Our time at Camp Baku sadly came to an end after three nights and four days of sleeping on car bonnets at the port. We were relieved of $250 per vehicle in exchange for a space on the boat, which didn't seem to unreasonable considering they originally wanted $400. The captain was drunk and we had to climb what was basically a rope ladder to get aboard! After 20 hours at sea Turkmenistan appeared on the horizon, filling us all with a sense of anticipation and dread.
Turkmen customs are perhaps the most thorough we have experienced yet. It took 8 hours in one big office before all five teams were allowed into the country. A further $200 was spent here on car insurance, road tax and fuel surcharges. At about 6pm we set out into the desert unaware of what was waiting for us.
The roads were pretty good and Molly was able to tick over at 60-65mph for most of the time. Unfortunately police checkpoints are stationed at about every 20km of the country! We were pulled over at least 13 times during one day and every police officer was looking to get some cash out of us. We paid our first speeding ticket for doing 72kmh in a 60kmh zone (there were no signs) of $15. The officer put the money straight into his top pocket. We were caught speeding two further times across Turkmen but managed to pretend we didn't know what "dollar" meant. After we'd been stopped a few times we realised that the police officers pulling us over didn't have cars so it was safe to pretend we hadn't seen them and drive on.
As the miles ticked over the checkpoints became less frequent but the guards more cheeky. One tried to tell us we had a faulty handbrake, gearbox and chassis and needed to pay a fine. Another stole my mobile from the car whilst I was at the document office (we realised this about 30km after). The temperature hit 48 degrees in the desert but we didn't suffer too badly since we were nearly always moving. Team OB1-2-Gobi broke down on the way to the capital. Last we heard it was a head gasket failure.
The Turkmen people were lovely, offering us food, drink and directions. We decided that the people in authority do not represent the real Turkmenistan. Thankfully, getting out of the country was much easier than getting in!
1 comment:
Hi guys,
This is Chris Schirm, the Peace Corps Volunteer that helped you through customs in Turkmenbashy.
Glad to see that you finally made it out of Turkmenistan safe and sound with only a few minor annoyances. What did you think of the Kindergarten cops. We have been pretty lucky thus far as our tour of the caucuses has passed its midway point and we are starting to head back in the direction of Turkmenistan.
Hope that the rest of the road treats you well and you get to Mongolia.
Best of luck
Chris Schirm
Post a Comment