Ashgabat -
Turkmenistan - 2013
With a population of about a million people, Ashgabat is the largest city and capital of Turkmenistan.
The view of the Circus building from our hotel window.
We went to a performance there on Sunday afternoon.
It was excellent and had lots of horse-riding acts.
First stop on our city tour was at Turkmenbashi Ruhy Mosque at Gypjak,
the boyhood home of the first president, Turkmenbashi.
It is the biggest mosque in Central Asia and can easily hold 10,000 worshippers.
The four minarets are each 91 metres high (representing the year of Turkmenistan's independence - 1991).
The mosque is about the same size as the Blue Mosque in Instanbul and is just as grand (modern grandeur).
The elaborate Mausoleum of the Saparmurat Niyazov (called Turkmenbashi - "leader of the Turkmens"),
the first President of Turkmenistan, is next door to the mosque. He died in 2006.
Inside it is a glittering gold and marble mausoleum.
He is buried alongside his 2 brothers and mother who died in the 1948 earthquake,
and his father who died in World War II.
He was an orphan from the age of 4.
A petrol station along the road.
On to Tolkuchka Market.
It is a sprawling sight across acres of desert on Ashgabat's outskirts.
This lady bought a live sheep for about $110.
It was then taken to nearby building for slaughtering and butchering which was included in the $110.
A camel for sale.
Asgabat was virtually destroyed in the 1948 earthquake (7.3 on the Richter scale).
175,000 people, 2/3 of the population of the city at the time died.
The Soviets rebuilt the city with broad avenues.
Since Independence in 1991, many fine new buildings have been erected replacing those built after the earthquake..
They are very proud that they are listed in The Guinness Book of Records
as the city that has the most marble-clad buildings in the world!!
Turkmenistan is a relatively rich country with big oil reserves near the Caspian Sea.
There were fountains everywhere.
The modern grandstand at the stadium.
Modern apartment buildings.
The Palace of Happiness. It is a wedding venue.
A 5-star hotel being built.
Ashgabat is situated between the Kara-Kum desert and the Kopet Dag mountain range.
Turkmenistan Tower, at a height of 211 metres, is the tallest building in the country.
It is a communications tower and TV centre.
An air-conditioned bus-shelter.
The Arch of Neutrality
Originally built by the first President in 1998 to commemorate Turkmenistan's official position of neutrality.
The monument was topped by a 12-metre tall gold-plated statue of Niyazov which rotated to always face the sun.
It has been relocated after Niyazov died in 2006, from the central city to the outer suburbs,
by Niyazov's successor as president, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow.
The statue no longer rotates.
It is a Ferris Wheel at an entertainment complex.
Ashgabat Flag Pole, at 133 metres, the 4th highest free-standing flag pole in the world.
The Independence and Peace Monument
It was built in 1989 to commererate 8 years of Turkmenistan's independence.
It is a popular site for wedding parties to have their wedding photos taken.
One of the brides (and groom).
She was wearing a traditional Islamic wedding outfit,
unlike the traditional white brides' dresses that we saw at weddings
in Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan and Uzbekistan.
It was very confusing until it was explained to me that there were actually 3 wedding parties there.
Each had their own musical band, trying to outdo the others.
The 10-horse monument celebrating 10 years of Turkmenistan independence.
Earthquake monument
(The child is 4 year old Niyazov at the time in 1948.)
A remaining statue of Lenin on its very Central Asian plinth.
This building was once the Archive of the Communist Party of Turkmenistan.
Its walls feature modernist concrete sculptures made by Ernst Neizvestny,
the Russian artist who lived in Ashgabat during the 1970s.
Dried apricots outside a shop.
We had afternoon tea at a Turkish-styled coffee shop with Rustam, our guide in Turkmenistan.
Akaltyn Palace Hotel, our hotel in Ashgabat.
A portrait of the current president, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, in the hotel.
The former dentist took over the presidency after the death of Niyazov in 2006.
The Night Club at the hotel.
We had dinner at a Yurt Restaurant.
Manty, pilaf, rice and salad.
With one of the beautiful waitresses.
At the circus.
