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.