kungshamra71

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 :-)

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

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.

There are some government allowed routes that go to the West, but the usual one is just around the two main cities (Ashgabat and Mary) and then crossing the desert to that gas fire crater. thats what I did, entered from the east from Bukhara (Uzbekistan) and left again to Uzbekistan but in the Khiva border. Not sure how’s the caspian sea there, but the only time I saw it , in Azerbaijan, didn’t look very clean to swim.

Last stop on this TISC Central Asia tour: Turkmenistan One of the most closed and censored lands in the world, Turkmenistan is a place with incredible things to visit, with a beautiful desert landscape, historical ruins from ancient civilisations, and the unique "Door to Hell". But it is also a country where everything is controlled and restricted (we had no access to social networks and tons of blocked websites, can only enter with invitation letter, with a predefined tour and accompanied by a guide at all times), with giant megalomaniac buildings created in order to maintain a cult of the leader and its regime. It basically felt like what i imagine is North Korea (but without the hate for americans). It is eccentric, it is impressive, but above all, it is bizarre. Here is a patriotic catchy song i heard when was traveling there. . Mähri Pirgulyýewa – Halkyň arkadagly zamanasy

Next stop on this Central Asia tour is Tajikistan , another one of those "why would you want to go there" countries It's the smallest land of the 5 central asia countries but it might be the most complete of them all, and also a good one for those who like mountains, about 92% of the territory is covered with it, some going up to 7000 meters high. Not sure if this is a famous singer but i heard this song all the time in the radio so, i guess this might be a popular one Shabnam Surayo – Nesti

I guess i'll keep going on this solo "visit central asia" show for the Festival of Music This time with Kyrgyzstan . Did you know 94% of their country is covered with (really high) mountains? This place is a paradise for hikers and mountain lovers. Basically, picture Switzerland, but with affordable prices and really good food Мирбек Атабеков – Mypac

yeah, to me was the biggest surprise of the 5. Maybe because of Borat movies, I was expecting something different, ended up going from "why would you go to Kazakhstan?" to "why didn't you go there sooner?" very quick. Most underrated country i've ever visited

Yes! And all in the same week. That is what i loved about Kazakhstan, has desert, mountains, canyons, snow, lots of different cool stuff.

So can we drop some music for the festival? I guess, so here is my first take, from a country i learned to love this year (), together with a few photos as requested by @konig This is not only my favourite of the 5 Stans, but also this artist was the coolest surprise from the trip: started to listen by chance in an Air Astana flight entertainment and got hooked by her voice. I call her the Billie Eilish of Central Asia Hope some of you will like it too, and if so go and listen to more as her other songs are also really good. Ayau – Sybyrlaiyn . . .

Looks like the song competition is suffering its own middle age crisis :-) Honestly, don’t take it “too serious”, just as an opportunity to listen to different stuff in a Spotify playlist, and just pick those you like the most, if any. It’s just for fun, nothing else :-)

I’ll share something nice from some of the places I visited this spring, and

what a disappointment must be to South Africa, not only loosing the second final in two years, but also doing it after managing to do the impossible: eliminate Australia. But what a World Cup, and what a New Zealand tournament!!!

New Zealand managed to beat West Indies which means we will have a complete new World Champion! Final will be played tomorrow

Talk about surprises! The six time world champions, the winners of the last THREE editions, the defending World Cup champions Australia are OUT! The finalists of last year’s tournament South Africa played a superb match and knocked Australia in a World Cup match for the first time ever! The other finalist will be decided tomorrow between New Zealand and West Indies

Does anyone know if the morning sessions will be broadcasted? Or where to check the results for the morning competitions?

Another great match to end the group phase, and another big surprise: England got defeated by a superb West Indies team and is out of the World Cup! Semi finals will be played Thursday and Friday:

As expected New Zealand beat Pakistan and India is officially out of the World Cup!

The best match in the World Cup so far was played today! Both teams definitely deserved to be in the final four, India was so close of catching Australia…. Probably India will be eliminated, which will be quite a disappointed, it will depends on New Zealand that has to beat Pakistan tomorrow.

Well i guess i understand now why Australia has won the last three World Cups and is the main favorite to also grab this one. Was expecting good fight but instead got a walk in the park from the australians against New Zealand. Bowled out and losing by 60 runs. What a team! This week next matches are expectingly less interesting, don't expect any surprises. A good one will happen next 13 October, with Australia vs India

Probably the best match of the tournament so far, between what are probably the top 2 of Group B. Tomorrow’s might be a good one: current World Champions Australia vs New Zealand

true, but was expecting India to get troubles from Australia, not from New Zealand, and specially not by being bowled out. Makes the group phase interesting though

I’ve been recently introduced by some friends to cricket (or the t20 version of it, at least) and actually liked it so I’m following the World Cup that’s happening during this month

Tried to open a new topic for the Women's World Cup like the one for Men's but i guess the common thread will have to do it for the girls ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Anyway, some interesting matches on this first four days i would say, especially the defeat of India agains New Zealand.