On the way to Nisa, we stopped by the Magtymguly Pyragy cultural park complex. Magtymguly Pyragy was a Turkmen spiritual leader, philosophical poet, Sufi and traveller who is considered the most famous figure in Turkmen literary history. He is referred to as the Shakespeare of Turkmenistan.

Please see my previous post for pictures of old Nisa.

After Nisa, we visited a huge $100 million mosque built in 2004 in the hometown of President Niyazov, the first president after the fall of the Soviet Union. The mosque, the largest in Central Asia, is big enough to hold 10,000 people and its 164 foot golden Dome had to be lowered in place by a helicopter. Versus from Niyazv’s own spiritual book, the Ruhnama, are etched on the walls alongside Koranic versus. Niyazov was buried here in the family mausoleum that he built, along with the mosque, with government funds. His mother and two brothers who died during the 1948 earthquake are buried with him.

Our last stop of the day was the Russian bazaar, a large, covered market, selling all kinds of food stuff, including prepared foods, fruits, nuts, vodka, high-quality, caviar, and traditional breads. It was built in the 1880s. Before independence, this is where most ethnic Russians would shop but today anyone is welcome. Turkmen women in traditional dress make up the majority of the salesforce. Photography here is strictly forbidden so I don’t have any pictures of inside the market. I did buy some caviar.

Lunch was on the 12th floor of one of the skyscrapers. Here are some pictures taken from up there. Unfortunately, there is some glare because of the windows.

I did take quite a number of pictures riding around in the bus. I’m going to post them here but I don’t have all of the buildings identified. Ashgabat has the craziest architecture. There are many ministries in the government and each one seems to have its own strange building.

This is the end of my journey along the Silk Road. It has been an unbelievable experience. I would more than happily come back to any of the countries we visited, except maybe Turkmenistan. Here are some random thoughts and information about Turkmenistan that I have not yet included in any post.

When the president of Turkmenistan decided that all cars had to be white if you didn’t have a white car, you had to paint it. His relatives brought over a whole bunch of white paint to sell to people. Talk about the family business.

In Ashgabat, they have underpasses and overpasses for roads. It is illegal to cross the street and I was told I would be arrested if I did cross the road. I actually did it because I just could not handle any more stairs and I didn’t get arrested.

In Turkmenistan, each nomadic family has its own territory and wells. They currently make up only 5% of the population.

Pattern used by the Canadian Tlingit tribe same as one used by Turkmen.

Recently archaeologists have found an ancient civilization buried in the sand of Turkmenistan that is over 4500 years old. They found Aramaic inscriptions. 

Uniforms are green dresses for school girls and red dresses for university students. Boys black pants and white shirts and traditional Turkmen hat. There are 6 days of school. 

8 pointed star symbol of sun. 

Cannot own guns. Low crime rate. Had problem with drugs especially along Afghanistan border. Since cracked down on it. 

Our guide cannot live in Ashgabat so cannot stay at our hotel. 

Other cities can own any color cars. 

So ends another adventure. I am currently in Germany and will be going back to the states in a few days.