After a restless night freezing in a tent at the Darvaza crater, we drove back to Ashgabat. The train to Mary left at 15:00 and a whole 4 berth compartment had been booked for myself and the guide, total cost US$36. The train crawled and bumped along at an average speed of 60kph arriving in Mary (pronounced Murry as in Slurry) at 2220. A driver was waiting and we were taken to a hotel without Wifi which had seen better days. This place is in complete contrast to Ashgabat, it is normal with all kinds of cars new and old and of many colours and the buildings were just as varied but it still had the army of street sweepers keeping the place clean.

Today we drove to Gonur Depe down some fairly rugged roads, high ground clearance required and we were in a 4WD, the driver, his pal, the guide and myself. After that we stopped at Soltan Sanjaryn’s Mausoleum and the sights around it in Ancient Merv.

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