UPDATED March 12, 2007

BY The TDA Team

IN Silk Route

no comments

UPDATED March 12, 2007

BY The TDA Team

IN Silk Route

no comments

Ashgabat, Turkmenistan (Silk Route Scouting Report)

I am currently in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, a city completely destroyed by an earthquake in late 1940s and then rebuilt Soviet-style in the subsequent decades by the communist regime. Since the break up of the Soviet Union there has been a frenzy of construction, with marble-facade buildings popping up almost overnight. It is amazing of what a wealth of natural gas and oil can do to a country of five million people!

But I am getting ahead of myself. An official from the Ministry of Tourism of Azerbaijan told me not to worry about getting our trucks on the ferry across the Caspian Sea; “the ferry is big enough to take a train”. I thought he was kidding.

I was finally told to board the ferry and it was quite a surprise to see that a whole freight train already inside the belly of the old ferry.

Thankfully the weather was calm and I did not have to worry about an accident and a possible hasty sinking of the ship due to its weight.

The 13 hour crossing was uneventful as was the border crossing of all 13 passengers. A thought crossed my mind when waiting to clear all of the port formalities in Turkmenistan; How long will it take to clear our upcoming caravan of intrepid cyclists?

I was met by our local support who then drove me to Ashgabat. I will not write about the route as I really do not want to spoil the surprise though I will tell you that, though you may be a world-weary traveler, there is nothing like Ashgabat out there – at least nothing that I have seen!

-Henry Gold

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