Ashgabat to Mary

Not a good start to a long drive...was told I needed to drink vodka with my meals!	350 km from Ashgabat to Mary (pronounced Mar-ee)	Ak Bugdaż (White Wheat) Museum, Anau	A dirt mound - ruins of an ancient structure along the Silk Road, Anau, Turkmenistan
Memorial of Seyitjemaletdin, Anau	Seyitjemaleddin (Seyed Jemal-ad-din)	Modern structure at Seyitjemaleddin	15th C. mosque of Seyitjemaleddin
19th C. photograph of the mosque of Seyitjemaleddin before it was destroyed by earthquake	Ruins of the 15th C. Mosque of Seyitjemaleddin	Local people construct these little brick piles for luck	Severe earthquake damage from 1948
Remains of some of the tile work on the Mosque of Seyitjemaleddin	The once-beautiful Mosque of Seyitjemaleddin	Ruins of the Mosque of Seyitjemaleddin	Ruins of the Mosque of Seyitjemaleddin
The Mosque of Seyitjemaleddin was built on the ruins of the ancient Parthian fortress	Piles built from the bricks of the Mosque of Seyitjemaleddin	Mystic tradition of Turkmen pilgrims to the grave of Sheikh Seyitjemaleddin	Piles of bricks around what are thought to be burial mounds
Signs of the ancients	Entrance to the ancient cistern of the Parthian fortress of Anau	The surviving brick dome of the Parthian cistern, Anau	The desolate road between Ashgabat and Mary
Heavy trucks have damaged the road surface leaving deep ruts	What was to be our second stop between Ashgabat and Mary, but I wasn't feeling well so we pressed on	The ancient settlement of Abiverd between Ashgabat and Mary - another victim of the Mongol invasion	The arid plains between Ashgabat and Mary
Wide Load - a convoy of trucks carrying massive pipes across Turkmenistan	One of the many canals dug by the Soviets for irrigation, this one near Dushak	The highway between Dushak and Tejen, Turkmenistan	Flag of Turkmenistan along the highway
Turkmenistan Railways locomotive	Roadside monument with armored vehicles outside Tejen, Turkmenistan	Tank on static display along the highway near city of Tejen	Welcome to Tejen, Turkmenistan
Mosaic wall at the entrance to Tejen, Turkmenistan	0.62 TMT = $0.22 per liter or $0.83 per gallon - payable if you've used your free monthly quota	Mosque of Tejen	Cotton harvest season
Small cable-stay bridge over a canal between Tejen and Mary