TRAVELLING THE EMBASSIES ROAD

With only five days to cross Turkmenistan, we know in advance that in this country we won't be sitting with the locals to have some tea if we want to manage to see something and be on time at the Uzbek border.

Clean and neat Ashgabat, is quite a different place from the ones that we've been used in the last few weeks, no crazy traffic circulating on top of the walkways and quiet streets are quite a surprise for us. Already passed away Turkmenbassy, rebuilt this place with typical soviet style, where big avenues meet big squares and on them, himself as the main theme in the decoration. Walking around you just can comprehend the meaning of pure egocentricity as you can see his face literally everywhere you look at.
Turkmen people are a mixture of Mongols and Russians with a more relaxed version of being Muslim, where veils are not a must which we gladly observe in their curious and characteristic faces.
With two days already gone and still on the first stop, it is time for us to hurry up and head North.
Willing not to see the whole country through the bus window, we decide to break our trip north and visit Mary, where with very little to offer and not many places to stay for travellers, we visited the bad preserved ruins of Merv and served as entertainment for the locals in town.
Having Turkmenabat as our launching point and with only a few hours to leave the country we reached the border with Uzbekistan, where after spending several hours and being checked even the colour of our dirty underwear in the backpacks , we finally made it into Uzbekistan.

Rushing up to Tashkent, willing to deal with all the bureaucracy needed for the following countries to visit and after the Chinese, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan consulates, it's more than enough to have the thought that maybe if Marco Polo would have had so much hassle in obtaining the permissions he would have changed the name of the Silk Road for the Embassies Road.
After a week in the capital waiting for our passports and hoping to get the precious stamps when we come back in a two weeks time, we set off South hoping to get a glimpse of the true Silk Road in or next stop, Samarkand.