Bugs Everywhere

Tumbling blearly eyed off the slowest ferry in the World to set foot in Turkmenistan, I felt I had finally arrived in Central Asia. The heat here is extreme and the landscape between the coast and Ashgabad unrelentingly arid, though not without a certain charm. The people look noticeably more Turkic than hitherto, and in fact the women in particular are very beautiful as the blokes on the trip were not slow to spot. They tend to be tall and slender in build and wear brightly patterned full length dresses and almost African style headscarves. The people are immensely friendly at every turn.

Ashgadad is a highly interesting experience for unusual reasons and I shall perhaps return to it again at a later date. However I shall reserve judgement for the time until the air is a little clearer for making comments if you know what I mean.

We are joined here by six new travellers, two Danish girls, an English/Kiwi couple, and two further English and Kiwi blokes. Not really had a chance to get to know them yet, but we're all hoping they fit in well to what has been a really close knit group so far. In many ways and despite the amazing sights en route, the highlight of this first leg has been the bush camping and cameraderie around the campfire and over a few beers. As we pull off the road, the truck turns into a hive of activity as tents are pulled off the roof and thrown up, cooking equipment and food crates come out of their lockers, wood is chopped for the fire and chairs set up. We cook in groups having taken responsibility for buying supplies ourselves in the local markets, so it's a busy time for the cooks while everyone else raids the fridge for beers. Riki doubles as a guitar man as well as a driver so there've been a few late nights of singing down the track, though usually everyone is on the local vodka by that stage. Increasingly with the heat I've been opting to sleep outside under the stars which is a real privilege.