Crossing the Caspian Sea
The Caspian crossing was shorter
than we all expected. It only took 24 hours from embarking in Baku to
disembarking in Turkmenbasy. So we arrived in Turkmenistan full of expectations
and laden with another 4 days worth of emergency boat snacks. The boat was a
great success with clean cabins, flushing toilets (once we worked out how to
punch the button), and pot noodle and hot dogs to sustain us. Louise ran a pub
quiz half way through to keep us all entertained and with a round of questions
on 'who has done this in their past' we all learnt a little more about the
individuals in our group. Who do you think was most likely to have done the Full
Monty in their neighbors yard?
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| On the boat at last! |
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| Luke gyming on the boat - what health & safety? |
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| Dave's incentive program |
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| Dave & Nico pull the boat in |
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| Last views of Baku from the boat |
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| Our boat, the Azerbaijan |
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| The Caspian might have rules... |
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| Alicia showing off her spacious cabin |
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| Dave is a nutter |
Border
This was just another border
crossing. Or so we thought! A night in customs and a day waiting by
the side of the road watching Turkmen life go by and we were “free” to proceed
on our way across Turkmenistan. It only took us 20 hours and more than 120
stamps to clear customs.
Desert bush camp
We bush camped that night just
outside the suburbs of Balkanabad, heading off the road and into the
surrounding desert landscape. About 1/2 km off the road Calypso began to feel
less firm on the ground and rapidly became stuck in the sand [it was our local
guide's fault - Ed]. We all jumped off to lighten her load, but she was in too
deep. The sand tracks and shovels came off and we all got stuck in trying to
dig her out and turn her around before camping. As the sun began to set,
without making any headway in releasing Calypso, we turned our efforts towards
setting up camp for the night and getting dinner on. We were all exhausted from
the border crossing and lack of sleep, so after dinner it was only one beer
around the fire and off to bed.
Refreshed after a good night’s
sleep we pulled all our strength together and with Nico's amazing driving and
cool desert sand we got Calypso back on the road in about an hour and set off
for Turkmenistan's super capital city, Ashgabat.
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| Calypso is stuck! |
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| Luke, Jason and Nico getting the sand mats out |
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| Cal and Luke know team work |
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| Dave digging in |
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| Even Doug and Dougles, our poo paddles, helped |
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| T-Money doing her part |
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| Get the mat in there - Jason making sure Dave keeps a good posture |
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| And we're out! |
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| The sand feels hard under foot, but Calypso is a big beast! |
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| Dave & T-Money always ready for a pose |
Ashgabat - 'The Super City'
The Turkmenistan president's
vision of the city of the future makes Ashgabat a national showpiece. The pride
oozed off our local guide as we drew closer and we were all apprehensive of
what to expect from the country's capital. Calypso had to be clean and
shiny to enter the city, so our first stop was a car wash on the outskirts of
town. After no showers for 72 hours we thought we might have had to be
subjected to the high-pressure hoses too!
After showering and bathing to
remove the layers of grime most of the group hailed any car on the street to
take us to the 'British Pub' for dinner. With an 11 o'clock curfew there was
only time for 1 beer and a short game of pool before we relied on the locals to
give us a lift back to the hotel for around 5 manats [less than $2 for a 4km
ride - Ed]. Early next morning we headed off with our guide on a city tour. A
vast array of marble clad buildings and parks with symmetrical layouts,
numerous fountains and statues of important Turkmens were a feast for the eyes
as our coach passed them at high speed! Tina, Dave and Alicia escaped half way
through to the Russian bazaar to find some of the vibrancy of the local people,
which were nowhere to be seen on the streets. We all made it back to the hotel
after lunch to depart for our final bush camp and the gas crater before the
border.
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| Manicured parks |
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| Steve and Dave taking a break |
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| The post who did not know it - this guy was the reason for the public holiday that affected us in Azerbaijan |
Gas crater bush camp
As we arrived at our camp for the
night we eagerly swung open Calypso's door to be greeted by a crunch as the top
hinge of the door snapped off. This was a clear example of the state of
Turkmenistan's roads (the worst we have experienced so far). Mikkel roped it
securely in place while we made a quick dinner before heading off up to the gas
crater by Land Rover. As it came into sight it appeared to us as a portal to
Hell. Later we learned the locals call it the Doorway to Hell. It was
accidentally created more than 50 years ago whilst drilling for gas when a cave
collapsed allowing noxious gases to escape freely into the atmosphere. Setting
it alight was the obvious solution and it now forms part of the few tourist
attractions in Turkmenistan and a good spot for some great photography under
the brilliant stars of the desert sky.
Dave and Nico were up at dawn the
next day to start fixing Calypso's door and after some ingenious moving of
hinges, drilling and riveting she was fully functional, although her paint job
is now slightly askew with a blue hinge on the orange side wall.
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| Guys relaxing in the desert |
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| Girls relaxing in the desert |
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| Desert sunset |
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| Bruce taking a look on the other side |
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| Odyssey!! |
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| Daniel running down the hill lit up by the crater's flames |
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| Dawn at our desert camp |
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| Fixing the hinge |
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| Where does this water come from? |
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| Tina doesn't look too impressed! |
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| You can't fix anything without getting a hammer involved |
Salty dam bush camp
A day driving in the intense heat
of the desert made the sight of a salty mosquito infested stretch of water with
a few trees entice us off the road to set up camp. Sweating uncontrollably
after tent erection [hehehe, she said erection - Dave] a few of us braved the
muddy silt on the bottom to enjoy the refreshingly cool salty waters of what
can loosely be termed a lake. Steve treated us to one of his chicken recipes
for dinner and then we all had an early night in anticipation of the border
crossing the next day (and the swarm of mosquitoes drove us away from the camp
fire).
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| Giving a hand to Richard and Eve from England to replace their fuel pump |
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| Our last camp in Turkmenistan |
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| Mark, Dave, Jordan & Jason making tea |
Border
There was a slightly low mood in
the group as we approached the border as fears grew that they would find
something that would delay us from leaving, after our mega border crossing on the way in. However, our fears were
unsubstantiated and after a thorough search of us and the truck and 6 checks of
our passports we crossed into no mans land. Phew! Next stop, Uzbekistan!
