A visit to Älem medeni dynç alyş merkezi a cultural center in Ashgabat which was officially opened to the public on May 18, 2012 was hard work, stepping from an ice cold aircon mini bus into the breath taking hot air was well, breath taking.
As was the collossal structure itself.
Standing 312 ft tall it has a 56 ft decorative spire on top and has six floors, each of which are 23 ft tall four floors above ground and two floors are below.
A 187 ft diameter glass and white-steel casing sits on top of the building containing a functional ferris wheel known as 'Alem', in English translating as 'The Universe'.
The wheel itself is 156 ft in height and was built by Fabbri Group through its Giant Wheels brand it houses 24 six-seat cabins for guests to ride in.
Alem was recognised by Guinness World Records as the world's tallest Ferris wheel in an enclosed space at the time of the opening ceremony.
It also houses a bowling alley, cinema screens, a restaurant, a planetarium, and numerous fairground attractions and video gaming machines.
The enclosure resembles the eight-sided star of Oguz Khan, the legendary king of the Turkmen tribes. $90 million structure
No need to worry about being photo bombed , as like with the rest of the capital; it was open for business but there was no one else around!
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