November 25 -- Back to Ashgabat

Breakfast today was French toast, boiled egg, sausage, cheese, and oatmeal. Not my favorites but all very good. Plenty of black tea was available so I was happy. There were actually other people in the dining room at breakfast so there are guest besides us. Don’t care much for the coffee here and may just start drinking tea at home.

We have a couple of hours to kill before we go to the airport. We all will probably take a walk on the beach and finish packing up the last few things. There are three people running lawn mores and cutting the grass. It is interesting to watch people run mowers that have seldom done it before because the natural state here is no grass, it’s a desert. There were three cutting and two supervising. They had their faces covered with masks I assume because of the dust (there was not dust) but no ear protection and the mowers were very loud even 75 feet up in the air.

Another little interesting thing, the airfare from Turkmenbashi to Ashgabat is $85 if you are a foreigner. If you are a Turkmen the fair is $20. Airline is run by the government and it seems reasonable for the there to be a difference but i have never encounter this circumstance.

We went for a short walk on the beach. It was quite cool. The air temperature is about 40 F but there is a stiff wind that makes it feel close to freezing. We snapped a few pics and then came back to the hotel. The manager then arranged for the balconies on the 8th floor to be opened for us on each end of the building. We were able to see all of the hotels in both directions and the construction across the street from the hotels. It looks like they are trying to build some kind of theme park there for tourists. I think they are using the philosophy that if you build it they will come.

The flight to Ashgabat was pretty much like any other flight. It took 55 minutes flying and about 20 minutes taxi time. This trip was much better than 6 or more hours in a car.

We are staying at the Nusay Hotel this time and it is far different than the AK-Altyn. The room is spacious. We have a view of the president’s palace. (no photographs allowed) There are government buildings all along the street. There are fountains everywhere. All of the buildings have white marble facades. Quite a lovely sight. We have a corner room at the hotel. Essentially we have a view down the length of two streets. The room was spotless. The bathroom was especially nice to see after the other three places we have stayed in the country. It is more expensive at about $165 a night but I think worth the price. The staff is very helpful. Also they take Visa so you don’t have to pay cash, there is a 3% service charge for Visa. You can change dollars to manat on the lower level and there is a rug and art dealer on the same level. There is a spa with a sauna and steam room, an indoor pool, and a gym. The use of the spa is 30 manat for hotel residents and 100 manat for others. There are two massage rooms as well. A one hour massage is 100 manat, $35, a bargain. Oh, by the way, breakfast is included in the price of the room. All of the meals we had in the hotel were excellent, 4 breakfasts and 2 dinners. Breakfast is included in the rate other meals are extra.

We ate in the restaurant at the hotel this evening and the meal was very good. The cost was almost triple of the restaurant in Balkanabat.  Food at both the hotel and at outside restaurants were probably just as good as at the Nusay. I still think the better all around stuff is worth the extra money.

We went for a walk after dinner along a busy street that was lit almost like it was daylight. Fountains lined the first 150 meters of the walk. They were very pretty. We walked down to the next major intersection and then turned right. We found a little shopping area with a grocery store so we picked up some water, coke, tea, and tissues. No one in the store spoke English but they helped us find what we wanted anyway. Total cost for the bag was 11.3 manat. That is about 33% more than we would have paid in Balkanabat.

So all is well in Ashgabat on this evening before Thanksgiving.