kungshamra71 892 Posted October 31 #281 Share Posted October 31 (edited) 25 minutes ago, copravolley said: Baku is a large resort. There is a modern track in cycling in Ashgabat. The World Championships were supposed to be held some years ago. There might be modern tracks for lots of sports in Ashgabat actually. They organised some Asian martial arts competition some time ago and for that they built all sort of megalomaniac infrastructures (you see the picture of the gigantic horse head? That’s part of the main stadium), all in white (there’s some rule from the president that everything needs to be white in that city), and all pretty much abandoned since that time. According to the delusional/brainwashed local people we met, “all those investments are understandable because Ashgabat will organize the Olympic very soon”. That’s because the dictator is obsessed with huge buildings, if you see my third last photo, that is actually an indoor ferry wheel (yes, it’s a thing apparently), the largest one in the world (Guiness world record), and it looked really abandoned. Me and my wife were the only ones going on it. Everything in that country (but especially in Ashgabat) is bizarre. Edited October 31 by kungshamra71 konig, heywoodu and copravolley 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copravolley 253 Posted October 31 #282 Share Posted October 31 (edited) 3 hours ago, kungshamra71 said: There might be modern tracks for lots of sports in Ashgabat actually. They organised some Asian martial arts competition some time ago and for that they built all sort of megalomaniac infrastructures (you see the picture of the gigantic horse head? That’s part of the main stadium), all in white (there’s some rule from the president that everything needs to be white in that city), and all pretty much abandoned since that time. According to the delusional/brainwashed local people we met, “all those investments are understandable because Ashgabat will organize the Olympic very soon”. That’s because the dictator is obsessed with huge buildings, if you see my third last photo, that is actually an indoor ferry wheel (yes, it’s a thing apparently), the largest one in the world (Guiness world record), and it looked really abandoned. Me and my wife were the only ones going on it. Everything in that country (but especially in Ashgabat) is bizarre. A few years ago I read a crazy story about this president-dictator from Turkmenistan, who banning white or dark cars from being imported to Turkmenistan (I don't remember which ones). This is a country of absurdities. After the fall of the USSR, a dictator- Turkmenbascha, who ruled there for many years and died about 15 years ago and his health minister replaced him and has ruled ever since. Both are madmen. Uzbekistan or Kazakhstan are more civilized and don't have such weirdos in power. It's probably only the Taliban that are more radical. Edited October 31 by copravolley konig 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copravolley 253 Posted October 31 #283 Share Posted October 31 3 hours ago, kungshamra71 said: There might be modern tracks for lots of sports in Ashgabat actually. They organised some Asian martial arts competition some time ago and for that they built all sort of megalomaniac infrastructures (you see the picture of the gigantic horse head? That’s part of the main stadium), all in white (there’s some rule from the president that everything needs to be white in that city), and all pretty much abandoned since that time. According to the delusional/brainwashed local people we met, “all those investments are understandable because Ashgabat will organize the Olympic very soon”. That’s because the dictator is obsessed with huge buildings, if you see my third last photo, that is actually an indoor ferry wheel (yes, it’s a thing apparently), the largest one in the world (Guiness world record), and it looked really abandoned. Me and my wife were the only ones going on it. Everything in that country (but especially in Ashgabat) is bizarre. https://www.news18.com/news/auto/turkmenistan-president-bans-all-colored-cars-from-capital-only-white-cars-allowed-1632963.html It`s crazy. In my opinion, there was better there when they were under the USSR, because there were no such absurdities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copravolley 253 Posted October 31 #284 Share Posted October 31 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saparmurat_Niyazov konig 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kungshamra71 892 Posted October 31 #285 Share Posted October 31 15 minutes ago, copravolley said: A few years ago I read a crazy story about this president-dictator from Turkmenistan, who banning white or dark cars from being imported to Turkmenistan (I don't remember which ones). This is a country of absurdities. After the fall of the USSR, a dictator- Turkmenbascha, who ruled there for many years and died about 15 years ago and his health minister replaced him and has ruled ever since. Both are madmen. Uzbekistan or Kazakhstan are more