Day 3 – Darvaza to Ashgabat to Turkmenbashi

After breakfast this early morning at the yurt near Darvaza gas crater, we headed back to Ashgabat reaching around noon, taking in 5 hours of driving.

We stopped by the Ashgabat Restaurant for lunch and tried local cuisine – pumpkin and spinach manty along with meat manty.

We headed out for some sightseeing in Ashgabat – first stop was Pushkin monument in a park erected in the memory of the Russian poet and novelist. A short walk from here is the Lenin Monument that was opened in 1927 in honor of the 10th anniversary of the October Revolution. Lenin’s statue stands on a pedestal in the form of a cube is decorated with majolica tiles, the pattern of which repeats the gels of Turkmen carpets of all the main five tribes of the Turkmen people.

From here we visited a government building displaying spectacular Soviet-era concrete mural by legendary sculptor Ernst Neizvestny. In 1962, Neizvestny’s work was heavily criticized as “degenerate” by Soviet President Khrushchev, who publicly insulted numerous architects, sculptors, and composers.

 
Next stop from here was Ashgabat Market. Prime market for produce, meat and ice-cream. Although filming is not prohibited, the locals are very wary about filming here so make sure to get permission from your tour guide and from the people before filming/photographing.

 
We stopped by the British Pub in central Ashgabat for chai before heading to the airport to catch our flight to Turkmenbashi (KRW) on Turkmenistan Airlines reaching at 8pm.

After checking-in to the Turkmenbashi Hotel, we called an early night.

Note: All values in USD, unless otherwise mentioned, are approximate and based on the exchange rate of USD 1 = TMM 3.50 at the time of publishing. Each cost is for one adult. Note that the expenses do not include international flights to and from Turkmenistan.