TURKMENISTAN GHOST TOWNS: ANCIENT NISA AND MODERN DOWNTOWN ASHGABAT

On a cold, blustery day we visited Old Nisa, an ancient fortress built in about 250 BC and, as of 2007, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Located about 10 miles southwest of Ashgabat, it is just over the border from Iran.

This area was a major world power between the 3rd century BC and the 3rd century AD and formed a barrier to Roman expansion while at the same time serving as a major crossroads and trading center.

A barren, desolate place, it is hard to imagine a thriving trade-based community here. Heck, we weren't even seeing tourists other than those in our own group. (Of course, that's how it was no matter where we went in Turkmenistan.)

However, back in the day Nisa boasted beautiful palaces and temples, a treasury, a wine warehouse and many storerooms. The fortress walls were almost 30 feet thick at the base, and 43 towers once dotted the cityscape.

That anything at all remains after more than 2,000 years of weathering and several large earthquakes is hard to believe:

There was one rather strange thing we could see from the Nisa Fortress: the Serdar Health Path, aka The Walk of Health. This paved footpath that zig zags its way from Ashgabat to the top of a nearby mountain and then through the mountains was the brainchild of--who else?--Turkmenistan's first (and oh-so-eccentric) president, Saparmurat Niyazov. It was completed in 2000. The first and most used section is 8 km long and the second section is 37 km long. President Niyazov required government employees to walk the full length at least once a year, and both he and the current president expect (but don't require) citizens to make use of the path on a regular basis. There is even a National Health Day the first Saturday in November each year when many locals walk this path.

We had seen something similar in the Flaming Mountains in China, near Turpan, but it was not quite as ambitious of a building project as The Walk of Health.

That path is a good transition to what we saw in Ashgabat, a city almost entirely rebuilt since the turn of the century at enormous cost and featuring some very bizarre structures. We think it is the weirdest city we have ever visited. Take, for instance, this giant indoor Ferris wheel with its eight-pointed star front:

We had noticed on several other occasions that the Central Asians really love a good Ferris wheel, but this version takes that love to a whole new level of obsession. It is part of the Alem Cultural and Entertainment Center, which opened in May 2012 and cost $90 million to build. It stands 154 feet tall and is the tallest enclosed Ferris wheel in the world. So where are the patrons? When we were there, it was completely silent, not a soul in sight.

This beautiful building is the International University for the Humanities and Development, opened in 2014. It includes 2,000 students in six colleges, and all instruction is in English. There were a couple of cars passing by, but no students walking in and out of the glass door:

I think this is an Ode to Wheat (my name, not an official name). Wheat is a major crop in Turkmenistan, and our local guide told us that when additional workers are needed to help with a harvest, residents are pulled from their regular jobs to work in the fields. Perhaps it was harvest season when we were driving around and that's why we didn't see anyone in the downtown area of Ashgabat.

And what is this fancy gold and silver statue? I have absolutely no idea, and there was no one around to tell us:

Apparently other than white marble, there is an acceptable color of reflective blue glass that can be used in constructing new buildings. We saw it everywhere.

What is that gold disk on top of the round tower in the picture on the left? There are so many intriguing architectural details, but little information available about them.

There is some really fun art sprinkled quite liberally throughout the city . . . but not many people around to appreciate it.

I have no idea who this historical figure is, but he looks like someone I should know:

This is the new (isn't everything new?) Ashgabat shopping mall. Where are the shoppers?

At over 600 feet tall, the Monument to the Constitution is the second tallest structure in Ashgabat. It was dedicated in 2011 on the 20th year of Turkmenistan's independence.

A giant thermometer is in the center of the city. You can see an electronic display at the base of the thermometer that says it was 15℃, which is 59℉. It reminds me a lot of the world's tallest thermometer, located in Baker, California, a few hours from where I live:

And let's not forget one of the most famous monuments in town, The Monument to Neutrality, originally erected by AND featuring none other that President I: Saparmurat Niyazov. At 312 feet tall, it is the tallest monument in Turkmenistan (and 6.5 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty).  It cost $12 million to build. The golden statue of Niyazov on top, holding his arms out to his people as he stands in front of a waving flag, is 39 feet tall:

Turkmenistan declared their international neutrality in the UN General Assembly in 1995. They have policies of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries and non-involvement in any military armed conflict. In other words, they will never go to war. With that in mind, I'm not sure how President Niyazov selected this design, which to me looks like a rocket or a bomb.

It used to be located in the center of town and the statue of Niyazov on top used to rotate so as to always face the sun, but the current president, in his attempt to quell the Niyazov cult, had it dismantled. A new Monument to Neutrality was built in the suburbs. Niyazov's statue was again placed on the top, but it no longer rotates.

And please note the abundance of visitors to this important site.

What a weird place--one extravagant expenditure after another, from the white marble buildings to the golden statues to the huge monuments--and hardly anyone out on the streets. Compare this to the mall in Washington, D.C., which is always crowded with school children, families, tourists from around the world, and people who live and work nearby. The D.C. monuments and statues have also accrued over a period of at least two centuries, while most of these in Ashgabat have been built in the last two decades. Basically, Ashgabat is a monument to the two men who have ruled this country since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It's actually a little bit scary.

And the weirdest is yet to come in my next post: The Monument to Independence and to The Ruhnama.