Turkmenistan

The most secretive and least visited of the Central Asian states, Turkmenistan is ruled through a ‘personality cult’ president, rich off the back of natural gas finds. Ashgabat, the capital is a living testament to this wealth. It is an oasis of marble and gold in the middle of the desert, where such modern structures have replaced the more traditional markets and villages. We saw North Korea-like rehearsals for a library opening ceremony and our guide books warned against frank speaking in Government buildings such as museums which were likely to be bugged, and were themselves strong examples of the regime’s propaganda.

The current rulers promote Turkmen culture over that of Russian, but relics of Russian rule can be found in orthodox churches, soviet style parks, monuments and housing and bizarre attractions such as swimming in the Kow Ata underground lake. In the desert to the North, the natural landscape is rudely (but spectacularly) interrupted by a huge gas crater, originally sparked by Soviet-era exploration, but which continues to burn today.

Outside of the main towns, the traditional Turkmen way of life can still be found. We visited Dhamla Village, hidden in the dunes of the Karakum Desert and Nokhur, a village in the Kopet Dag Mountains on the border with Iran. Here there are a number of traditional shrines which have survived both Islam and Communism.

These traditional beliefs have in many places been grafted onto more formal Islam. Historic sites such as Konye-Urgench in the North and Merv in the East still receive pilgrims who pay their respects at the graves of holy men buried there. These sites are consequently well-preserved but others, such as the remote 11th Century site of Dekhistan is so little visited the ruins seem to be well on their way to melting back into the desert.

These photographs were taken in October 2011.