After a peaceful night in the desert, there remained around 85 km to reach the border city of Turkmenabat, Turkmenistan’s second largest city. Just as yesterday, we started early in the day to avoid the strongest winds in the afternoon.

Floating through the desert

Compared to yesterday, the wind was much more in our favor. For almost the whole ride we had weak to medium tail wind, making us progress faster than the day before. After a bit more than 4 hours of riding we reached the border city of Turkmenabat where we had lunch.

Turkmen infrastructure

One thing I have to add here: I wrote two days ago that the roads in Turkmenistan were in excellent conditions. I have to relativize this statement as the road through the desert actually was in a miserable condition. It is clearly visible that Turkmenistan focuses its effort in building shiny cities instead of maintaining a nation-wide good infrastructure. The same also applies for the railway network. They have a nation-wide railway network, which is good for a country where the major cities are several hundred meters apart. However, the train speeds are so low that most people rather take the car to arrive in half of the time. Being a completely flat country, investing in a high-speed railway network would be useful here.

Turkmenabat

Just like Mary, Turkmenabat made a very clean and ordered impression. Especially the area around the official buildings is beautiful with wide boulevards, lots of green and expensive buildings. Because we made such good progress in the morning, we allowed ourselves an afternoon of relaxing in a generously laid-out city park. Only towards the evening we crossed the bridge over the Amudarja, a very wide river that originates in the Pamirs and that we will meet again once in Tajikistan. It is also this same river which enables the desert-like neighbor Uzbekistan the production of cotton and because of that cuts off the water that was supposed to go in the Aral Lake which is drying out more and more.

Evening

We found again a friendly family who accommodates us for the night. Unfortunately I got myself some stomach problems again, and this after the previous problems finally disappeared. This time I have no clue what it could have been, but I guess it will take a few days again to fully recover.

Detailed Track

While we crossed the first part of Turkmenistan by car, we definitely wanted to cross Karakom Desert, Asia’s hottest desert, by bicycle. Up to the Uzbek border there are 280 km to cycle in 2.5 days. As in every desert we have been on this trip, also Karakom desert has a strong winds, and it makes a huge difference whether the wind comes from the front, the side or the back. With head wind, the 280 km are not doable in 2.5, with side or tail wind, it is possible.

Starting at Sunrise

Having some experience with desert winds by now, we know that the winds are always weaker in the morning, and today was no exception. So we set out as early as possible, and we were accompanied by a slight tail wind which made the first 50 km a bit easier. During the day however, the wind got stronger and stronger and the direction changed to side wind. This was still ok as it does not slow us down very much, but if the directions only changes a little bit towards head wind, we would have to work much harder, given the wind speeds of 30-50 km/h.

On the route

The cycling however was not too spectacular as the landscape kept on repeating itself – as it is to be expected in the desert. The only highlight was that occasionally there were tortoises on the roads. Whenever we saw them, we stopped and helped them off the road, where their chances of survival are considerably higher, given the driving speeds of the Turkmen.

Meeting Olivier and Henri

After cycling for almost 140 km, we took a break. And while sitting on the desert floor, we were quite surprised to meet Olivier and Henri again, the two French guys we met in Mashhad and who are travelling the globe with their camper. They invited us for a tea inside the camper. A welcome break from the sandy winds in the middle of the desert. Also, we agreed to spend the night at the same place, so we drove 15 km more and set up my tent about 100 m away from the road behind some sand dunes. It was a nice setting and tomorrow I will post some pictures from the campsite during daylight. Also, as the light pollution in the middle of the desert is very small, we could see millions of stars over our heads.

Detailed Track

Today we went to see sightseeing with Guvanch and Aygul, two local brothers and sisters, Guvanch drove with us from Sarahs to Mary yesterday. But first we had to take care of some administrative things such as getting a SIM card or changing our Iranian money to Turkmen Manat.

Interesting architecture in Mary

It is clearly visible in Mary that the city and the state has money from its vast gas and oil resources. The roads in the center were very nice, and all the official buildings where build in white marble and generously dimensioned. There was a big mosque, a huge library, a theater, and half a dozen other interesting buildings. And a giant Turkmen flag that, as I was told, is around 100 m2 large.

