There are many old Soviet cars still roaming the streets of Turkmen towns and villages. The Ladas Zhiguli model is most common, but one can also come across Moskvich cars (though much less often), which probably remember Brezhnev’s or maybe even Khrushchev’s times. The Turkmen must be feeling very sentimental about them, because they […]

Several days ago, I wrote a post entitled “Forest in the desert”, in which I spoke negatively about the project of planting trees around Ashgabat that has been implemented for years by the Turkmen authorities. My post was criticized by many commentators and I was accused of constant “complaining and bragging”.
So I decided to […]

I have recently read an article written by a Leonid Kiashko entitled „A drop of water works miracles” published on the governmental web portal Turkmenistan.gov.tm. Its author with admiration describes the project realized for the last few years of planting hundreds of trees around Ashgabat which are permanently watered with the help of a special […]

Somewhere in the steppes surrounding the Caspian Sea …

I took this photo in September in Ashgabat in the courtyard of one of the mosques. I found these fruits interesting, although I have no idea what their name is and if they are edible. Maybe you know what it is?

March 8 is one of the most popular holidays not only in Turkmenistan but in all post-Soviet countries. On this occasion I would like to wish all women all the best and dedicate this song to them.

I wish everyone lots of love in the coming week!

The Turkmen city of Krasnovodsk (today called Turkmebashi) lies about 400 kilometres from the Kazakh town of Zhana-Ozen in the Mangystau region. It takes 15 hours to reach one place from the other, mainly because there is no road on the large part of the route, just rutted tracks meandering back and forth in […]

The capital of Turkmenistan is changing rapidly. Multi-storey buildings built on money from gas export are springing in the centre of the city. Glass, marble and steel are gradually supplanting small brick houses with colourful gates and shutters surrounded by high walls. Entire old districts have disappeared in order to make space for the […]

Two days ago I placed a few pictures on my blog and asked if anyone knew where they could have been taken, what they depicted and to what historical period they referred. Unfortunately, nobody answered correctly, so I am solving the quiz now.
The photos were taken in the town of Lerik in southern Azerbaijan, […]