Allow me to
stop at a typical German peculiarity concerning Turkmenistan. In English it's
Turkmenistan and Turkey, in German it's Turkmenistan and Türkei. The country
itself writes Türkmenistan, so where's the umlaut in German? Maybe that's as
bizarre as the country is.
Ashgabat,
the capital of Turkmenistan, is a city of representational buildings, some of
which you aren't allowed to photograph. And all buildings, I mean ALL
buildings, are covered with white marble as the president likes it this way. He
likes his city broad and full of parks and avenues. But ... the streets and
parks are empty just like in Pyongyang and North Korea.
At nights
there is a difference to Pyongyang, however. Pyongyang at night is nearly
black, dark, and sombre. Ashgabat is bright and full of changing colours, which
you can already see from the plane, provided you reach Ashgabat after
nightfall.
Dictatorial regimes crave being recognized by the world. Some try to excel in sports, some
try to appear in the Guinness book of records. Ashgabat had the highest
flagpole until the dictator eh president in Baku erected a higher one. But you
can enjoy the world's largest indoor Ferris wheel. It is opened only on
Saturdays and Sundays - so we were lucky to go there on a Sunday. The price for
a ride is a trifle and therefore I had been expecting throngs at the ticket
booth, but hardly anyone was waiting. As it is indoors, you can try to peek
through the windows. Oh, don't forget not to photograph to the left side as
there are restricted buildings!
The first
president Turkmenbashi loved being presented in golden statues, some of which
are still to be seen. I hope the late president doesn't mind the turtle dove shitting on his head.
At the end
of our sojourn in Turkmenistan we planned to visit Konye Urgench far in the
North. We got up in the middle of the night, took a flight to Dazavauz, and ...
there we were: "Houston, we have a problem." The president was in
town or expected in town. The only road to Konye Urgench goes right through the
middle of the small town and all roads were blocked for traffic. We were happy
to have a bus; a South Korean group didn't even have their bus. The roads were
cleared of every vehicle, even the connecting roads were free of people and
cars. Save for a policeman at every crossing and the four gentlemen dressed in
black staring into a canal as if they expected a frogman surfacing any moment.
And I shouldn't forget to tell you that the cell phone net in the North had
been shut down, too.
So we went
to the border to leave the country. Leaving the country! We didn't know if the
border wasn't closed, too. It was, but it opened an hour later.
Crossing the border I had to show my passport quite
often:
01. Guard in front
of the border
02. 2nd guard in
front of the border
03. Baggage and
passport (customs), including X ray
04. Passport to
get the exit stamp
05. Guard in front
of barbed wire and the barrier
06. After a taxi
ride through no-man's-land (we were lucky, otherwise we had to carry the
baggage for about 1.5 km) control by a guard
07. Medical
control
08. Passport and
custom's declaration
09. Passport and
entry stamp
10. Guard in front
of Uzbekistan
OK, some controls where on the Uzbekistan side of this
overland border.
But all in all, the impression of Turkmenistan as a
bizarre country remains.
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