Leaving Iran was easy enough, Turkmenistan took a couple of hours form filling, showing the passport every 2 foot, x-raying our bags, declaring all our gear and dollars. And it's off to find a beer, we all sit down in the midday sun (36c) and enjoy our first beer in 4 weeks, with a nice hot desert bike ride ahead. Police check point was fine, the only shade within 20km, not too much hassle.
Camped in the desert near an irrigation canal, very hot in the tent. Better to put it up near dusk, when the sand has cooled down, otherwise, the tent floor will retain the heat underneath and you'll be baked from underneath all night long - as I learnt. I've have been carrying 13 litres of water on the bike, enough for an overnight camp and re-stock the next day. It's more than enough and good practise for the Chinese desert later, and it's not hard to carry on the flat.
Turkmenistan is a secular country, and whilst most of the population is Muslim, it's not practised to the same extent as Iran, and I have read that it's more of a moral framework for the nation, some of the pre-Islamic beliefs and customs are still held, a complete contrast to Iran really, hints of south-east Asia, with the relaxed attitude. Needless to say, lots of alcohol consumption here.
Soviet Influence
Arrived at the desert oasis town of Mary and wow, its beginning to sink in, Turkmenistan is completely different to Iran, first impressions in the west being its "just another muslim country". However, the contrast is huge, there are lots of ethnic Russians here, Mongol type faces. A rest day in the town of Mary, architecture is very Soviet, ie big concrete buildings, massively wide roads and pavements with little traffic, high vodka consumption, water fountains, and posters of the president every where, who maintains a cult like presence over the country. Before entering further education, you have to pass an exam on his ideological book. Previously part of the USSR, the soviet influence is clear, vodka, Cyrillic alphabet, architecture, even the language sounds a little Russian to my untrained ear.
Guided tour to the ancient (and destroyed by Genghis Khan) city of Merv, in an air conditioned car, wow, easier than the bike & some good background on Central Asia, the silk road, and the regions history. Having the guide explain it was excellent.
Desert Crossing
We crossed large areas of desert, carefully noting the water stops ahead. Haven't done desert before, enjoyed the experience, kinda looks the same, but then not, subtle changes in shade, scrub, camels roaming across the road, a mystical stillness in the landscape, & the occasional water stop. We stayed at one, a truckers stop, and decided to stay put - once we'd consumed a few cold beers - was just too good. The owner showed us a guest book signed by other cyclists, amazing, all saying how they felt so alive, cracking jokes to other cyclists, and some others I know from the Internet, small world indeed - a popular venue due to the remoteness of all other watering holes. Desert evening sunset was amazing as we sat on Persian rugs and I walked out to say hello to the camels, there were even cows walking back from the desert, in good condition, don't know what they found to eat, probably adapted to the dry green scrub.
One thing about long rides through the desert - water soon becomes hot and tastes awful, the only way of staying hydrated, for me, seems is to drink small quantities every 5 minutes. By contrast anything cool tastes great and downing a pint would be no problem. Mixing the water with coffee powder is quite good, a warm cup of coffee tastes better than warm water.
Drunken City
Turkmenabad, our last stop in Turkmenistan, we are fortunate to have 7 days on a transit visa, an ugly place, no street signs to anywhere, I just followed the railway line for 10km through a endless sprawl. I was a couple of hours behind Keith & Steve due to stomach problems, when I arrived they looked tired as they had been looking for a hotel for 2 hours, half the population appeared to be drunk or on drugs when asked directions for a hotel. A taxi driver, for some reason had led Keith & Steve, 10km out of town to a patch of desert. Glad I missed that. Anyway, it all turned out well, the 3rd hotel we came across in good neighbourhood, had haircut by giggling women, a good fridge and bike mechanics in our apartment.
Bordering on Profanity
Exiting Turkmen customs was not good, we received a severe dressing down in the boss's office, all manner of punishments threatened against us. A complicated story but here goes. Keith likes to give horn tooting motorists the 1 fingered salute, yelling and swearing, an incident every day. Today, as we cycled to customs, a high ranking official had been on the receiving end, all the border officials were upset and looking at us. The boss visibility upset, in fact shaking, and told us how much we must have disrespected his country. We got away with it, he was only going to contact our foreign offices, giving them our details. Fair enough, it can grate the nerves, but we don't need to go OTT like Keith. Perhaps an anger management course would help. In future, I'll look back and laugh, but not now.