Ashgabat
: Independence Square and the "Palace of Turkmenbashi",
(gold and white marble) and other government buildings
Ashgabat
(Berzengi) : the monument to the Independence of Turkmenistan
also known as "the plunger" and a golden statue of the President,
Mr Saparmyrat Niyazov,
who calls himself Turkmenbashi ("leader of the Turkmens)
Ashgabat
: the Arch of Neutrality.
Guess whose statue is on top, covered with gold, rotating to follow
the sun....
You guessed, it's Mr Megalomaniac President Turkmenbashi
Ashgabat
: the colourful Tolkuchka bazaar
small
settlement in the Karakum desert
(more
deserts here)
Traffic
on the road across the Karakum desert
(more
deserts here)
Karakum
desert : sand dunes
(more
deserts here)
Konye-Urgench
: at the bazaar
Konye-Urgench
: Sultan Ali Mausoleum
Konye-Urgench
: Sultan Ali Mausoleum, underside of the dome.
The geometry represents the calendar. 365 mosaic sections represent
the days of the year. Below, 24 arches represent the hours of the
day,
and yet below, 12 bigger arches represent the months of the year
