Pure Stud Lines - Ahal Teke horses

             We are leaving Dashoguz very early this morning, around 7 a.m. flight.  whew.  feels like I didn't get very much sleep at all!  So we stagger to the airport and thank goodness they have upgraded the airport since my last visit.  I remember the last time that we had to form a line where we went from one person sitting at a table to the next person at the table to the next person at the table, etc.  and they each checked our plane ticket and our passport before passing our plane ticket and passport on to the next person.  Now you just have to go through the security gates about 3 times and then you are in the departure lounge which thankfully has a toilet.  Last time there was no toilet once you had entered the departure area.    So nothing special about the flight back and then pick up the bags and off on the bus to see one of the last remaining pure bred horses, the Ahal Teke horses of Turkmenistan.  These are the horses we watched racing at the Hippodrome earlier in the week.   We are going to a private farm to see them.  OK, I know I am harping on the last trip I took here but my purpose of going on this trip was to see the differences and if I don't mention them, you won't know what they are.  SOOOOO, last trip, somehow we managed to snag an invitation to the President's Stud Farm, - yes, the President for Life, Mr. Turkmenbashy himself's farm.  wow.  what a privilege and our guide at the time made sure we knew it.  it was a magnificent farm with grandiose stables and the stable boys - oh yum.  Each also a wonderful specimen in the President's uniform with red and gold and almost knee high black boots.  Watching a trainer and a horse together was magnificent.  And they had a sort of big top circus ring where they did riding tricks for us and showed us some of the magnificent things the horses could do.  it was like watching a wonderful movie as the horses wove in and out of one another and did magnificent standing on their hind legs plus running around the ring in sync with each other.  quite impressive.

          Before we get far from the airport though, we stop at one of the new monuments in Ashgabat.  This is a solar monument so that the lights and water fountains and all are run by solar panels.  It is quite a nice monument but not all the water fountains were running.  As we are taking photos of the reflections and the monument, I notice one of the ubiquitous street sweepers is busy sweeping this roundabout.  She's in the middle of the road and cars are just going around her.  I hope she gets hazard pay.

           Since that President has since died, I wonder what has happened to his horse farm and all his wonderful trainers and horses.  Certainly someone is keeping the breed alive and well and racing.  This private farm we visited today had tables set up under a tent for us to have drinks and grapes and cookies. Quite nice and the tableware was elegant.  But no big top, just a dirt ring in front of the tables.  The trainers are still in uniform, kind of a frilly shirt and boots but not as magnificent.

           They bring out some of the horses and we are told how the horses have been coveted and desired over the centuries and how other horse loving people have not always believed the Ahal Teke horse was real because they kind of shine and glimmer in the light.  They are running the horses around the ring and our guide is telling us we can give them sugar so I grab a handful for each new horse that comes out and give them some sugar.  I love the feel of the horses lips on my palm. They are so silky soft.   Apparently I wasn't keeping my hand flat enough as one of the Belgium contingent told me I wasn't doing it right.  Never been afraid of horses and I've been kicked, bit, sat upon, and dumped many times so unless he was a horseman, rather pissed me off that he was telling me I was doing it wrong.  Oh well.  didn't stop me from continuing to give them sugar, just stopped me from letting him see me do it.  turned my back to him even if he was trying to take photos.  Hmmm, guess I needed to get that off my chest.

           I am sure they would have done this but I asked the trainer if they could make the horses "stand" - where they rear up into the air, just like the Lone Ranger's Silver (and no, haven't seen the new movie - thinking more of the old TV program).  Knew the horses could do this from the last time and it is quite impressive when they do it.   He had several of the horses do this.  The horses also apparently love to roll around in the dust.  Nothing quite so comical as seeing such a magnificent animal on its back with its legs kicked up and just rolling back and forth.

             The group makes one last quick stop to see the Lenin statue.  It's in a nice park and across the street from one of the security buildings which had a wonderful mural on it which was much more photogenic, I thought, than the Lenin statue.  The mural reminded me a lot of Catwoman and cartoon heroes.  Probably not what they were going for but it was what I thought.

