Turkmenistan > Long bus ride to Mary

Breakfast is quite an ordeal. I walk out of the hotel and turn left on the street, only to enter another hotel two doors down. I join the breakfast table there as the last member of the tour group. I prepare myself for a long, unpleasant travel day. The distance is only 350 kilometers, but the road surface is said to be poor. Just outside Ashgabat, I immediately understand what that means. Due to the extreme summer heat, the asphalt melts.

Turkmenistan - An old trading post in Turkmenistan

Heavy trucks leave ruts sometimes more than ten centimeters deep. In the cold winters, the road surface cracks from frost, forming potholes. The driver must sometimes go at a crawl. Because a relatively large weight rests on the bus’s rear wheels, the passengers in the back are practically launched over every bump. The result is that the bus must brake completely at each ripple. I estimate the average speed is not even thirty kilometers per hour. The shaking makes it impossible for me to sleep or read. The journey is also taking longer than anticipated. The intended lunch is still hours away, so it is decided to stop earlier at a small roadside restaurant. Finally, around seven o’clock in the evening, we reach the city of Mary. I am disappointed that we still haven’t arrived. The hotel turns out to be another twenty kilometers outside the city. Far too far, and too late to take a taxi into Mary. There is no choice but to eat at the hotel. Reluctantly, I order a kebab. I’m disappointed because this prevents me from exploring Turkmenistan beyond Ashgabat—a missed opportunity from the tour operator.