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Weird / Lists / Turkmenistan / → All Tags

You Call That Weird Travel? We Know Better.

Weird is something we embrace here, so what could make better reading than The Age's top 10 weirdest cities list? Well, perhaps a list that didn't include quite so many cities that we don't consider weird at all. We just can't agree that cities like Tokyo, Amsterdam and New Orleans are quite weird enough to make a Top 10 list.

Getting closer to weird is Songjiang in China, which makes the list for having "Thames Town," a faithful recreation of England with a Tudor pub selling pints to all those Chinese who figure they no longer need to fly to London. Ashgabat in Turkmenistan is the one place on the list we agree is weird, being home to the late president who named everything after himself and swapped TV sets for rubber boots.

One out of 10 doesn't really cut it for a weird list, and they really should have come to us. A secret jungle in England is weird. A Russian city that has an enema statue is weird. Trust us, we know weird.

Related Stories:
· World's Top 10 Weirdest Cities [The Age]
· Russian Spa Erects Bronze Tribute to the Enema [Jaunted]
· Secret Jungle Discovered. In England. [Jaunted]

[Photo of our "favorite" Turkmen president: Henrik Moltke]

Nope / Travel Media / Turkmenistan / → All Tags

Is Turkmenistan The New Kazakhstan?

Move over, other former Soviet republics: For the Wall Street Journal, there can be only one, the reform-minded Republic of Turkmenistan.

After President for Life Saparmyrat Niyazov died in 2006, Turkmenistan faced the end of what blogger Paul Karl Lukacs calls "one man's autocratic--and deeply weird--rule," but also the hope of becoming more open to the West. But while the new, suspiciously elected president Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedow has given high culture the green light, opened up government posts to people who don't share his ethnic background and yanked Niyazov's book from the school curriculum, many citizens feel the change isn't happening fast enough.

We'd love to see Turkmenistan at a time like this, where the country is changing so quickly that a year's difference in trips could make a huge difference. But celebrating the country after its deeply wacky dictator has kicked the bucket? It's just too easy. Travel vets will scoff at you like you're a "Borat" fan who never watched "Da Ali G Show."

Related Stories:
· Turkmen Dictator Is Gone, but He's Still in the Process of Being Forgotten [WSJ]
· Life Under The Turkmenbashi's Thumb [Knife Tricks]
· Turkmenistan Plans To Move Dead-President Tower [Jaunted]
· Turkmenistan coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: vankasteren]

Turkmenistan / Monuments / Attractions / Big Things / → All Tags

Turkmenistan Plans to Move Dead-President Tower

Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
--P B Shelley, "Ozymandias"

Not even a giant self-portrait in sculpture can assure immortality, as fans of the late president of Turkmenistan are discovering. Saparmurat Niyazov's reign as president for life abruptly ended in 2006 with his death, and now a 246-foot-tall tower with a rotating gold statue of him at the top is facing exile from the center of the capital city of Ashgabat, says Reuters.

The new president's rationale for moving the tower, known as the Arch of Neutrality, is that it belongs on Neutrality Avenue, in the south of the city. But it's hard not to see the symbolism of removing a very prominent statue of the man who called himself "Turkmenbashi," or "Leader of all Turkmen," marking the final chapter of his 21-year reign.

Related Stories:
· Turkmenistan to Move Gold Statue [Reuters]
· Ding-Dong! The Dictator's Dead! [Jaunted]
· Turkmenistan: It's Not Kazakhstan [Jaunted]

[Photo: lonebiker2007]

Turkmenistan / Politics / Death / Airlines / → All Tags

Ding-Dong! The Dictator's Dead!

Last month we pointed you to Knife Tricks blogger Paul Karl Lukacs' report on Turkmenistan Airlines. The airline is/was subsidized by Turkmenbashi (Saparmurat Niyazov), Turkmenistan's nutjob dictator. As a result, most of its internal flights cost $10 or less for locals, and just $20 for foreigners, according to Lukacs.

Well, news just broke that Turkmenbashi bit the dust yesterday. What that means for travelers isn't entirely clear yet, but it could affect the cabin environments on Turkmenistan Airlines planes (which display framed photographs of Niyazov). The airport in Turkmenistan's capital of Ashgabat is named after him, as is most everything else in the country.

Air Koryo planes also carry pictures of their home country's leaders, though Kim Jong Il is no fan of flying. No word on how Turkmenbashi felt about aviation himself. Either way--good riddance, and here's to hoping Mugabe is next.

[Photo: dih123]

Related Stories:
· Turkmenistan's 'iron ruler' dies [BBC]
· Five Segments on Turkmenistan Airlines! [Knife Tricks]
· Turkmenistan: It's Not Kazakhstan [Jaunted]

Airlines / Turkmenistan / Blogs / → All Tags

Turkmenistan: It's Not Kazakhstan

Knife Tricks blogger Paul Karl Lukacs is back from a whirlwind tour of Turkmenistan, and alive or at least in enough pieces to tell about it. He describes Turkmenistan Airlines as being "not as bad as advertisted," which is just the sort of compliment everyone loves to hear. Except Turkmenbashi, that is...he will crush you no matter what. Lukacs flew from Beijing to Ashgabat; TA's other international destinations include Bangkok, London and Dubai.

For those of you with a Tupolev phobia, a bit of comfort might come from knowing that Turkmenistan flies 757s, and 717s on its dirt-cheap domestic flights. But you might want to buy one of those USB fans, because there's this problem:

The planes weren't bad. The seats were maintained, and the cabins were clean. The same cannot be said of all Turkmen travellers, and avoiding an aromatic seatmate is key to a pleasant flight.

Yum. Lukacs goes on to describe highlights of the TA experience, including "standard" food, "unenthusiastic" flight attendants, "nonexistent" baggage limits, and of course, pictures of Turkmenbashi everywhere. Click through to Knife Tricks for the rest of his funny-yet-informative wrap-up.

[Photo: prutter79]

Related Stories:
· Five Segments on Turkmenistan Airlines! [Knife Tricks]
· Silent But USB-Ready [Jaunted]
· Türkmenbaşy [Wikipedia]