           This was pretty much the plan for the day so we are back to the hotel and get our new rooms.  Vancouver and I scored big this time.   We get a suite that has two wonderfully non-hard beds and a small sitting room with a sofa and chairs and table.  Thank goodness the rooms went this way for us rather than going from good to worse.   People are making plans and turns out we are the only ones that want to go to the carpet man's shop.  A lot more people had seemed interested when we were at the market but now it is just the two of us.  Our guide and our tour leader are going to go with us.  Our tour leader because he likes carpets and likes to see them and our guide because he is the only one who can speak the language and knows where it is.   I believe this to be the man from whom I bought my two carpets in 2006 but he has moved out of the market and into a shop.  His shop is in a very fancy hotel, much more fancy than ours.  Could have contributed to the cost of the carpets rising.   He is more than happy to start throwing out carpets onto the floor for us to see.  Vancouver is interested in a creme colored one that is half carpet and half kilim.  gosh darn, that one looked very interesting to me too!  But I got lucky as she settled on a different one and I was able to get this one.  I also found one with some lovely blue in it.  Didn't want to get two red carpets again like I had last time.  Vancouver also picks a prayer rug.  Then we start the bargaining.  They are happy to ship but shipping costs much more than I want to pay plus we have to pay for the certificate.  Our guide is bargaining on my behalf but he forgets to ask what I want to offer so he offers a bit more than I would have.  I have to stand on that offer because I wouldn't have started there.  I would have been happy to finish there but it became my starting price as well.  The carpet seller and his daughter are having quite the discussion on the price but they finally agree to it.  We also decide that since I am traveling business class, I have enough room in my luggage and weight allowance that I can just take the carpets with me.  He guarantees that I will have the carpets in my hotel tomorrow night.

           Two of the other group members had asked about stamps and coins.  I had thought that I would like to go along with them.  Our guide has found a person that sells them at the market but he is not allowed to come to the hotel to sell so we have to go to him.  Again, our guide is going to take us as he feels it is part of his job plus it will be useful to him should some other tourists ask for the same thing.  But we can't find the couple who wanted to go so it ends up just being the two of us who go.  We flag down a car and he gives him the housing project area and off we go.  When we get to the area, my guide has to call the seller to come and get us because we'll never find his apartment.  There is a lady selling drinks at a both by the apartments but my guide tells me it wouldn't be safe for me to drink as he has no idea of the source of her water.  She has a faucet and squirts flavoring into a glass and people walk off with the drink.  My guide says he doesn't even buy from these street side kiosks.

            The stamp seller comes for us and of course, his apartment is on the top floor of a 5 story building.  Does no one ever live on the bottom floor when I go to visit???  He has books and books of stamps and wants to know what I am interested in because it would take hours to go through all of the books.  I tell him old Turkmenistan stamps and old Soviet-Turkmenistan stamps.  He pulls out some stamp books and I look through.  I find some lovely stamps and get a nice small collection together and we pay then go back to the street and find another car willing to take us back to the hotel.  He had a collection too of all the capital cities of the former Soviet countries:  Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania,

and so forth.  He was only missing one so I bought that set.  Now I have to find the missing one.

            There is a small group that is going to the amusement park this evening.  I had thought to go along but I am so exhausted that I think I will just walk to the store and get some water and some snacks for dinner and then spent the night getting a good night's sleep so that is what I do.  Our last touring day is tomorrow and then we will be heading home or others will be touring off in other countries.  It has been an incredibly fast week.

White City of the Desert grows

Our first day as a group.  there were still people arriving well into the morning to join our group.  This tour consists of people from: Argentina, U.S.A., Canada, Australia, France, Belgium but many of them live in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing.  One thing about Koryo tours, the people are always well traveled, knowledgeable, curious, willing and able to go to odd places, and love it all.  I feel like I am an extensive traveler but being around any Koryo Tours group of travelers, and I feel like a piker.  Even with well over 100 countries to my passports (with and without the Traveler's Century Club listings), I am way below the number of countries that some of these people have visited.  Inspires me to keep going!