Walking back to the hotel after the circus.
With a population of about a million people, Ashgabat is the largest city and capital of Turkmenistan.
The view of the Circus building from our hotel window.
We went to a performance there on Sunday afternoon.
It was excellent and had lots of horse-riding acts.
First stop on our city tour was at Turkmenbashi Ruhy Mosque at Gypjak,
the boyhood home of the first president, Turkmenbashi.
It is the biggest mosque in Central Asia and can easily hold 10,000 worshippers.
The four minarets are each 91 metres high (representing the year of Turkmenistan's independence - 1991).
The mosque is about the same size as the Blue Mosque in Instanbul and is just as grand (modern grandeur).
The elaborate Mausoleum of the Saparmurat Niyazov (called Turkmenbashi - "leader of the Turkmens"),
the first President of Turkmenistan, is next door to the mosque. He died in 2006.
Inside it is a glittering gold and marble mausoleum.
He is buried alongside his 2 brothers and mother who died in the 1948 earthquake,
and his father who died in World War II.
He was an orphan from the age of 4.
A petrol station along the road.
On to Tolkuchka Market.
It is a sprawling sight across acres of desert on Ashgabat's outskirts.
This lady bought a live sheep for about $110.
It was then taken to nearby building for slaughtering and butchering which was included in the $110.
A camel for sale.
Asgabat was virtually destroyed in the 1948 earthquake (7.3 on the Richter scale).
175,000 people, 2/3 of the population of the city at the time died.
The Soviets rebuilt the city with broad avenues.
Since Independence in 1991, many fine new buildings have been erected replacing those built after the earthquake..
They are very proud that they are listed in The Guinness Book of Records
as the city that has the most marble-clad buildings in the world!!
Turkmenistan is a relatively rich country with big oil reserves near the Caspian Sea.
There were fountains everywhere.
The modern grandstand at the stadium.
Modern apartment buildings.
The Palace of Happiness. It is a wedding venue.
A 5-star hotel being built.
Ashgabat is situated between the Kara-Kum desert and the Kopet Dag mountain range.
Turkmenistan Tower, at a height of 211 metres, is the tallest building in the country.
It is a communications tower and TV centre.
An air-conditioned bus-shelter.
The Arch of Neutrality
Originally built by the first President in 1998 to commemorate Turkmenistan's official position of neutrality.
The monument was topped by a 12-metre tall gold-plated statue of Niyazov which rotated to always face the sun.
It has been relocated after Niyazov died in 2006, from the central city to the outer suburbs,
by Niyazov's successor as president, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow.
The statue no longer rotates.
It is a Ferris Wheel at an entertainment complex.
Ashgabat Flag Pole, at 133 metres, the 4th highest free-standing flag pole in the world.
The Independence and Peace Monument
It was built in 1989 to commererate 8 years of Turkmenistan's independence.
It is a popular site for wedding parties to have their wedding photos taken.
One of the brides (and groom).
She was wearing a traditional Islamic wedding outfit,
unlike the traditional white brides' dresses that we saw at weddings
in Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan and Uzbekistan.
It was very confusing until it was explained to me that there were actually 3 wedding parties there.
Each had their own musical band, trying to outdo the others.
The 10-horse monument celebrating 10 years of Turkmenistan independence.
Earthquake monument
(The child is 4 year old Niyazov at the time in 1948.)
A remaining statue of Lenin on its very Central Asian plinth.
This building was once the Archive of the Communist Party of Turkmenistan.
Its walls feature modernist concrete sculptures made by Ernst Neizvestny,
the Russian artist who lived in Ashgabat during the 1970s.
Dried apricots outside a shop.
We had afternoon tea at a Turkish-styled coffee shop with Rustam, our guide in Turkmenistan.
Akaltyn Palace Hotel, our hotel in Ashgabat.
A portrait of the current president, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, in the hotel.
The former dentist took over the presidency after the death of Niyazov in 2006.
The Night Club at the hotel.
We had dinner at a Yurt Restaurant.
Manty, pilaf, rice and salad.
With one of the beautiful waitresses.
At the circus.
Walking back to the hotel after the circus.
