a2b - Crotos in Turkmenistan, Part 1

Mr Lent does not sound too happy about about the ferry crossing on the Caspian Sea -

The ferry transfer over the Caspian Sea from Baku tu Turkmenbashy deserves a chapter of its own right if one is used to the huge luxury vessels between Finland, Sweden and Estonia. Anyway, everybody survived the appalling hygienic conditions on the boat and we arrived in the port in the evening of Tuesday April 16.

- [I think he meant 'unhygienic' conditions] and he’s even less impressed with the entry through Immigration -

Then the real torture started: Immigration issued visas all throughout the night, one by one, and after an almost sleepless night in the ferry terminal we could start our journey the next morning. Allegedly we were the first tourists to enter Turkmenistan through this port this year. From my previous reading about the Silk Road countries, Turkmenistan ranked pretty low on the list already….

The next obstacle is a constant Easterly headwind as they proceed towards the Garagum [black sands] desert. Eventually the problems seem to come to an end and the journey settles down to a routine of cycling on a flat terrain, buying supplies as they go along and overnight camping in the desert. Further along they pass a number of architectural and historical sites, mosques, shrines and a presidential summer palace.

As they approach Ashgabat, the capital, the roads improve and are replaced by a motorway which provides one of the highlights of Turkmenistan -

Interestingly, after Arcman the road changes into a wide motorway turning also our cycling into a presidential (if not royal) event becauce biking on an almost empty motorway beats everything you can ever experience on the most developed cycle track networks in countries like the Netherlands or Germany.

And the temperature goes up and the frequency of internet cafes/bars goes down. Further details can be found on Joachim Lents blog and other related postings on the Crotos - BaltiCCycle page