Viva Las Vegas, sang Elvis, and a lot of folks wax lyrical and have likened Ashgabat to Vegas; well it isn't to be honest, walking the strip in Vegas was far more illuminating, bright, hectic dazzling with plenty of them street gals. (though they may have disappeared in the last 20 years).
It was bordering on being a boring night trip around the city; not just because there was a distinct lack of dancing girls but everything was spread out. The trip was crammed into just over half an hour and only saw a couple of things close up, most of the time was taken up being on said fucking bus.
There is always a positive though, in this case , back in the bar by 9pm imbibng the local beer and the weird experience of an amateur stand up comedy evening. Well everyone else was laughing except me, I didn't scowl either. Just my resting face.
Alem Cultural and Entertainment Center, the big wheel we visited during the daylight hours. Even more spectacular lit up
The Wedding Palace is a unique 11-story building topped by a large, 100ft diameter globe representing the Earth inside an eight-pointed star.
It serves as a civil registry building with ceremonial halls for marriages and was inaugurated in 2011. Some of the halls that can hold up to 1,000 guests at once.
Unique to the Wedding Palace, it is mandatory for couples marrying here to have their photo taken in front of a portrait of the President of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow.
The Ashgabat Shopping and Entertainment Center set in landscaped gardens has 240 different shops and stores, complete with underground parking and garage servicing facilities and a car was for all those sparkling white cars. There are also gyms, beauty parlours hairdressers and gaming zones
Skylines with lots of stuff
The teardrop shaped Yyldyz Hotel we looked at in daylight
The Turkmenistan Tower, looking down at all before it.
[//]:# ([//]:# (!worldmappin 37.95250 lat 58.35147 long d3scr))
What a weird place
Do they really have 240 shops on operation there
Well I never counted them, just what we were told. It was a really massive building
All in all a fantastic country to visit
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At least getting back to the bar by nine for some local beer makes up for a half-hour bus tour where nothing much happens
Spot on LOL
Ha, back in the bar by nine sounds like the real win. A half hour tour and most of it just sitting on the bus, that is rough. Did the big wheel make up for it?
LOL, the beer made up for it
Beer after a bus tour is the real reward, honestly. That big wheel earned its keep that day.
spot on
Thank you, glad that one landed right.
Hiya, @ybanezkim26 here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Top 3 in Travel Digest #3095.
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cheers @ybanezkim26 @worldmappin always special to get a mention
That last image of the tower overlooking the place is absolutely mental. It looks amazing and crazy at the same time.
Amazing and crazy are good words!
TBH it was a brilliant trip
I never heard of Ashgabat. Shame on me. It is bright. I looked it up in Wikipedia and found this:
That's just fascinating.
I was married in Las Vegas (1973). I don't remember seeing street ladies. Maybe we went to a different part of the Strip.
Once again, a really enlightening post. You do get around :)
Cheers @agmoore thanks for the positive vibes, well I guess if you were getting married you were quite rightly focussed on one special person.
Glad you enjoyed the post, I suffer from Wanderlust, and I guess it is what I do , travel and snap away.
cheers