You can see them almost everywhere in Turkmenistan, majestically and unhurriedly traversing the country’s deserts and wastelands. Sometimes also walking in the middle of the road, completely undisturbed by cars which overtake them at a dizzying speed. Camels not only make Turkmenistan’s landscape look more exotic, but also bring in calmness and dignity, in which they resemble the country’s inhabitants.

The name of the two-humped camels, also called bactrians, which used to live on the territory of contemporary Turkmenistan, comes from the ancient state of Bactria that once existed on the border of present Iran, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. Their images, the oldest of which date back to the 4th millennium B.C., can be seen on petroglyphs carved in the caves of the Kopet Dag mountains. For many centuries, bactrians were the primary means of transport used on the Silk Road. Following the Arabic conquest, they were replaced by much more resilient dromedaries or single-humped camels brought in from the Arabian Peninsula. It’s them that we can most often see on Turkmen deserts today.

Camels once played an enormous role in the life of Turkmen nomads, but they are no longer used as draught animals. Today, the only “use” of camels is their milk and hair. The very nourishing camel milk is used for making the chal - a kind of fermented fizzy kefir which is a marvellous thing when it comes to quenching thirst at the desert. But here comes a warning for people with delicate stomachs: it is better to start getting used to the chal slowly!

The camel hair is used for making blankets, hats, sweaters and other garment. Almost every Turkmen has a coloured camel-hair ribbon in his car. It is supposed to protect the driver and passengers from accidents and ensure a safe trip. The Turkmen’s belief in the power of the camel hair must be very strong, because they don’t seem to bother about such details as stopping at the red light or turning on the headlights after it gets dark.

A camel meat is not commonly eaten in Turkmenistan. Camels are, so to say, sacred animals. They can walk around freely except for certain periods when they are milked and shaved. What a life!

Upon spotting a camel, foreign visitors usually immediately take out their cameras, which makes the Turkmen laugh. Local people find it funny. It is as if someone got excited at the sight of a dog and begged the driver to stop, because they want to take a picture of it.

One of the Peace Corps volunteers who has been teaching English in Turkmenistan since September 2006 and started writing her own blog about this country (worth reading!) called it “Camel Spotting”. She must have been fascinated by those stately animals. Right after arriving in Turkmenistan, she decided to count every camel she sees, but she gave up after the 30th camel. Well, it looks like one gets used to everything…