Turkmenistan or Bust!

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Hi all

Remember how we promised to get things up to date before leaving Iran? Well, we blew it I'm afraid and a proper rundown of the last 6 weeks in Turkey and Iran (as well as KP's foodie post) will just have to wait until we hit Uzbekistan. We're in Mashad, north west Iran, right now and will get up at the ungodly hour of half 4 tomorrow morning (20th April) to catch our taxi to the Turkmen border. From there we'll be whisked away by our local guide to the ancient city of Merv, which hasn't been properly inhabited since a certain Mr G. Khan and 7000 friends swept through 8 or 9 centuries ago.

We're told Turkmenistan had a little less than 3000 tourists last year (that's around 8 a day, for a country that's about twice the size of NZ) so I expect the border guards will know we're coming and will probably have a cup of tea and a few sandwiches waiting for us.

We won't be checking our e-mails or accessing the travel blog during our time in Turkmenistan for reasons I prefer not to detail until we've actually left the country (we cross into Uzbekistan on the evening of the 26th of April). On the plus side (and it's a big plus) I've read plenty of reports from other tourists that the people are extremely friendly.

Before we left many people told us how brave/intrepid/adventurous/stupid etc they thought we were in doing this big trip through these weird places, but we'll let you into a little secret. It's easy, really really easy. Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey and Iran are all well set up for tourists. The locals couldn't be friendlier and transport, hotels, food, and pretty much everything else is there on a plate for you (especially the food, ha ha). Turkmenistan on the other hand, well that might have been a different story except for the fact that we have to be chaperoned/guarded/closely monitored everywhere we go (except the capital - Ashgabat) by a guide as a condition of our tourist visa. We'll be accompanied throughout by Steve from Oxford (UK Oxford that is, not middle of nowhere South Island Oxford) and someone called Aune whom we haven't met yet.

So it's goodbye to the crazy liberalism of the Islamic Repulic of Iran and hello to the great unknown.

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Comments

[Glenn Athey]

Hail to the Turkmenbashi!
So, how was the trip to the museum to despotic regimes and communism!?! Did you get converted to follow the Turkmenbashi? Hope you had fun. The people in Central Asia are reknowned for their hospitality to strangers. Be careful what you say about Genghis Khan! they are all descendents of his in Uzbekistan, Kirgistan, Kazakhstan!

[Pam Seymour]

Found a last
Hi Kar Po and Rob, I lost the link to your blog and it was Helen Naylor, yesterday, who brought excerpts from your travel diaries and enabled me to find you on the web. So here I am, glass of wine in hand, reading through your amazing journals. How right you were to choose the middle east and not be afraid to go there! The hospitality you have experienced sounds amazing and you must have felt quite humbled to have been so welcomed into the refugee camp in Lebanon. I love the pictures of crusuader castles and roman cities. Will be interested in what you think of Turkey, which is the only part of you journey that I know well. I think Istanbul is beginnning to be quite trendy but the east of the country is very different. Back here in England - well, don't even think about it. It's election night tonight - local elections that is, and labour are expecting a bit of a thrashing. Not that the opposition has anything to offer of course. Life carries on here at work strategies are produced that no-one reads etc but musn't be cynical. I'm off to the Italian lakes on Sunday for a week of walking so will write to you again in a week's time. love Pam