Our program for today, Sunday, is to visit the Tolkuchka Bazaar, the Hippodrome, have lunch, then a tour of the city to include the major monuments and driving by the more interesting buildings - stopping when possible

statue in a park

.  First the Hippodrome which I did not visit on my last trip to Turkmenistan.

    There is no gambling here, or at least none that is recognized as legal and such.  I would imagine there is some friendly wagering going on somewhere.  The horses racing are Ahal Teke horses, one of three pure blood lines of horse left in the world - so we were told.  The pure bloodlines are Ahal Teke, Arabian, and one of the English draft horses but our guide didn't know which one.  how wonderful.  Ahal is a region of Turkmenistan and was also the name of the strongest tribe of olden days, as I understood it.  I am telling my narrative based on what the guide says and what people around me say so I'm willing to go on faith here and believe that the Ahal Teke horses are as pure as they come these days.  They certainly are beautiful.

We arrive at the Hippodrome and head into the stands.  There is a large contingent of students seated in front of us.  There are two rows of seats pretty much in the middle of this island of perfectly dressed young men and women and we climb into those seats.  The female students are all wearing traditional red dresses with the embroidered neck piece.  The young men are in white shirts with a traditional hat.  don't know why they are here or what exactly they are doing but the headmaster continually moves them around and sits them here and there for photos and for interviews

3 legs monument to the first president

.

the horses are at the far end of the track in a paddock loosening up before the race.  one by one they enter the track and canter past us then turn around and go back the same way before heading to the rear of the track to get into the gate.  They're off before I even realized they were all in the gate.  I was too busy watching the boys and girls.  They come charging around the corner and race past us with the camera trucks inside the rail and a large screen billboard directly across from us.  We are almost seated at the finish line.  #6 wins the first race.  As the jockey turns to come back to the winner's circle which is in front of us, two traditionally dressed men step onto the track to lead the horse back.  They are in high black boots, the white woolly hats, red jackets and tight pants.  yum.  This racing is about the horse though, not the jockey.  As soon as the jockey gets to the winner's track, he dismounts, takes his saddle and goes to weigh in and never do we see him again.  The horse parades around the winner's track for a bit and then into the circle where a couple of men with long black dusters, woolly hats and long beards come to present the horse with the winner's - wait for it - Turkmen Carpet!  very proud of these carpets they are.  The horse gets to wear the carpet back to the paddock.

we watch another race but a good many of us are watching the young men and women much more than the race and it is time for us to leave as we do have a full schedule today.  So off we go from the Hippodrome and the horses.  We will get to see some more later, much closer.  

Tolkuchka Bazaar - ah, what can I say

Independence Square

.  In 2006, the bazaar was out in the desert, several miles out of town, crowded, busy, exuberant, noisy, hot, dusty, vibrant, exciting, exotic, amazing, and fun.  everything was sold there including cars, goats, sheep, camels, blankets, rugs, dresses and clothes, food, meat, takeaway, appliances, furniture and more.  moving through that market, vendors yelled at you to come take and look and see their wares.  I know we spent a lot of time with a carpet vendor at that market and I purchased two Turkmen rugs that I still have and love and only paid roughly $300 total.  Now the market has moved and upgraded itself so that the vendors are more protected.  sunshade, concrete slabs, out of the weather and it is so much more wonderful for them.  I hated it.  All the excitement that made the earlier one so interesting was gone, gone, gone.  I am being selfish and I know it but the old market was just so much more "foreign" and wonderful and fabulous.  I felt here that I was in an outdoor outlet mall with just a few things that I might not find quite so readily at home.  I tried to find the wonderfully embroidered neck pieces for dresses and failed.  The camels are not being loaded by cranes anymore.  Didn't find any takeaway as it took a long time to walk between buildings.  and no one haggled for carpets.  we were told that it wasn't good to buy carpets here now but that we'd go to the house of the man whom they used to recommend we buy carpets - the same fellow that I bargained with in 2006 in the old market.  Oh well.  I did want to return to see what had changed.  this has really changed.  

