I have „won“ a trip to Ashgabat in Turkmenistan with a stay
of 3 days on a work flight. All I remembered was that there are not many
choices for vegetarians, specially in winter. My suitcase was packed with
healthy goodies, hoping to find a kitchen in our hotel. I was lucky- since this
month, we are in a new, luxurious, clean hotel with a fully equipped kitchen in
the crew lounge! And when I heard the comments of my colleagues who had gone
out for dinner, I was happy that I had raided through „Veganz“, my favourite
vegan health food store in Frankfurt Bornheim before my flight.
When I tried to skate to the „Tolkutchka market“ which is a
bazaar happening on Sundays and Thursdays, I found out that „5km“ can also mean
something like 30km or more... I skated about 1,5 hours to get there, and I
went really fast except fort he last bit when a strong wind hit me head on. It
was worth it though, as I saw a really traditional bazaar with traditional
Turkmenish people and their goods. The Turkmenish people I met were really open
and helpful despite not speaking English. My little bits of Russian helped a
lot, and it was fun to „communicate“.
The buildings look new and the fassades are all grand, but I
rarely saw any people going into or coming out of these magnificent buildings.
There are not many people walking the streets. Lots and lots of fountains are
spread through the city, and as the water is heated, they are also running in
winter, with people busy hacking the ice away from the edges. Some of the bus
stops have airconditioned glass areas, hot in winter and cold in summer.
Also I brought my inline skates, as the weather looked
promising. Below zero, but sunny and dry, almost no snow or ice on the roads
and boardwalks. And the main aisles of Ashgabat have magnificent boardwalks for
skating, almost as smooth as marble! Just don´t turn off to the smaller
streets, many trap holes there J
When I tried to skate to the „Tolkutchka market“ which is a
bazaar happening on Sundays and Thursdays, I found out that „5km“ can also mean
something like 30km or more... I skated about 1,5 hours to get there, and I
went really fast except fort he last bit when a strong wind hit me head on. It
was worth it though, as I saw a really traditional bazaar with traditional
Turkmenish people and their goods. The Turkmenish people I met were really open
and helpful despite not speaking English. My little bits of Russian helped a
lot, and it was fun to „communicate“.
Many people have almost Mongolian faces, just a bit darker,
very pretty to look at. And sure I was the only one who has ever skated through
the city for three days in a row, they probably already looked for the skating
terrorist ;)
The buildings look new and the fassades are all grand, but I
rarely saw any people going into or coming out of these magnificent buildings.
There are not many people walking the streets. Lots and lots of fountains are
spread through the city, and as the water is heated, they are also running in
winter, with people busy hacking the ice away from the edges. Some of the bus
stops have airconditioned glass areas, hot in winter and cold in summer.
Average Turkmenish people don´t earn or own a lot, at least
heating and electricity is completely free, as the oil and gas funds of the country
are enormous. Every second inhabitant of Ashgabat must be a kind of guard, as
on Tuesday there were people in uniform every few hundred meters on every major
road, whisteling at me if I wanted to cross the road directly, or if I was
going „too fast“ in their opinion, some even tried to grab and stop me (but I
went around them).
It was an intersting journey and I feel privileged that I
was allowed to see a dictatorship where opera and theatre are forbidden, and
even trying to bring a Red Bull into the country is a major offence and
mentioned in our crew information as a „no go“! After those three days, I was
glad I could leave Absurdistan behind and go back to the rest of the world
instead.
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