We looked at a few carpets, but I didn't see any I liked, so I didn't do any shopping, although I did ask the price of a few that were the same size that I was looming for so I'd have an idea what they were going for. Our next stop, after the long drive back into town, was Lenin Square, built in 1927. It was essentially a monument to Lenin, but also had the five carpet designs of the five tribes of Turkmenistan around its base. Notice the white marble building with golden dome in the background (that is actually a closed theater - Turkenbashy closed them all and outlawed ballet, opera, plays, etc.):
Our next stop was the Memorial to the 1948 earthquake, and boy, was this an interesting stop for several reasons... It is a globe held atop a bull's horns, and there is a woman rescuing a small child, gilded in gold from the quake. Turkmenbashy is that golden child.
Behind this memorial, is a huge gorgeous white marble building with blue domes, that was Turkmenbashy's Spiritual Palace. I took a couple of pictures of it, but a policeman came over and made me delete them as he was watching. Apparently, you can't take pictures of that building...
The next stop was the Memorial for the Tenth Anniversary of Independence. It is a statue of ten horses. Again, there is another golden statue of Turkmenbashy which supersedes this monument...
Just so you know what is going on, I am now at the airport writing about the day's events. I am a little scared because there are police people all over the place, and I am concern they have read the earlier installation of the blog where I was critical of Turkmenbashy, and I am more than a little afraid that they won't let me on my flight because of it. I will continue on a if nothing had happened... After the last memorial, we stopped at a local state-run restaurant at the top of a high-rise for lunch, which was a smudge less than delicious, and took a bit longer than expected. I was planning on spending the greater part of the day looking at/buying Turkmenistani carpets, and at this point I wasn't going to get the chance to look at any. Thankfully, we had some crafts to look at at lunch, and I bought several pairs of place mats that I thought would look great in my kitchen hutch and dining room. Thank God I ad gotten to the handicrafts before a couple of the people in the group who will buy shit just to be buying shit (see carpet story below)...
After lunch, we dropped off everyone but me and someone in the group who at this point is a certifiable kleptomaniac/compulsive shopper. Lucky me. In fact, I had told the guide yesterday that when it came to shopping for carpets (I was the only person who mentioned that as a min reason for coming on this trip), that I did not want to go with this klepto because I was afraid that she would they to buy the carpets out from under me. Well, we got stuck together... We went to the first place, and I saw the carpet I wanted. Klepto McKlepto sat there on the couch and said she wasn't interested in anything until I told the guide I was interested in a silk carpet hanging on the wall, but that I didn't want the owner of the shop to know that was the one I was interested in so I could go about the bargaining process... Well, at Bout this time, Miss Klepto decided she was, in fact, interested in one of the rugs at the three stores in a row we were at: the one rug hanging up I was interested in... So she told the proprietor that she would wire the money for the carpet, and since I wasn't interested in any of the other rugs, we went to another store.
This would be a good time to describe the taxi system of Ashgabat... So, to get a "taxi" in Ashgabat, al you have to do is flag down a car that will take you to your next destination. This means that any Tom, Dick, or Harry can drive you to where you are going for a dollar or two depending on where you are going... So, we piled into a tiny Soviet-era vehicle on our way to the next rug store. This store was the state-run store, so although a little more expensive than the other store, I knew what I was buying was authentic and when they said they would ship it, I knew it would get there... I found a gorgeous fifteen-year old carpet for honestly, next to nothing, that I bought and had shipped home, as well as a small area carpet. Miss Klepto found a hideous green carpet that she liked more than the other carpet at the other store, so she told the proprietor that she would buy that one, and beautiful silk carpet at the first store released, I went and bought that one, the. O brought it back to the second store so all three carpets could be shipped together. When I say the carpets I bought were gorgeous, I can't even begin to describe just how gorgeous, because they were so cheap and will easily appraise at four or five times the value I paid for them. Thank you, Turkmenistan!!!
So, I waited through rush-hour traffic to find a taxi back to the hotel (it was much harder than I thought because no one wanted to take me as far as I was going, and the President had shut down most of the roads going out towards my hotel, soothe traffic was hellacious!)! I eventually found a taxi to drive me the forty-five minutes to the hotel (for the steep price of $3), and although it was extremely awkward, I made it back to the hotel eventually... When I got there, I realized I was about fifty minutes late for the hour-long lecture from the information officer for the US Embassy in Turkmenistan, and although I felt bad about it, I wasn't too sad because one the main reasons I came on this trip was to go shopping for carpets in Turkmenistan. The tail end of his discussion was interesting, and before I knew it, it was time for our farewell dinner. We ate, said goodbye (and let's be honest some of these people I will miss and others I won't give a second thought to), and then packed up, since I was the first to be transported to the airport.
The trip to the airport was an experience, since most of the roads were closed, but eventually I made it there, before my flight (thankfully), got all checked in, then waited for my flight to board. We boarded and were off on schedule, and I slept most of the flight, since it was the middle of the night, after all. With the three-hour time change, we arrived just after 7am, and I had two hours to get through immigration, customs, and to my connecting flight to Beijing. I needed every minute of it...
The flight to Beijing was uneventful, but I must admit, it felt odd flying from a country that is less than twenty years old, to one of the oldest countries on Earth... At any rate, I made it to the hotel, got checked in, and veged the rest of the day, since I have had a hectic two-and-a-half week touring schedule and am about to start another two weeks. The calm before the storm, as it were. My hotel is very close to the Forbidden City and some other sights, so tomorrow I plan on making a leisurely day of it, and will hopefully be all rested for Sunday and the start of the next tour! Should be a great weekend!!!
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