civilized and don't have such weirdos in power. It's probably only the Taliban that are more radical. now the leader is not that one, but his son (you’ll see him in one of the photos I shared, in the tv. His face is everywhere as it happens in any country with cult of the leader). and yes the story is true, in Ashgabat only white, golden and some other colour (grey?) cars are allowed in the city. Just like every building is white. And it’s funny you mention the talibans, because Turkmenistan has an Afghanistan representation/consulate in their country, and one of the days when we were eating lunch in a mall at Mary city, the Turkmen guide was called by the restaurant waiter and then came to us and said “ok so don’t worry, but a taliban delegation is coming here to eat lunch so don’t take pictures and behave discreetly when they enter”. One of those wtf moments of our trip haha copravolley, heywoodu, Pasolini and 1 other 1 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copravolley 253 Posted October 31 #286 Share Posted October 31 Just now, kungshamra71 said: now the leader is not that one, but his son (you’ll see him in one of the photos I shared, in the tv. His face is everywhere as it happens in any country with cult of the leader). and yes the story is true, in Ashgabat only white, golden and some other colour (grey?) cars are allowed in the city. Just like every building is white. And it’s funny you mention the talibans, because Turkmenistan has an Afghanistan representation/consulate in their country, and one of the days when we were eating lunch in a mall at Mary city, the Turkmen guide was called by the restaurant waiter and then came to us and said “ok so don’t worry, but a taliban delegation is coming here to eat lunch so don’t take pictures and behave discreetly when they enter”. One of those wtf moments of our trip haha I wonder if there are any monuments to their first leader, who died in 2006, or has the latter taken over everything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kungshamra71 892 Posted October 31 #287 Share Posted October 31 3 minutes ago, copravolley said: I wonder if there are any monuments to their first leader, who died in 2006, or has the latter taken over everything? I’ve only seen things related to the father of this current president. And not even much of that, everything had the face of the new one now. but of course, I saw only what I was allowed to see , that is how things work if you want to visit it :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copravolley 253 Posted October 31 #288 Share Posted October 31 2 minutes ago, kungshamra71 said: I’ve only seen things related to the father of this current president. And not even much of that, everything had the face of the new one now. but of course, I saw only what I was allowed to see , that is how things work if you want to visit it :-) In the USSR, when Stalin died, there was de-Stalinization but some of his monuments remained, although, for example, the names of cities were changed. I feel sorry for the people living in Turkmenistan or smiliar countries but what can be done? The USA could to introduce some civilized life in Afghanistan but this government was so weak that it fell a few weeks after the Americans left. It would probably be similar here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rybak 3,217 Posted October 31 #289 Share Posted October 31 3 hours ago, kungshamra71 said: There might be modern tracks for lots of sports in Ashgabat actually. They organised some Asian martial arts competition some time ago and for that they built all sort of megalomaniac infrastructures (you see the picture of the gigantic horse head? That’s part of the main stadium), all in white (there’s some rule from the president that everything needs to be white in that city), and all pretty much abandoned since that time. According to the delusional/brainwashed local people we met, “all those investments are understandable because Ashgabat will organize the Olympic very soon”. That’s because the dictator is obsessed with huge buildings, if you see my third last photo, that is actually an indoor ferry wheel (yes, it’s a thing apparently), the largest one in the world (Guiness world record), and it looked really abandoned. Me and my wife were the only ones going on it. Everything in that country (but especially in Ashgabat) is bizarre.p Its a bit off top, but Turkmenistan also was only one country in the world without official case of covid Pasolini and konig 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
konig 1,503 Posted November 1 #290 Share Posted November 1 A friend of mine who visited 97 countries of the world be in Turkmenistan (with Kunshamara, are the onlyones i know) and he tell me something that never see in another country: his presence was enough to make nervous to all the people, in restaurants, markets, etc, the presence of an "outsider" generate that. rybak, Pasolini and copravolley 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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