A view from Ashgabat

We’re thrilled to be able to share another blog from Ania and Jon of the Hitch-Hikers Handbook as they enter Turkmenistan…

Turkmen warriors, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

Our travels so far have taken us through familiar Turkey and exotic but glorious Iran, but Turkmenistan was to be a whole new adventure and one that would have to be undertaken fast as we only had 5 days in the country.

Getting visas for Turkmenistan is not easy and for the budget traveller the only real option is a transit visa as otherwise an expensive guide is required. We decided that the way to go was to cross from south to north, across the Karakum desert starting with the capital Ashgabat before entering Uzbekistan from the ancient city of Konye-Urgench.

Where to start with Ashgabat? Imagine the gran architecture of a fine European city, Rome perhaps, or Madrid. Take the most neo-classical buildings, white-wash them all and multiply them by 10 and you are getting somewhere close. Then, remove all the people and we are somewhere near to the feel of the city.

Jon and Ruhnama, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

Why have a small, functional agricultural ministry when you can have a behemoth structure magnifying the power of the state? A park for the people, pfff, how about a park dedicated to the former dictator Turkmenbashy, replete with giant golden statues of the great man himself and a huge replica book of his nonsensical work (trust me I’ve tried to read it) the Ruhnama.

Policeman manned ever corner, pulling over the few existing cars, using the perfectly tarmaced expressway in order to extract a little money. Cleaners swept non-existent dust and gardeners removed leaves from fountains between extended naps. So many people employed by the state with so little to do.

The city is strange with a capital “S”. A playground for the rich without the fun. It is a desert in city form but awfully I was won over in a way.

It was ostentatious, unnecessary and wasteful but I had to admire the balls it took to create such a white elephant. Such a place could only have been created by an authority so sure in itself yet so fearful of those it exploited. Oil wealth enabled it but power created it and the weird thing was that the people seemed happy.

Jon and Ruhnama, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

The trade off appeared to be that people didn’t complain about all the power concentrated in so few hands if certain conditions were provided. Namely, free water, free gas and free electricity…. and a shiny city, of course. The gap between rich and poor was a chasm but the people we met didn’t really want to talk politics. It is was uncomfortable for a European raised in the tradition of the importance of free speech but who am I to go to a foreign country and tell them how to live? 5 days is only enough to glean so much from one culture.

Read more about Jon and Ania’s hitchhiking adventures on their website – HitchikersHandbook.com

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