May 21, 2025: Sexy Horses
After an adventurous road trip in western Turkmenistan, we landed back in Ashgabat, the baggage system did not work, and it took 45 minutes for my bags to arrive.
The tour officially had a free day, but Ben our tour guide worked out some optional activities. Ben has steered us well so far so we all followed him.
Ben decided to take us to the hippodrome to see some horses. Turkmenistan is obsessed with horses; they are the national symbol. Turkmen people are not nomadic but used the horses for military purposes for thousands of years. In modern Turkmenistan, the horses are used for a variety of sports: racing, jumping, and dressage. Turkmenistan’s native horse breed is called Akhal-Teke and they are known for being exceptionally beautiful horses or “sexy” according to our group.
At the hippodrome, the handlers brought out the horses one at a time. They all had exceptionally shiny fur coats and skinny legs. Sexy indeed.
The final horse had a blonde mane, making it the Barbie of horses. Super sexy.
We also saw the local Turkmen dog breed, which is a type of sheepdog. Not sexy.
For the afternoon, Maisie and I visited a large shopping mall. Unlike everywhere else in the newer part of the city, the mall was full of people. The stores were a mix of local shops and blatant knockoffs of Western stores.
On the top floor, we all ate Turkish food.
For some reason in Turkmenistan, any car can be a taxi. Gas is essentially free (7 cents/liter), people are bored and there is no crime, so hitchhiking is safe. The fares hitchhiking are the exact same as an actual taxi (20-30 manat/$1-1.50 for anywhere in town).
We took a taxi to the famous Ashgabat Mall, which has interactive LED floors. Unlike the other mall, it was full of shops but devoid of people.
Maisie and I decided to walk back to the hotel, a two-hour journey that would be our first time unaccompanied in Turkmenistan. We first took a long staircase/path through a high-rise residential district. We then walked through the Soviet area of town which included the very busy Teke Bazaar. It was shocking to see how much busier the Soviet areas were than the modern districts. I think it has to do with housing density and the leafy foliage shading the sidewalks.
Everything along our way was perfectly manicured and cared for. If only we could have this in the US.
For dinner, we ate at a restaurant near the hotel.
At this point, I now feel like I have a feeling for the city and somewhat have my bearings.
May 22, 2025: Surprise!
Surprise! Jordan, my business school classmate is here in Turkmenistan on the trip. We talked about going on the trip together earlier, but he said he had to bail because his parents were visiting him in Madrid. That was true but they left just in time for him to join the second half of the trip.
Speaking of the second half of the trip, an additional 9 people joined us. Maisie and I took the “standard trip” but the other people were on the “budget trip”.
The budget people started out with a tour of the monuments like we did on the first day, but I had free time.
Maisie and I took a taxi to the national museum. A ceremonial guard and the world’s 9th largest flagpole in Turkmenistan welcomed us out front.
Inside, the museum had three separate wings each cost 35 manat to visit: history of Turkmenistan, museum of the president and natural history. We started with history of Turkmenistan which is the central wing. For another 35 manat we got an English-speaking guide and for another 35 manat, we got to take photos.
Besides us, the only other visitors in the museum except for a small group of dignitaries.
The museum covered all of Turkmenistan’s ancient history: the stone age, bronze age, Parthians and up to the Middle Ages. Included were top finds from every important archaeological site in country including Nisa which we visited. It was helpful to put all the history into a nice, neat timeline and our guide did a wonderful job.
Afterwards, we paid another 35 manat for entry to Museum of the President section. It was actually about Arkadag, the second president. In a few months, this collection will be moved to the city of Arkadag (the “smart city” under construction outside of Ashgabat) and this exhibit hall will be replaced with items related to the current president. Even though we did not pay for a guide, the museum had a staff member following us at all times to make sure we followed the rules.
The first floor contained all gifts given to the president from domestic entities such as “ministry of carpets”, “the business community of Ashgabat”, Firefighters, etc. Most of these gifts were mini statues.
Second floor had gifts from foreign countries such as Russia, Turkey, US, Europe, Japan, other Stans and Iran.
The second floor also had items used by president for ceremonial events such as bicycling outfit for bicycle day, a DJ booth with a giant treble clef, and shooting range results – only bullseyes of course. Also on display were the many world record certificates from Guiness World Records including largest building in the shape of a falcon, largest building in the shape of a horse, and largest ensemble of white marble buildings. I get the feeling that many decision made by the leaders of Turkmenistan such as obtaining these world records, hosting delegations such as the “Landlocked Countries Conference” – a real conference happening after we leave, the extravagant booth at the world expo and even having the national airline fly nearly empty 777’s to Europe is to create legitimacy and respect in the eyes of the global community. “These are things important countries do so we are going to do that and do it big”.
Sadly, we didn’t have time for the museum’s third section, but we did get to take a photo with the world’s second largest carpet. Don’t worry, the world’s largest carpet is also in Turkmenistan.
We then took a taxi to the Grand Turkmen Hotel to buy a Turkmen carpet. Carpets are a MAJOR part of Turkmen culture and identity – Carpet Day is a national holiday in Turkmenistan that we will be celebrating on the last day of the trip. We bought a rug for $250. Because carpets are so important culturally, the seller needed to go to Carpet Museum to obtain export permit from government, a process that took 30 minutes to get permit. No other souvenirs require an export permit, just carpets.
We then taxied back to hotel to head out to Gates of Hell.
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