A day in Ashkabad

A day in Ashkabad. The bazaar was a sight filled with the local Turkmen tribe, the Tekke, wearing their giant, shaggy hats.

Their ancestors were famous for horse breeding and carpet making and notorious for slave-raids on desert caravans. At the bazaar, we managed to find two local outfits for me and Turkoman hats for John and Martin.

From the bazaar, we headed to Nisa, seat of the Parthian kings from the late 3rd C BC to the early 3rd C AD. It was very hot and we had an overly enthusiastic guide.

Ashkabad is a modern city, largely due to the earthquake of 1929, which leveled the city. Today, there are miles of fountains and public parks.
We blew off the group and went to “Florida” for burgers and beers. There is no a/c anywhere and these people don’t seem to feel the heat.
We went back to our air-conditioned room and had beer and cheese and crackers.
Our group “farewell dinner” was at an Iranian restaurant, “Diamond Restaurant” complete with Russian dancing and Iranian kebabs. It must be our transition to Moscow.
That night we got regular calls from hookers in our hotel, “Marco, is that you?”