On my past trips the focus had always been on nature, so it was about time to look into history again … and somehow the old Silk Road came to my mind … Samarkand, 1001 night, Marco Polo, caravansaries … so I got myself on a Silk Road tour through Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan into Kazakhstan.

The tour started in Ashgabat – the capital of Turkmenistan. We started the day with a visit to the ruins of Nissa, founded as the capital of the Parthians in the 3rd century BC, ruling until hit by the Mongols in the 13th century DC.

From the past we went straight back to the present – to Ashgabat, its rulers and megalomania. We started with the Turkmenbashi Ruhy Mosque – the biggest mosque in central Asia with space for anywhere between 10,000 and 20,000 worshipers (numbers depending on who you ask … though I would tend to the lower end) – and the nearby mausoleum of the former president Niyazov.

From the mosque we made it into town, first stop for lunch, second for serious indoctrination at the National Museum, showing off the achievements of the Turkmen people. The huge flag pole (the world’s third largest) in front of the museum just added to the experience.

The experience continued on the way back to hotel with plenty of stops at a number of monuments … from the Independence Monument, the Ruhnama Monument all the way to the Monument of the Turkmen Horses.
For a good overview of the monuments in Ashgabat and a bit of background have a look at this googlesightseeing article. Be aware though that Ashgabat has changed its face quiet a bit over the past years, so some items may already be torn down or have been adjusted.