku masih lagi bergelimpangan enak diatas katil empuk didalam apartment yang disewa oleh syarikat untukku, namun pagi itu aku ketepikan segala keinginan untuk terus berselimut dan tidur sehingga tengahari. Awal pagi aku sudah bersiap kerana aku telah berjanji dengan rakan2 sepejabat untuk melawat sebuah kota peninggalan sejarah yang terletak 18 km dari Ashgabat. Kota yang dimaksudkan adalah Old Nissa iaitu salah sebuah kubu lama yang ditinggalkan dan telah pun diwartakan oleh UNESCO sebagai World Heritage Site. Masa yang diambil untuk kesana tidaklah lama memandangkan jalan yang menghubungkan Ashgabat dan Old Nissa agak moden dan selesa. Untuk pengetahuan semua, kota ini terletak tidak jauh dari sempadan Iran dan apa yang aku perhatikan, terdapat sebuah surau yang dinamakan Iran Mosq... read more