Shiraz-Ashgabat
19/05/14 22:57
Another wonderful landing by Captain Frey! We park the plane between 2 Boing 757-200 and are wondering why. Soon we realize that this is the old airport. Many men in uniform but when we start to talk about FC Barçelona and Bayern Munich, the ice is broken. First time we meet custom officials that don’t speak any English (and there are 4 of them). Since only one is working it takes a bit longer - but again everybody is very friendly and tries his best.
The hotel is fantastic - top class!! The Internet is very fast and we have access to almost all pages in the web. The webmaster is also able to finally update the software which was not possible in Iran. We meet our guide Tatyana there and start the tour. When driving in we were already impressed by the city. But now we feel like in a kind of dream! Unbelievable what they built over the last 15 years! First we go to the Hippodrome to see the famous horses. Akhal-Teke horses are Turkmenistan’s pride and joy. Every Sunday the Hippodrome plays host to dramatic Turkmen horse races. After that we see the Turkish Mosque. A present of the Turkish government, built in 1998 as a copy of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, it is not really pretty. Lunch we have at the local market, the Soviet market. It looks like the just left yesterday. Food is solala but again everybody is friendly. We drive through these wide avenues and brand new, white marble buildings to a big monument. The Arch of Neutrality marks the Turkmen people’s uprising unanimous endorsement of Turkmenbashi’s policy of neutrality in 1998, though it looks more like a rocket primed for take-off. Above the arch itself is the real gem, a comic 12m-hith polished-gold statue of Niyazov, which revolves to follow the sun throughout the day. From there to the Monument of Turkmenistan and back to the hotel where Tatyana drops us of. We don’t mind since she talks like a record player. She very much reminded of the guides back in the Soviet Union. It turns out she is actually Russian and grew up here.
We hit the bar and the first beer after 4 days in Iran (no alcohol there) tastes fantastic!!! The dinner in the Turkish restaurant is also fine - so after all another day with tons of impressions!
With its lavish marble palaces, gleaming gold domes and vast expanses of manicured parkland, Ashgabat („the city of love“ in Arabic) has reinvented itself as a showcase city for the newly independent republic. Built almost entirely off the receipts of Turkmenistan’s oil and gas revenues, the city’s transformation continues at break-neck speed.
Originally developed by the Russians in the lat 19th century, Ashgabat became a prosperous, largely Russian frontier town on the Trans-Caspian railway. However, at 1am on 6th October 1948, the city vanished in less than a minute, leveled by an earthquake that measured nine on the Richter scale. More than 110’000 people died (two thirds of the population.
Turkmenistan was once part of the ancient Persian Empire. The Turkmen people were originally pastoral nomads and some of them continued this way of life up into the 20th century, living in transportable dome-shaped felt tents. The territory was ruled by the Seljuk Turks in the 11th century. The Mongols of Ghenghis Khan conquered the land in the 13th century; they dominated the area for the next two centuries until they were deposed in the late 15th century by invading Uzbeks. Prior to the 19th century, Turkmenia was divided into two lands, one belonging to the khanate of Khiva and the other belonging to the khanate of Bukhara. In 1868, the khanate of Khiva was made part of the Russian Empire and Turkmenia became known as the Transcaspia Region of Russian Turkistan. Turkmenistan was later formed out of the Turkistan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, founded in 1922, and was made an independent Soviet Socialist Republic on May 13, 1925. It was the poorest of the Soviet republics.
It achieved its independence upon the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. President Niyazov retains absolute control over the country and opposition is not tolerated. Some compare the regime to North Korea. Extensive hydrocarbon/natural gas reserves could prove a boon to this underdeveloped country if extraction and delivery projects can be worked out.
The hotel is fantastic - top class!! The Internet is very fast and we have access to almost all pages in the web. The webmaster is also able to finally update the software which was not possible in Iran. We meet our guide Tatyana there and start the tour. When driving in we were already impressed by the city. But now we feel like in a kind of dream! Unbelievable what they built over the last 15 years! First we go to the Hippodrome to see the famous horses. Akhal-Teke horses are Turkmenistan’s pride and joy. Every Sunday the Hippodrome plays host to dramatic Turkmen horse races. After that we see the Turkish Mosque. A present of the Turkish government, built in 1998 as a copy of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, it is not really pretty. Lunch we have at the local market, the Soviet market. It looks like the just left yesterday. Food is solala but again everybody is friendly. We drive through these wide avenues and brand new, white marble buildings to a big monument. The Arch of Neutrality marks the Turkmen people’s uprising unanimous endorsement of Turkmenbashi’s policy of neutrality in 1998, though it looks more like a rocket primed for take-off. Above the arch itself is the real gem, a comic 12m-hith polished-gold statue of Niyazov, which revolves to follow the sun throughout the day. From there to the Monument of Turkmenistan and back to the hotel where Tatyana drops us of. We don’t mind since she talks like a record player. She very much reminded of the guides back in the Soviet Union. It turns out she is actually Russian and grew up here.
We hit the bar and the first beer after 4 days in Iran (no alcohol there) tastes fantastic!!! The dinner in the Turkish restaurant is also fine - so after all another day with tons of impressions!
With its lavish marble palaces, gleaming gold domes and vast expanses of manicured parkland, Ashgabat („the city of love“ in Arabic) has reinvented itself as a showcase city for the newly independent republic. Built almost entirely off the receipts of Turkmenistan’s oil and gas revenues, the city’s transformation continues at break-neck speed.
Originally developed by the Russians in the lat 19th century, Ashgabat became a prosperous, largely Russian frontier town on the Trans-Caspian railway. However, at 1am on 6th October 1948, the city vanished in less than a minute, leveled by an earthquake that measured nine on the Richter scale. More than 110’000 people died (two thirds of the population.
Turkmenistan was once part of the ancient Persian Empire. The Turkmen people were originally pastoral nomads and some of them continued this way of life up into the 20th century, living in transportable dome-shaped felt tents. The territory was ruled by the Seljuk Turks in the 11th century. The Mongols of Ghenghis Khan conquered the land in the 13th century; they dominated the area for the next two centuries until they were deposed in the late 15th century by invading Uzbeks. Prior to the 19th century, Turkmenia was divided into two lands, one belonging to the khanate of Khiva and the other belonging to the khanate of Bukhara. In 1868, the khanate of Khiva was made part of the Russian Empire and Turkmenia became known as the Transcaspia Region of Russian Turkistan. Turkmenistan was later formed out of the Turkistan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, founded in 1922, and was made an independent Soviet Socialist Republic on May 13, 1925. It was the poorest of the Soviet republics.
It achieved its independence upon the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. President Niyazov retains absolute control over the country and opposition is not tolerated. Some compare the regime to North Korea. Extensive hydrocarbon/natural gas reserves could prove a boon to this underdeveloped country if extraction and delivery projects can be worked out.
TransAsia 2014