After our sunset wanderings around the ruins of ancient Merv, we made it to our very lavish hotel in Mary for an extremely late dinner. The name Mary derived from Margoush which means green and lush - and it is.
We passed many vineyards and other richly cultivated fields as we followed a range of mountains looming to our south; these are part of the massive Kopet Dag Mountain range that form the border with Iran. They lie in huge folds, creased and jagged with slanting strata pointing skyward - evidence of great compression eons ago, and they are still growing.
Lots of camels along the road as we travelled. Mostly we saw dromedaries. Bactrian cameos are rare and protected.
The mountains were awe inspiring. We didn’t get close until we drove through a pass into Iran - and then we weren’t allowed to take photos.
Along the road we passed many motorbike ‘trucks’ carting all manner of things including huge loads of cut reeds (there are many irrigation channels and swampy ground around here). We even passed a few bicycles almost invisible under mountains of cut reeds. Stock feed we reckoned but we also saw them used as thatching and as temporary fencing.
Our driver, Ibrahim, was leaving us at Ashgabat and so before we got there we had a little break under some trees by a vineyard and he took some selfies with us. In the trees where we rested were large bunches of a dried herb. It is used to protect against the evil eye.
Ibrahim was a very nice kind man. It seems that unless you have Ashgabat or surrounds licence plates on your car you can’t drive in Ashgabat. So we said goodbye to Ibrahim from Mary and hello to our next driver, Ashyr from Ashgabat.
Ibrahim didn’t speak English and we had no Turkmen at all. He probably spoke fluent Russian but I could only speak a few. But it’s amazing how you can get by. Like many in Russia and central Asian, Ibrahim had gold teeth. Lovely man.
The relatively short drive from Mary to Ashgabat had been really pleasant, but we were ready for a bit of a rest. But before we put our feet up we hopped in a taxi bound for the Russian Bazaar to try to buy a new mouse (for the travel computer - Lindsay uses that a lot).
This market emerged way back when near the location where the Russians built a garrison. Local producers etc set up shop to provide food etc for the soldiers. It was typical of all markets, lots of hustle and bustle, food and loads of other items. We did a ‘select and point’ type lunch - didn’t know what it was till we bit into it. Tasty fortunately!!
We found what we were looking for and then tried out the local way of getting a ride. Just stand on the side of the road and hail a car, any car! Tell them where you want to go and if it’s on their way, just hop in. Trusty souls that we were, we had a go and got back to the hotel for half the price that the wily cab driver had charged us (no metres .... hmmm). That night we wandered 100m up the road from the hotel and found a delightful place - Turman Pub. It was setup with comfy chairs, deep warm red walls, shelves piled high with books. There was quite a collection of classics - unfortunately all in Russian. AND sports playing on the large screen telly. Interesting contrasts! It was a terrific atmosphere to sip on rich dark Georgian wine - just love that wine.
Pity I don’t read Russian!
Home to bed ready for a huge day the following day ........
[there are a few more pix on www.flickr.com/photos/hwheat8pix/ and go to Albums and find ‘Mary to Ashgabat’.
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