Any Travels

Geografically this is the most western of all the stans, but culturally it sure isn't. The turkmen never formed a real nation and only settled in recent history in cities - if they did at all. Most of the cities in Turkmenistan were founded by non Turkmen, but by the Russians, Iranians and even Alexander the Great. If you are not an oil man, maybe the most important reason to visit Turkmenistan would be not the sights, but the people and their age old nomad tradition of hospitatility. They can be hard to reach with stranger at first, but when they open up, anything goes.

Ashgabat the capital city is probably your point of arrival. It is filled with monuments in the honour of the president Turkmenbasi. Mary has the ruins of the old Persian town of Merv and is worth a visit as well.

Places of Interest:

Ashgabat
Ashgabat is a modern city in the middle of Kara-Kum desert. It was founded by the Russians to house the Russian garrison and the headquarters for the Transcaspian Railroad. The city still shows its military and bureaucratic origins-it's orderly clean and uninteresting. Most of the monuments and sights are very recent and have one purpose to hail the president Turkmenbasi. The oil-boom has made Turkmenistan oil rich, and has given the government the possibility to spend money on fountains and big posh hotels and palaces.

Start your visit in the central area where there is an old fortress. Skobelev Square is also worth a look. Head out to see the surreal Islamic-style Lenin Monument, do a carpet factory (there are nine in town) skip the Turkmenistan History Museum and the Exhibition of Economic Achievements. As carpets are the pride of the nation don’t miss the new Turkmen Carpet Museum that has on display the largest carpet in the world—a 2 000-sq-ft/190-sq-m Tekke Bukhara.

Turkmenbashi
Turkmenbashi is located on the shores of the Caspian Sea. In the Soviet days the city was known as Krasnovodsk, but the president gave the city the honour of bearing the same name he uses to describe himself: "Father of Turkmens". It takes a bit of an optimist to enjoy yourself in Turkmenbashi. `Miserable', `joyless' and a 'desolate dust-heap' are some of the words that spring to mind. But if you wear your pink sunglasses and can cope with th heat and the dust, you see a single-storey, pastel-painted port, where you can relax before heading off into more desolate places. When it cools down a bit you can make hikes into the surrounding mountains that offer fine views of the town.

Turkmenbashi is something of a regional travel hub. There are ferries from Turkmenbashi to Baku in Azerbaijan and an irregular service takes you to Astrakhan in Russia. It is theoretically possible to travel from Moscow to Turkmenbashi via the Volga River and the Caspian Sea without setting foot on dry land.

The terminus of the Trans Caspian railway is also in Turkmenbashi, from where it runs through Ashgabat before it crosses into Uzbekistan near the city of Chardzhou. Approximate rail times from Turkmenbashi to Tashkent is 24 hours, to Dushanbe is 36 hours and to Moscow is 3 days. A rail link to the Iranian network, enabling train travel from Turkmenistan to Turkey (Istanbul), was completed in 1996.

Culture

The father of Turkmen literature is poet and thinker Fragi Makhtumkuli (1770-1840), whose words are held in greater reverence than even those of the Koran. Born in an area of south-west Turkmenistan which now forms part of Iran, Makhtumkuli was something of a tragic figure. Trapped in a loveless marriage, he lost his two young sons to illness; later in life his whole body of work was not only confiscated by the Persians but, as he stood witness, the camel on which his precious manuscripts were loaded lost its footing and fell into a river to be swept away. In his writing, Makhtumkuli spurned classical forms for home-spun wisdom and a simplicity of language that contributed greatly to his popularity with the travelling bards. Such was his influence that Turkmen literature became a compendium of mere copyists. Of those who managed to struggle out of the shadow of the great scribe, the most noted are the 19th century writers Kemine, whose satirical rhymes castigated the ruling circles, and Molapenes, the author of popular lyrical poems.

For the nomadic Turkmen the only piece of furniture worth having was a carpet or three. Easily transportable, the carpets served not just as floor coverings, but as wall linings for the yurt, providing a highly decorative form of insulation. Turkmen textiles artisans have gone quite commercial over the last hundred years: Most 'Bukhara' rugs, so called because they were mostly sold, not made, in Bukhara - are made by Turkmen. These days the swish Ashghabat Carpet Museum or the Tolkuchka market are good places to see these mostly red, mostly geometric, entirely beautiful rugs.

Though Turkmenistan is predominantly a Sunni Muslim country, the religion is not militantly or strictly enforced. Centuries-old tribal loyalties are at least as important as Islam; even the most urbane Turkmen retains allegiance to his tribe, while in the more remote regions tribalism dominates to such an extent that each tribe is easily distinguished by dialect, style of clothing and jewellery and the patterns woven into their carpets. Of all Central Asian peoples the Turkmen have kept the most traditional dress. While under threat from shell-suit pants and polyester jackets, it's still common to see men in baggy blue pantaloons tucked into clumping knee-high bots, a white shirt under a cherry-red and gold-striped heavy silk jacket, and topped by a shaggy wool hat. Women are less showy and wear heavy, ankle-length silk dresses of wine red and maroon hiding spangled, striped trousers beneath. A woman's hair is always tied back and concealed under a kercheif or scarf.

Surprisingly for a country that is mostly uncultivable desert, some of the more interesting Turkmen dishes are vegetarian. Herb-filled pastries and cornmeal pancakes are common in the markets. Porridges with mung beans, or of cornmeal and pumpkin, or of rice, milk and yoghurt, can make a meal. The Turkmen also make a tasty meatless plov (pilaf) with dried fruit. Economic and political stagnation has had a major effect on Turkmenistan's food industry. Restaurants are scarce and the fare is generally miserable.

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