Sovietistan (Turkmenistan)

 Today's post will be what a lot of my posts will be like unless I am somehow able to finish an entire book very quickly. That does not happen very often. (This was originally penned in June.)

This book is called Sovietistan: Travels in Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan by Erika Fatland and I am listening to it on audio. I have the ebook on my phone as well but I've not actually used it. One reason I decided to start this blog was so that I could write down what I'm hearing. There is a higher tendency for me to space out while I'm listening to a book than when I'm reading one, but time is short (I drive a lot) and the reading simply doesn't get done. 

But I digress. 

The start of the book, as I recall, is an introduction of the author into what I will call, though I do not recall if she does, the 'Stans. She is a journalist but in order to get into these places she has been granted a student visa. She's a bit paranoid (albeit probably justifiably) of authority figures in the areas she is visiting. The start though is in a place where there is a crater that continues to burn. I believe it is called the Gates of Hell. (An obvious issue with listening rather than reading, the names may not be at all like you think they are.)

At one time gas was discovered in this particular area and that was a great thing. The necessary companies became coming in to get it all set up to 'mine' and therefore profit from the gas. Apparently the ground opened up and the process had to be halted. The escaping gas was horrid for the locals; smelly and I'm guessing just generally unsafe. The decision was made to burn it off so that the gas wouldn't continue to leak out. Well, that was close to 50 years ago! The whole town was evacuated as well but it was because they didn't want tourists coming in to gawk at the burning hole. 

There are maps in the physical (and digital) books, which is great for this type of book. But I didn't have that when I was listening. 

She recounts her adventure getting to the 'Stans. At the airport in Istanbul many people ask her to carry packages or their luggage for her. She pretends not to understand them and finally she is told the reason she's being asked by just about everyone. There is a limit on luggage/packages that can be brought by each individual. But these people go to other places, buy lots of stuff, and bring it back to their own place to sell. Apparently women stuff things in their dresses and people tape stuff to their bodies. 

Just about everything sold in Turkmenistan was brought from Turkey.

The states that Erika will visit and detail are ones that were created after the fall of the USSR in 1991. I guess it's probably better called 'dissolution' than fall as it's still there, unlike the Ottoman Empire. Anyway, each of the states she'll visit were made independent for the first time in their histories. 

I'll have to come back to add more later.