Blogs from Turkmenistan, Asia - page 4
Eloquence is silver, presidential statue is gold
Published: October 26th 2005Asia » Turkmenistan » Mary
September 26th 2001
Early morning rise and checkout, and then a quick transfer to the airport. The flight is at 6.40, the check in procedure is chaotic and after the worst security inspection on this side of the new millennium we yet again carry our own bags to have them loaded on the waiting AHTOHOB AH-24 turboprop. At least the commotion helps ensuring that I don't doze off and sleep through the flight missing out on the fun. We are headed to the eastern city of Mary where we will do some sightseeing before boarding a bus and drive towards the Uzbek border and make it to Bukhara sometime in the evening. I have a fun if somewhat limited conversation with a girl named Nadja who is returning home from a holiday trip to Iran. Apart from her stylish ... read more
September 25th 2001
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 ... read more
September 24th 2001
A long day transfering from Urgench to Ashgabat. Leaving our hotel early morning we go in our spiffy blue Intourist bus towards the nearby border checkpoint crossing into Turkmenistan. West of Urgench we encounter some cotton fields typical for the region and jump off to have a closer inspection. There's not much action here, a few farmers can be see harvesting in the middle of the field. The sight of our group of tourists mucking about in the field raises a few eyebrows. We chat a bit with a 25-year old cotton picker called Rashid before departing towards the border. Shoista recalls memories from her univeristy days; students are regularily sent into the fields during harvesting season to pick cotton. Not everyone is as ambitious though, some clever minds would simply go slacking in the fields ... read more
