1/ The route we have to take is highlighted on the form...
2/ A GPS tracker is fitted to the truck: stick to authorized roads!
Ashgabat is a movie set, size XXL!
Ashgabat, the capital and the largest city of Turkmenistan, was founded in 1881, and made the capital of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic in 1924 (named Poltoratsk between 1919 and 1927). It is situated between the Karakum Desert and the Kopet Dag mountain range. Much of the city was destroyed by the 1948 Ashgabat earthquake but has since seen extensive constructions under President Niyazov's urban renewal project.
Lonely Planet describes Ashgabat as a cross between Las Vegas and Pyongyang. With the glitzy marble facades and bright neon lights, Ashgabat resembles Las Vegas especially by night. On the other hand, the artificially clean and new look, and the Stalinist-like regime that governs the country is similar to the one in North Korea. Coming to Ashgabat is like stepping into the future and yet knowing fully well that you’re stuck in the past…
=> Please count the number of people in front of buildings...
Air conditioned Bus-Station...
Underground passage way for pedestrian in marble...
=> Please count the number of cars...
=> The good shepheard wants a spotless city...
On the way North...
Nice road near Ashgabat, it deriorates (to REAL bad) as you get further away...
Darvaza!
The Darvaza gas crater known locally as the "Door to Hell" or ''Gates of Hell", is a natural gas field collapsed into an underground cavern located in Derweze, Turkmenistan. Geologists set it on fire to prevent the spread of methane gas, and it is thought to have been burning continuously since 1971. The diameter of the crater is 69 metres (226 ft), and its depth is 30 metres (98 ft).
