Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
As cities go, this is an odd one. The country itself is pretty mental, mainly due to their crackers rulers… Ashgabat is in between a desert and a mountain range in Central Asia and has a population of about a million people.
This million poeple have a statue of their president made of pure gold, it rotates to face the sun during daylight! He also renamed January after his own name, and he changed the rest of the months names too.
It’s crackers, and surely that is a good enough reason to visit! He has renamed towns after his mother, and you are required to recite his poetry if you are taking a driving test… Ummm….
Anyone with a tourist visa is required to hire a guide, which kind of sucks if you want to go and explore truly independently, but don’t let this put you off. If you get a decent guide then they will help you have a pretty spectacular time in this crazy city, and the people are so welcoming and friendly.
Here is a pretty fascinating article about Turkmenistan, talks about the Stalinist slant and loads more…
