Plan today is to hit the Earthquake Memorial Mosque and then the Kow Ata underground lake and then the Gypjak Mosque and Mausoleum of the Turkmenbashi. A group of 4 have headed off on their own to visit a village in the mountains, then the underground lake and mosques and then another village. I would have loved to do that with them but the car only holds 4, tightly, and I wasn't quick enough to nab a spot on the journey so that is out for me. And I am pretty tired too even though our new soft beds in the hotel were much, much nicer. Next time here, I must remember to ask for a suite.
The Earthquake Memorial Mosque is kind of a sham, really. It is a really big mosque but rather sterile and our guide says it doesn't really get used very much. It's kind of out of the way and not surprising that people don't visit it a lot. However there were attendants there who were busy sweeping the courtyard. Argentina managed to get the workers inside to sit in the corner in the sunlight and take their photo. He seems to excel in getting people to agree to do things for photos. What a wonderful ability to have. I've just gotten to the point where I can ask people so I think I am years away from dancing them into position for wonderful action shots and such as he does.
I have still not decided whether or not to go swimming in the underground lake. Last time there, I really didn't enjoy it much. The entire site is a picnic area for families and such but I just couldn't help thinking that the lake looked very much like a pit of undesirable liquids of one sort or another. It's a mineral lake which doesn't help the smell, being sulfur like and all. Plus it's about 80 meters underground. So the steps down are not so bad but coming up is the pits. And last time there, the few lights on the stairs and at the entrance to the lake whet out so momentarily, I was in the water in total darkness until someone had a small flashlight that illuminated the exit of the lake and I was able to get out. Some people really like that and swim through the arch to follow the lake into total darkness. I did get up this morning though and put on my swimsuit and I had also brought my dive light along with me, just in case. But our tour leader had already commented that I would not be a popular person if I took the dive light into the water with me and ruined everyone's night sight. SOOOO, when the time came, I decided not to go down to the lake and stayed outside in the shade reading instead. It appeared that everyone else enjoyed it but I've decided that underground lakes are not for me.
We are having lunch at Marat - a very nice restaurant nestled against some hills and hidden in some well watered trees. Above the restaurant is a shallow pool with a giant ceramic vase acting as the waterfall feature but it was turned off when I walked up there. Maybe they were like our hotel which has a wonderful swimming pool which they drained on Oct 1 because "the season is over" even though it's still in the upper 30'sC temperature wise. Maybe all waterfalls are shut off on Oct 1. So lunch was nice except for the tummy factor still not happy.
Off to the Gupjak Mosque and the Mausoleum. These I saw last time except the Turmenbashi was not buried there at that time. He died a few months after my visit. His family is in the mausoleum except his father who was not found after the earthquake so just a representative grave is there. There are honor guards in front. We had to leave our cameras and bags on the ledge outside the mausoleum and then take off our shoes once inside. Then our guide, who is outside watching our stuff, calls that they are doing the changing of the guards. Of course we are not allowed to rush outside to see so we all crowd the door to watch the tiny visible bit of guards goosestepping past the door. Two of our group members had not made it inside yet and were outside the "no photo" barrier so they were able to take photos of the entire guard changing ceremony - lucky guys.
We are above the gravesites. There is an elevator going down to the marble coffin area and also a set of stairs going down. Nothing was said about this until two of our group members, in all innocence, took the elevator down and stepped into the room with the coffins and then our guide saw them and about had a heart attack. That's a big no no, to be on the same floor as the coffins. Luckily no one saw them do it but us. guess they should disable the elevator unless they want people going down there.
Back into the hot sun and over to the grand mosque which is the biggest in Central Asia. It has quite a lot of writing around the outside and grandiose ornamentation. This mosque is used a bit more than the Earthquake Memorial Mosque but still seems like it's a bit of a waste of time and money as it's still not that close to the city even though the city is straining to incorporate it and the city is growing in that direction. But it is beautiful.
Back to the bus and the tour is done. We only have the farewell dinner this evening which I will miss because I hate farewell dinners and also because the tummy is saying no no no no. Plus I have to wait for my carpets to be delivered and they did arrive albeit about an hour late. I manage to get everything into my suitcase and do not have to unzip the extra space.
We had been told at lunch our pick up times for the airport. They said mine was 5:30 so I planned to get up at 5. No sooner than my alarm went off and I got into the shower then the phone rang and my roommate said "your driver is waiting and getting nervous". wow. I didn't realize that they changed the time on me to a 5:00 a.m. pick up plus there were 3 other group members on the same flight. I still made it downstairs at 5:20 and was quite embarrassed that everyone was waiting for me. Still, we made it to the airport, went through the 3 security checks, had my carpet numbers verified, and went and sat in the lounge until the lady said it was for Turkmenistan airlines only and still had another 1/2 hour to sit in the departure area before our flight was called.
So my time in Turkmenistan is done. We didn't go to Mary and Merv this time and I missed seeing them. I thought both of those places were quite interesting but I did love the gas crater in spite of the camping. The city is so much bigger but not sure it is better. Still rather sterile. But very glad that Vancouver asked me along. Now to work on getting to all of the other "''Stans". I have a lot to do yet.
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