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This is a report of a solo-trip to Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, undertaken during July/August 1994.

Turkmenistan

Pierre.Flener
2004-04-03 19:02:45

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baksheesh of course), I leave the embassy.

After overcoming my deep disappointment, I look at the map and see myself truthfully trapped: no return to Uzbekistan (visa too difficult to obtain); nothing else really worth to see in Turkmenistan; civil wars in Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Afghanistan; and a flight to Pakistan (Islamabad or Karachi, where Iranian transit-visas are definitely easy to obtain) would also deplete my cash reserves. I very briefly contemplate the option of setting out to the Iranian border and see what improvisation is possible there, but then I reject this idea as foolhardy. So I scrape together what money I have and grudgingly buy a ticket ($422 for foreigners!) at the Aeroflot office (they haven't changed the sign to Turkmenistan Airlines yet) for the next flight to istanbul, aborting my trip and deciding to do the Iranian leg another year. I'm of course angry now for not having fully used my fifteen days in Uzbekistan, as I could have stayed there for another three days and gone with Elena and Yulya to the mountains in the east.

At the Aeroflot office, I have a nice chat with a Turkmen lady who tells me a lot of interesting things about her country. She will be on the same flight as I on Friday. Then I stroll through Ashkhabad, which is a Soviet reconstruction similar to Tashkent, as it was completely leveled by an earthquake in 1948. No historical buildings are left to see, but the spacious shaded parks and tree-lined boulevards reward an afternoon of exploration. Surprisingly, in one park, I find a still untoppled statue of Lenin, set on a magnificently tiled pedestal depicting the motives of Turkmen rugs. The two city bazaars, though set in ugly concrete constructions, provide the usual riot of colors and smells. I see some nomad Turkmens who wear the typical huge suffocating shaggy sheepskin-hats. I had somewhat hurriedly converted $10 into Turkmen Manat in Tashauz ...