Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan. 

Off to the border crossing, the river Amu-Darya separates Turkmenistan from Uzbekistan and our crossing over the road bridge took around 3 hours, very straightforward and warm enough although we did get a spot of rain whilst waiting for the truck to get through. 

Met up with our guide Murat, who is a fun character with a good sense of  humour, extremely knowledgable and helpful. 

A brief stop in a town to change up some money (some evidence of the black market but not as prolific here as in Uzbekistan) and to grab a spot of lunch. 

Roads are not that great and are extremely bumpy, we pass through the ancient village of konye-Urgench.  More cotton pickers in the fields.  There are salt deposits along the road from over farming of the cotton and the irrigation involved.  We are stopped many times for security checks but our guide gets us quickly on the way ' some of these people just want to look at the truck'

90% of the country is desert and we are spending a couple of nights bush camping in the Karakum desert, a nice soft bed! Fortunately the weather here is quite mild and a few of us sit by the camp fire until quite late, just a little wary of the scorpions and spiders who reside here, however doesn't stop a couple of people from sleeping under the stars!

Numerous camels can be spotted strolling down the road, across the desert, some with chains on their legs to stop them straying too far. 

Our next stop is near to the Darvaza gas craters, these are man made and  one has been set alight and is a blazing inferno.  Disappointed not to be going in a Russian monster truck, a battered 4 wheel drive with one headlamp arrived to take us up to the crater after our meal of barbecued steaks. Arriving before sunset, I'm  in awe at the scene in front, not long after the sun set and suddenly it was pitch dark. The fire glows and flares up, burning embers up the side of the crater and a lone tyre sits near the centre untouched by the fire.  The wind changes direction as you walk around and in places you can feel the intensity and draw of the heat, best not to get too close to the edge!!  

On the way back down to our camp, 8 of us cram into the back of the jeep, surprisingly it was quite comfortable really!

Tonight was a mad hatter tea party with scones and chocolate fridge cakes and some twisting and dancing. The agile Phil won the impromptu Limbo pole competition easily, no takers for the high jump though!

Now time again for another city and we set off on route next morning to Ashgabat stopping off at another 2 craters on the way, one with mud gurgling and bubbling away and starting to catch alight, the other with water.  Unfortunately some people lost their lives when these craters were made inadvertently in the 1970's.   A bit concerning then that the current president wants to start exploring for gas again here!