Adventures in Asia: Karakum Desert, Turkmenistan

On Tuesday afternoon we continued north out of Erbent. The highway condition deteriorated badly.

Lucky for me Ishan is a professional and we kept moving along without issue. We stopped briefly to check out this sink hole just off the highway.

By the way, at this point the thermometre in the SUV was showing 42 C. A few minutes later it ticked up to 43, which makes it the hottest weather I have ever experienced! 

Shortly after 17:00 we reached our yurt for the night. 

Actually, my yurt, because Ishan is staying in a different camp on the other side of a sand dune, which means I have this yurt and the whole little valley to myself. Well, more accurately, because I looked it up and the valley between sand dunes is called a slack, I had the whole slack to myself.

The yurt here is not one of the tourist yurts you see often in Central Asia. Instead, it is decades old and apparently my tour company purchased it from a nomad family. Ishan told me this means the wood has been well smoked, so mosquitos will not come inside. Moreover, the interior is gorgeous!

Here is the bed I made for myself out of the pillows and mattresses.

Given the heat, Ishan suggested I just sit in the shade of my yurt and take it easy for a bit. Ishan is wise when it comes to the heat, I think, so I ditched my shirt, stuck a chair in the shaded sand and enjoyed my cold beer . . .

. . . and a book.

After about an hour, the sun dropped lower, a few clouds rolled in, and some wind started. This cooled things off considerably so I wandered a little.

Although I welcome the cooler temperatures, unfortunately the wind meant sand was blowing now, which was not pleasant. Still, it was better than the extreme heat.

At 20:00 I joined Ishan and the owners of his camp as well as some other drivers and guides for dinner. There were some other tourists in the area, but they must have been eating elsewhere. This was my serving! 

Barbequed lamb, chicken, potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, as well as some fresh vegetables and bread. It was all delicious. Oh, and the drivers were enjoying vodka and insisted I partake as well. It was a fun vibe and I sat with them for a bit and enjoyed watching their interactions and conversation.

After a bit I headed back to my yurt to get ready for the night. There was a hedgehog in my yurt when I got back! 

I ushered the hedgehog out, but I left the door open, still trying to cool the yurt down. I cannot say I slept particularly well, but it was all part of the adventure!