Time for lunch and then we're off on the bus to see the city.  This is a pristine city with women sweeping the streets, trucks moving up and down watering the trees and plants (it is a desert), buildings made of white marble, golden statues, lovely avenues

Independence Square Statue

.  In short, a beautiful city that bakes in the sun.  There are many more ministerial buildings and government buildings than years ago plus they kept on with the marble and golden motif.  some buildings are not photograph-able as that is forbidden such as the presidential palace.  other buildings are just too large and grand to get into one photo.  some of the more interesting buildings:  the ministry of gas shaped like a Zippo lighter, the ministry of dentistry shaped like a rear molar, the ministry of health has a giant spike coming from the top which is representative of a syringe giving an injection.  the imagination of the architects seem to know no bounds.  beautiful buildings.  

We stop to see the "3 legs" monument.  This monument I remember being in a different place.  it is called "3 legs" because it is supported by 3 columns.  Previously the golden statue of the first president on top revolved to face the sun.  Now it is further out of town, in a wonderful park made for it, the statue doesn't revolve, and there is an honor guard at attention at the base.  We were able to go up to the observation platform for a look see of the city with is hazy with pollution.  There are trees surrounding the city but many have died in such a desert environment.  Yet they keep planting more and more trees to help the city.  doesn't appear to be working.

Next a stop at the Independence Monument which has wonderful statues surrounding it.  These statues are the founding fathers of Turkmenistan or the founding warriors or the poets and learned men who made this country way back when.  And as with most parks and monuments, there are huge water features and fountains.  In this desert country, it appears that water is one thing they have in abundance as there are fountains and pools just about whenever one turns

Ashgabat buildings

.  Water cascades down the sides of this monument.  Doesn't really help the heat though as we walk about taking photos of the different statues and views.  the heat drains me.  

couple of more stops, one to the "40 legs" monument which is a monument of 10 Ahal Teke horses (40 legs) which hasn't moved since I last saw it but seems to be different as the area around it has changed.  To get around Ashgabat, one can flag down a car and ask to be taken to anywhere for about 4 Manat (local currency) or about $2 (not quite).  The driver will say yes or no and off you go.  If you aren't in a full car, the driver might also stop for other people standing beside the road and waving for a taxi.  One way to get to the monuments is to ask for them by the number of "legs".  Last time I was here, a friend and I got a driver to take us to the "40 legs" monument of the horses.  Thus the system works.

I enjoy looking at the statues and horses and such.  there were also about 40 birds perched on the horse statues though too.  the birds did not have such a great respect for these magnificent Ahal Teke horses.    And our last stop was the Earthquake Monument.  This is close to the Presidential Palace and one of our group members was snapping away (although he is a much better photographer than just to say "snapping") when the guard at the Presidential Palace saw him and yelled and ran over to the group, made him show the guard the photos and made him delete the 4 that included the Presidential Palace

5 areas of the country and their symbols

.  Not sure why such photos are not allowed as the palace is in their coffee table books for sale.  anyway, none of us have photos of the Presidential Palace now except for some rushed ones out the bus window.

Back to our rooms and my roommate and I thought we'd rest for a bit and then have a wander downstairs, see who was there, and join them for dinner.  the resting part went well, the wander downstairs worked but nobody was to be found.  We went in the direction that we thought was the restaurant but we couldn't find it or anyone else so finally went into the City Pub restaurant where we were the only patrons.  Had a small dinner, stopped at the grocery for some water, and back to the room where we had our second night on the hardest beds ever to show up in a hotel.  Knew it meant climbing out of bed in the morning barely able to move so I found a comforter to put under my knees to help.  semi-ok sleeping after that.