Desert Bazaar

As my travel agency handled all the visas, I wasnt aware that Turkmenistan is one of the most difficult countries to enter. They are not keen on issuing very many tourist visas.Although my visa was obtained from the embassy in İstanbul, it seemed like it took hours to please the customs officer at the airport. He showed great interest to every page of my passport as if it is a rare thing..

So with lots of patience, I entered the country in the early hours of a rainy day. Although I had only few hours of sleep, I couldnt resist to visit the desert bazaar near Askhabat in the morning. Well, they said it is the biggest in Central Asia and tell me how could I resist...

Locals called this bazaar as Tolkuckha, a name comes from the Russian days, and they were right it was big. You could find almost everything, from second hand cars to wedding dresses, from construction materials to cosmetics, you name it..It was such a perfect place to start my adventure on the ancient silk road.

I think you could probably identify most of the goods but in case you couldnt get the ones on the last photo, they are pop corns....and the puppy was not on sale, he only likes his picture to be taken..