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 Tower of Neutrality-
Ashgabat-Turkmenistan by Groverdean
It has great views of the city and the Kopet Dag Mountains. Leave a Comment
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 Playing dutar in the bazaar by bdwoot
There are lines of carpet sellers, clothing stalls with obvious fake Guccis and poorly made exercise clothing with the endorsement of "Mike Tison" and "Mikeal Jordin" stitched on the jacket, people selling spices and vegetables, even cars, both new and used. One part of the bazaar was where you got a new car, a UAZ Russojeep with plastic still on the seats. Some guy closeby would sit with auto parts of various descriptions on a sheet of plastic.
I was able to buy a few things on my own with my halting Russian, but if you are buying anything big ticket, go with a local. One of my friends from there is a shark among minnows when it comes to bartering. If the salesman even senses a westerner closeby, the price triples. My friend took it as a point of personal honor that she could get it as close to cost or below as possible. My guilt chip was firing like mad because here she was haggling over a few pennies while I made easily fifty times as much money as any one of them. Leave a Comment Address: Tolkuchka BazaarDirections: Somewhere north of Ashgabat
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The landmark of the citycentre of Ashgabat is the high Arch of Neutrality. At top of the arch is the 12 meter high gold polished statue of former president Niyazov, also called Turkmenbashi, meaning the leader of the Turkmens. This statue turnes every day 360 degrees so that Turkmenbashhi always faces the sun. The arch is raised as a symbol for a free and independent Turkmenistan, celebrating the Turkmen people endorsement of Turkmenbashi's policy of neutrality in 1998.
It is possible to visit the arch for a small entrance fee. There is an elevator to bring you up. I didn´t, though you will have a good view at the independence Square ,the Presidential Palace and the rest of the citycentre. From the arch you are also able to make pictures of the Presidential Palace. The guards will not allow you to do so from the square below. Leave a Comment Directions: By it large size you can hardly miss this monument in the citycentre.
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This Kipchak mosque, also called 'Turkmenbashi Ruhy Metjidi' is situated a bit outside Ashgabat town. This rather new mosque, built in 2001 by the president Niyazov, is one of the largest mosques in Central Asia. The minarets are 91 meter high. About ten thousand pilgrims can visit the mosque at the same time. Niyazov built this mosque at the place where his mother and tow brothers were killed by the earthquake of 1948.
The mosque looks impressive by its scale, white marble and golden cupola's, but in some way it felt like the mosque misses the atmosphere and soul mosques usual have. It's peculiar, this mosque is the first mosque I ever visited which has no Arabic texts from the Koran. What is written inside the mosque is in the Turkmen language. They told me these are texts from the Ruhnama, the important Turkmen book written by president Niyazov. In this book he wrote his version of Turkmen history, culture and spirituality. Leave a Comment
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During our short stay in Ashgabat we had not the opportunity to visit the Tolkuchka Bazaar 8km north of town, because we were not there during marketdays. Maybe our visit to the Russian Market in the citycentre was not really an adequate substitute, but it was very pleasant and interesting to walk around at this lively market for some hours.
I always like it to stroll around at markets to get a glimpse of daily life. At the Russian market they sell food like fresh vegetables, fruits, herbs, spices, bread, sweets, meat, but also alcoholic drinks and huge nicily decorated cakes. There werd also small shops selling clothes, books and colourful plastic baths and toys for playing in and with water. Leave a Comment Directions: In the citycentre.
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The Ertogul Gazi mosque in the citycentre of Ashgabat has a lovely oriental architecture. The appearance of the mosque shows the connection with the Ottoman and Turkish architecture. There is a obvious resemblance with the Süleymaniye Mosque or Blue Mosque in Istanbul.
The mosque has four minarets. The inner court has nicily decorated ceilings (picture 3) and black-white ornaments (picture 1, 3 , 5). I liked the scenic views from the innercourt at the minarets (picture (4 & 5). Leave a Comment Address: Schevchenko streetDirections: City centre
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 Entrance of the museum with
the memorial at top by sachara, 4 more photos
The impressive bombastic bronze sculpture of the bull and globe is designed by sculptor B. Annarumadov. It is based on an ancient myth. The depicted child is said to be the baby Niyazov. Leave a Comment Directions: The Earthquake Memorial and Museum is situated in the park just beside the Arch of Neutralilty, the huge landmark in the citycentre nearby the presidential Palace.
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In the huge green area of Berzengi south of the citycentre not only huge white marble buildings are built in a spacious green setting, but it looks like that for every event a new monument is built.
In 2001 at the 10th anneversary of the independence in 1991 a new monument is erected. When you enter the spacious area the first thing you see is a huge gold coloured staue of the president. And believe me this is not the only place in town where you will find his golden statue.
There are also a lot of fountains all over the place like almost everywhere in this hot and dry city. In the 'lonely planet' I red that only the insane and very unfortunate will visit Ashgabat in summer. I was there in july and I survived, not only because of the fountains.
The most important part of the monument is a huge fountain with horses at the top. This monument is at the same time a tribute to the famous Turkmen Akhal-Teke horses, being an important heritage of the country for a long time. Leave a Comment Directions: Berzengi area, south of the citycentre.
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 by gligor_kot
Physical Description
The Akhal-Teke's conformation can be favorably compared to the Persian Arab, another breed of ancient origin. Its head is similar to the Arab's, being long and light with expressive eyes. It has relatively long ears and a long neck. It has a short silky mane, or none at all, and a short tail. This breed has a narrow chest, long back, and flat ribs. The legs are long and slender, clearly revealing the tendons. It averages 15-15.1 hands in height. It is often dun in color, although it can be bay and gray, with a pale golden coat preferred. The Akhal-Teke is among the most elegant of the world's horses.
Ancient Origins
The Akhal-Teke descended from the ancient Turkmenian horse which was one of the four original horse 'types' that cross the Bering Strait from America in prehistoric times.. It was originally bred by tribes of Turkoman. The Akhal-Teke now is bred in the other provinces of the southern former U.S.S.R. Leave a Comment Address: The Hipodrom
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 by bdwoot
It once held 100,000 souls, a Zoroastrian city before the rise of Islam. Within its gates you could rest your camels and get a bed for the night. Then came Alexander the Great who conquered what then became known as Bactria. After several hundreds years of a very widely displaced Hellenistic veneer over nomadic lives, then came Islam. Other conquerors included the Persian Empire, the Mongols, and ultimately the Russians.
What is left is eerie, empty and altogether moving. Leave a Comment Address: North of Mary, in the Kyzyl Kum desert
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