Turkmenistan Part 2 April 23rd

Saturday 19th April was a long day's drive to Mary (pronounced Murray). Our first stop was at Anew where evidence has been uncovered of very early cultivation of grain but the main thing visible today is the ruins of the 15thC mosque of Seyit Jemal.

 Then as we drove further east we were close to the Iranian border just over these mountains

.Further along the road we came to the ruined 18thC palace and fortress on Nadir Shah.

Sheep grazing by the walls of the fortress.

Walls of Nadir Shah's fortress.

Lunch of fresh fish for the fish eaters and ravioli for Bill.

 

We finally arrived in Mary and this mosque was next door to the hotel.

Sunday 20th April and we drove to Margush. It was a sandy track and we were in a Nissan pathfinder. I forgot to say Uzbekistan has a car industry - a joint venture with GM making Chevrolets so we travel in style in Uzbekistan. Turkmenistan has no car industry so we travelled mostly in new Toyota Camrys and Avalons. Anyway getting back to Margush or Gonur Depe it is an amazing archeological site dating from the Bronze Age. The site is huge and you wander at will around it. The day we were there there were three other tourist groups (each of 2 people) and locals who had come out for an inspection including some men who had their picnic  lunch next to us and invited us to drink a vodka toast - which we did.

Baby camel and Mum on the way to Margush.

 

 General view of the excavations at Margush. They had considerable pottery making skills and there are vast quantities of finely crafted ceramics. Their kilns were sophisticated. They were Zoroastrians (fire worshippers) or proto Zoroastrian and carefully collected the ash from the kiln fires.

 Even then horses were significant as shown by this grave.

Our picnic friends in Margush.

On the way back to Mary we stopped at the ruins of a Nestorian church built in the 6thC and repaired in the 12th. Their contrary theological beliefs relating to Christ's divine nature caused them to be labelled heretics.  Interestingly the Vatican has recently expressed interest in the preservation of the site.

Kharoba Koshuk Nestorian church.

 Pokrovskaya Russian Orthodox church built in 1900 in Mary.

 

More views of the interior of the Russian church including my favourite St George and the Dragon.

On our last day in Turkmenistan we went to Merv. Once the greatest city on the Silk Road, but Genggis Khan absolutely flattened it and at least 100,000 died.

 Merv is another vast archeological site. There were five cities over time - as the river moved the cities followed it.

 The fortress in the centre is known as the women's fortress because legend has it that during a siege the women jumped from the walls rather than  be captured.

Another holy place the little piles of stones represent wishes.

Pilgrims at Merv.

We had a fast food lunch of samosa near the border and the cook from the proper restaurant next door came to have her photo taken (after she had removed her apron).

Well that is a brief resume of Turkmenistan apart from the saga of the border crossing which will begin the next post.