Wanderings

Just returned from Turkmenistan to find TWO thriving at my parents' house and in no hurry to leave. The little piggy has them wrapped around his little paw and I brought him home only to find he has a very well developed ability to beg pitifully that he did not have when I left! He really adjusted quickly and well to the routine there, in part because of their enormous efforts to work with him and in part because of all the time we put in before this trip so he would be comfortable. He was a little reticent to even greet me when I walked in the door as if to say, "Oh forget it now. I'm used to this and you left so you can stay gone!" But he came around and was very happy to come home to his familiar places and yard.

Despite the great strides forward on the 60mg of Prozac, I was not comfortable with the degree to which it also made him very outgoing, shall we say? He was too aggressive, too barky and too in your face with people we met outside and I did not like the down part of his progress -too many extremes so in consult with his doctor, I reduced him back to 40mg which seems ideal for him. We will leave him there for 3 or 4 months and re-evaluate. In the meantime, it's a huge relief for me to know I can leave him with my parents if need be and everyone is very comfortable with that arrangement.

As for Turkmenistan, it is a country unlike any other I have visited. The mix of desert tribe and soviet influence is so incongruous that you feel almost as though you are in Vegas when in Ashgabat and in a biblical play when in the Kara Kum desert. I could write pages but I will leave it in a photographic essay form which is more explicative. And with that, here it is...

The famed Akhal Teke horse of Turkmenistan. They are very pure, hot blooded horses that are considered the fastest in the world. They were cross-bred with Thoroughbreds in order to make the Thoroughbreds faster but all it did was dilute the speed of the Akhal Teke. They are famed for their unique stature and hair that is very short and shines like spun gold. This one was one of the stallions at the farm we rode from but was injured so not available for us to ride.

The White City, as Ashgabat is known. This is due to the obscene amount of marble that is mandated for every new building in the capital. The city is spotless, the buildings huge and mostly unoccupied and it has a weird vacancy about it. It's all for show and if you look closely, you can see the poor workmanship. The Korpet Dag mountains in the background fog form the border with Iran. Don't think I wasn't tempted!

Yet another fantasy of Turkmenbasy's, the previous president who held himself to be the father of Turkmenistan and was something of a megalomaniac. He built these mosques all over the capital and yet they too, are empty. There is very little enthusiasm for Islam from what I could see as the people are far more concerned with survival than with huge ornate mosques they don't have the ability to visit.

Gatlaklik, my stallion for the trip. He was a national champion endurance horse, named for a famed tribe and sire of a huge passel of foals. At one point he commanded 40 mares and fought some of the other stallions we rode for the rights to that herd. He was the undisputed king of all 6 of the stallions on the trip and far faster than the rest. Riding him was like taking off in a fighter plane. I have never ridden a horse this fast or strong in my life. I grew very attached to him over the course of the trip.

The market, source of every conceivable food, object, and a plethora of sweets. The Turkmen have a serious sweet tooth and there were bakeries galore in here. Samosas and excellent chipatis were sold on the outskirts.


Camels are used not for transport but for milk, hides and meat. Every so often, a large herd would appear from their grazing grounds in the desert and pass through camp.

The sire at the farm we rode out of. This stallion was the most magnificent horse I have ever seen. This was a rare moment when he wasn't rearing and bucking. Dowlet, the trainer, is holding him and was the only one who could manage him. It must be pointed out that Dowlet is also a jockey and tiny - under 5' tall making it even more impressive to see him manage a stallion like this.

We stayed in this family's house in the desert one night. There are four generations living here. Their hospitality was incredible. They had almost nothing but would give you everything if you needed it. Here they are looking at Ann's camera because they have never met foreigners before. They have never seen a mirror so they have no idea what they look like. They begged us to take their photos over and over and then play them back so they could see what they looked like.

One of the girls in this house. The Turkmen people are incredibly handsome people. This girl had a beautiful smile and a wonderful, open bearing. She was thrilled with the camera and completely free of any artifice.

The Winnebago, as we called it. Our support trucks were old Soviet army vehicles and they were indestructible. We ate in it, slept in it when need be and generally lived out of this thing. It was driven by a Russian guy named Badr whom we dubbed the pirate because he looked like, well, a pirate.

More photos to come. In an effort not to make this a novel, I'll break it down into sections. Stay tuned!