Apart from this, the city looks very clean and safe, but does not have any major attraction for tourists that I have seen.

Ancient ruins in Merv

Merv is around 30 km east of Mary and was one of the former glorious Silk Road cities at the time. Most of the city however is only ruins, the only thing left are the Mausoleum of Soltan Sanjar from the 12th century and one or two other remainders of buildings. However many walls from the ancient city are still visible and you get a good impression how large the whole area was. And nowadays there are camels and cows living between the ruins which gives it a unique atmosphere.

Calm evening in Watan

The evening we spent again with Guvanch, Aygul and their family in a village called Watan, around 15 minutes away from Mary. We really had a great time with them and I have to say that the Turkmen hospitality is by no means less generous than the Iranian hospitality was. Now we need to collect some energy for the coming three days where we will have to cycle 280 km through the desert to the Uzbek border. We expect the weather to be hot and the wind not to be in our favor.

Today was dedicated to passing first the Iranian and then the Turkmen border posts. Afterwards it was planned that some friends of a friend will pick us up and take us in a 4-hour bus ride to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan’s surreal capital.

Good-Bye Iran

Since my arrival in Shiraz on March 24 I spent in total 25 days in Iran. It was a very positive experience, I met hundreds of wonderful people, saw many different climate zones, and heard around 10’000 times an Iranian driver honking when passing us. I am quite sure it was not the last time I visited Iran.

We reached the Iranian border post at 9:00 in the morning to be sure to be done with both border posts before lunch-time, because I knew that on the Turkmen side, they will have a lunch break where they stop everything. So far everything went smooth, we could easily pass all the trucks lining up with our bikes and reached the customs building. There the waiting began. We were directed to the baggage inspection, but nobody was there. We waited at least 20 minutes until someone showed up to look at my luggage and especially at the pictures on my camera. But we passed everything, so there was only the passport control left. We did not wait for long and someone showed up to take our passports and then disappeared with them. Then we waited at least 45 minutes, when someone else came back with the passports and the exit stamp in it. In total we spend at least 1.5 hours, but then we were officially out of Iran.

Welcome Turkmenistan

As soon as we crossed the bridge at the border, we were welcomed by friendly Turkmen soldiers, and because the customs building was 1 km away, we followed the road where there was a soldier every 100 m to make sure we find the way.

Once at the customs building, we first had to stand in front of an infrared camera to make sure we’re healthy – and we passed. Then we were directed to a desk where, after paying an entrance fee of $14, we got the entry stamp and were explained in very clear words that we are on a TRANSIT VISA and hence are not allowed to go anywhere else in the country than the direct route from Sarahs to Farap. More on that later. So what was left was the baggage inspection. But unfortunately it was already 11:50 and the border guards felt hungry, so everything was shut down for an hour and we had to wait with about 20 other truck drivers.

After lunch break everything went quick and we were finally officially in Turkmenistan where we were picked up by our friends from Ashgabat.

About the Transit Visa

Turkmenistan is very restrictive with letting foreigners into the country. In order to receive a tourist visa, one must book a tour through an accredited agency and is under constant surveillance of a guide. This is not really compatible with cycle tourists.

The only alternative is applying for a Transit Visa, which, as the name says, means you only want to cross Turkmenistan from one country to another. With such a visa you can travel on your own. But the restrictions are, that you must not deviate from the route that was approved in the visa, and that you only have 5 days for the 500 km across the country.

Lucie and I both got a transit visa. It is by the way by far not guaranteed that the transit visa request is approved. I heard of several cyclists this year where the request was denied.

To Mary instead of Ashgabat

Our initial plan was to have a fun evening with our friends in the capital Ashgabat, but after the very clear instructions at the border, Lucie and I did not want to risk getting into trouble by being caught in Ashgabat, around 250 km off the transit route. Therefore we drove with at least one of the friends to Mary, a city that is on our transit route where we will go sightseeing tomorrow.

It is very unfortunate not to be able to meet all friends in Ashgabat however and I hope that at some point the government (or more like the President) will realize that tourism is not such a bad thing.