Day 11 Monday 5th September 2011 Ashgabat to Mary

We drove around Ashgabat before heading out of town. Lots of more white marble buildings. Along the way we came across a covered market so stopped to have a look. It was full of lovely fruits, breads, cakes & hardware. Walking around an old lady was holding court & when she saw me she put out her hand, grabbed mine & kissed it. She then did the same to Phil, all the time talking but we had no idea what she was saying.

Fruits

Vodkas

The good roads ended at Ashgabat. The driving of apx 400 kms today was an absolute nightmare. The roads were rutted, potholed, just awful. We were wondering what was going to fall off the car. It’s a pity that some of the excesses of Ashgabat were not directed to the main roads.

A little way out of town we were stopped by 2 police who accused us of speeding (how could we on such terrible roads). The more senior asked for $50 & we refused. He then asked for the driver’s licence.  To break the stand-off  the older man asked whether we had any cigarettes. We said no & gave them a couple of furry koalas for their children. The senior one then said he had 2 children so another koala was handed over. The younger one then said he had 10 children! The younger one then picked up our torch out of the door pocket but we refused to hand that over. We were then on our way again.   I was tempted to strap the senior policeman in the Morgan and drive along their road at say 80kmh and then ask him if he wanted to try our alleged 120kmh. This drive was the worst I have ever experienced, ruts and potholes up to 200mm deep and not able to be seen in advance always, due to the multitude of patches on the surface.

It seems the same 2 police pulled over the Porsche & also wanted $50 but were satisfied with some cigars (memo: buy some cigarettes or cigars)

 Driving through Kaaka, a couple of drivers motioned to us that there was something amiss with the front of our car. Stopping we found the number plate had lost a screw & was hanging down. Through Tenjen and we found one of our driving lights had completely sheared away from the bodywork. The driving light which was mounted through the front guard, had broken a section of the aluminium guard away, the size of the mounting plate.  Now have a 60mm hole where it used to be.  There was also an issue with the steering connections with a universal locking bolt coming loose.  The passenger side front guard support is also broken.  On the drivers side, we have sheared 3 x bolts, I replace them every few days.

When we weren’t concentrating on the next bump or rut, we noticed we were driving through acres of grape vines (the dessert wine is supposed to be good in Turkmenistan) and acres of cotton fields. Lots of workers were out picking cotton & the women completely covered their faces using 2 scarves with only their eyes showing to protect themselves from the intense heat. Early in the day we had stopped at a roadside stall where women were selling grapes. We asked for a very small lot & we got the biggest bunch for a dollar.

The hotel was yet another large hotel with few guests. We got chatting to 3 cyclists, including a Scot. He had been hit by a tractor & whilst he wasn’t badly injured his guitar was smashed. The same trio had lost their shoes to thieves. To save money they had been sleeping in mosques where you take off your shoes before entry.

Dinner was a small serve beef goulash with mashed potato. We also sampled the white wine & the sweet wine. General consensus was it wasn’t too bad but having spent 6 days in dry Iran, maybe we couldn’t really tell the quality!

The cars continue to attract the locals who take pictures on their mobile phones.