Independence Park in Ashgabat covers a vast area , just under 500 acres, which is nearly half of the city's open green space, it is mostly made up of pathways and trees and shrubs, and statues of people; "famous" in Turkmen history.
Sitting in an albeit cramped mini bus, enjoying the very cold air being pumped out of a very efficient air con system does tend to lull one into a false sense of serenity. Arriving here and stepping out into the firece heat, 97F, sheesh within minutes you are sweating, knowing that once back on the bus, you will experience that horrible feeling of icy air hitting a hot sweaty tee shirt. Yeuch.
So c'mon lets get sweaty together, its a hell of a trek to the top
A rather large pretentious golden statue of Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenistan's first president. under whose leadership the government busied themselves banning black cars, tight clothing, satellite dishes, social media, lip-syncing and smelly dogs in the capital city. I told you it was a weird bit of the world.
It would have been good if the fountains were spraying a light mizzle of water.
The design of the Independence Monument is said to be drawn from the style of traditional Turkmen tents and the traditional headgear worn by Turkmen girls. It is surrounded by statues of 27 notable Turkmen historical figures, warriors, and poets. It stands at 387 feet tall.
Within the building, there are exhibition halls where important works of art representing Turkmenistan history are displayed. centered on a golden statue of Saparmurat Niyazov.
It is often nicknamed “the plunger” due to its distinctive shape.
A couple of said "famous" people
As you can see the incline was quite misleading, I don't get this breathless doing the jiggy jiggy!
I wonder if the locals ever visit, as it was empty, not a soul insight, apart from the guard of honour and their minder at the Independence monument. they get vewwy vewwy angwy if you try to sneak a photo. As a fellow traveller found out when the sentry minder stormed over, fully kitted up with a gun and demanded to examine his camera, making him delete all that had soldiers on them!
Now let's hop on the bus gus, and get cold and clammy
Some other bits in the park
Altyn Asyr trade centre, nicknamed the "Five-Legged" building as apparently seen from above it has five distinct legs to symbolise the five regions of the country
Although it has a rather grand name it is basically a shopping mall, retailing all you can desire from clothing stores, textiles, and everyday goods.
The former president of Turkmenistan, Saparmurat Niyazov, is also a published author, and created a bizarre work known as "The Book of the Soul" or The Ruhnama it is a two volume publication made up of a weird mix of revisionist history, his moral ideals, religious norms, and fairytales.
He ordered that reading the book was mandatory at all schools and universities, and that all new government employees should be tested on the book’s contents and even an element within driving tests!
The golden relief work around the base depicting episodes from within the book
"The Giant Ruhnama" is just part of the personality cult of Niyazov, it stands over 30ft high and every evening it opens mechanically to display digital pages of the book
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