Hotel President Ashgabat

... staircase up a mountain, who banned lipstick and the internet, wrote his own mythical history of Turkmenistan which you have to learn in order to get your driver's license, made gas free and matches expensive so that everyone just leaves their stoves on and instituted many other outrageous and/or Stalinistic policies. The Lonely Planet recommends 5 days to see Ashgabat, but we failed to fill five hours. Because ...

... hotels as there is no camping allowed there but since then we have been able to camp in Turkmenistan so good old Turkmenistan. I love it here and would recommend all my friends to come and spend their mony on a trip here. Margaret the woman who left the trip as soon as she got here managed to get a flight home and so we are now using her kitty money to pay for the room she should have shared with one of us and JOY of JOYS I have had it to sleep on my own - plus the room ...

... 2900 manat per litre (about US 21c per litre). He wrote his version of Turkmen history, culture and spirituality, called Ruhnama, and made it compulsory reading. He banned opera and ballet, and most films, and the media is strictly controlled. To visit the country (unless you are on a transit visa) you must be accompanied by an accredited tour guide at all times, who will meet you at the border. To get the visa ...

... a une superbe attraction a Ashgabat qui est le bazar de Tolkuchka juste a la peripherie de la ville aux portes du desert. C est le plus beau marche, et peut etre le plus grand, que je n ai vu et comme on doit faire quelques courses et que l on y a trouve tout ce que l on desirait, cela ajoute a sa valeur pour moi. Decouvrez les photos et perdez vous dans ses ruelles...

... to potter about. I went to the supermarket to buy some food for the upcoming ferry crossing. I picked up lots of snacks and some cream crackers so imagine my delight when I also found the cheese counter full of big blocks of Australian cheese, which I took to be cheddar. Imagine my further delight when I got back to the hotel to discover my Australian Cheddar turned out to be 1kg of very hard butter. Had to go back and buy ...

... not making things easy for the tourists. For one thing, to obtain a tourist visa, you NEED to join a package tour. The hotel that we stayed at required us to submit a passport size photo at check-in!) There are, however, soldiers at all the major street corners. I was stopped a few times by these soldiers when I tried to take pictures of the monuments. I went to the Carpet Museum which hangs the world's largest hand woven rug. It is bigger than a basketball court ...

... and water free or else very cheap, too. Aside from the megalomaniacal presence of the Turkmenbashi (statues, portraits in people's offices, books, etc), people don't praise him with every second breath; it seems more like he's accepted as a fact of life and people keep their mouth shut. People are suprisingly aware (this is not to say educated), from knowing how the rest of the world perceives their leader, to knowing how resource-wealth is ...

... on TV that reading the Rukhnama can guarantee accesss to heaven. 'Anyone who reads the Rukhnama three times will find spiritual wealth, will become more intelligent, will recognize the divine being and will go straight to heaven.' The book outlines (his version of) Turkmenistan's history, the culture, and the spirituality of the ...

... was back in Turkmenistan. I think that a neighbor put it well in this conversation: N: Katy, are you here? K: Yes, I am back. N: What happened? K: I broke my ankle. N: Oh, that is too bad. Is it better? K: Yes, much. Thank you. N: Well we missed you. You missed winter. It was cold for ten days. We are glad to have you back. K: Oh, I heard it was bad. N: Yes, it was. Well, have a good day at work! So apparently in some of the most mentally changing months of my life ...

... the officer replied as he waved John through. I tried to quickly follow John as I was having a hard time trying to keep a straight face. I had my line ready for John to say that the 'cash' dog couldn't be that good coz I was carrying four times that amount (as I'm travelling longer), only to hear "stop please madam. I need to ask you the same question!" That wiped the smile off my face. Why is it that even when I have nothing to hide and am telling the truth, I ...