�The irony of Ashgabat was that nowhere, among the gold statues and white marble plazas with their fountains and the triumphal archways, was there a place to sit down. It was a city without benches, the subtle message being: keep walking."

       -- Paul Theroux, Ghost Train to the Eastern Star

I arrived at night, which I normally don't like to do on a first visit to a new country. But seeing the gold domes of the Presidential Palace lit up from the balcony of my hotel room gave me new appreciation for redeye flights.

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No matter where one walks in Ashgabat, gold and blue domes are almost always visible.

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Also seen from my hotel balcony was the Earthquake Memorial. In 1948 Ashgabat experienced what is considered one of the most deadly earthquakes in human history. Ten percent of the entire country's population was killed instantly that day. This memorial shows a cracking earth on top of a charging bull. The 7.3 magnitude earthquake killed future Turkmen president Saparmurat Niyazov's mother and the rest of his family, leaving him an orphan. He grew up alone and feeling unloved, and it is thought that his desire to be accepted and loved was one of the reasons for the odd cult following that he created later after his ascension to power. The memorial is also an embarrassment for many of the Turkmen people for its over-the-top presentation of the country's future leader -- a solid gold child emerging on top of the rubble.

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Random walk around Ashgabat. One of my most favorite activities when I arrive in a new city for the first time is to spend a few hours on an unscripted walk around town on my first full day. I get a sense of space and where everything is laid out when I do this, and often I will pick locations to return to later for more in-depth exploration. Since Ashgabat had so many marble and gold monuments, it was easy to spy a monument from far away and walk towards it, then pick my next target on the horizon to walk towards. I zigzagged across most of the city doing this.

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Soviet World War II Memorial in Ashgabat. A surprisingly moving place. This central statue was such an imposing yet sad figure -- a hybrid between Jesus and Darth Maul.

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The national color of the country is green, same as the flag. These ladies were decked out in full national attire during Independence Day parade practice.

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Statue of the former President for Life, Turkmenbashi, together with the Monument to the 10th anniversary of Turkmen independence (10 horses = 10 years).

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Giant monument to the Ruhnama (The Book of the Soul), the signature creation of Turkmenbashi. The book consists of spiritual & moral guidance, autobiography and revisionist history, defining family, social and religious norms for modern Turkmenistan. The former president once said that he had interceded with God to ensure that any student who read the book three times would automatically get into heaven.

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Turkmenbashi's mausoleum.

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Massive -- but inexplicably empty -- Gypjak Mosque.

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Turkmenistan's Independence Monument (irreverently referred to as The Plunger in the country's expat community), surrounded by bold statues of past heroes in Turkmen history.

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Some local kids in the vicinity of the Independence Monument.

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I was lucky enough to be in Ashgabat for the 20th anniversary of the country's independence from the USSR. While we were barred from the parade grounds since the president was in attendance, we were able to soak up some of the party atmosphere at the evening concert in Constitution Square. Here, dancers perform a traditional number.

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Camels for sale in the Tolkuchka bazaar, the largest market in the country and one of the largest in Asia.

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Ashgabat is so sleek and modern, it comes as almost a total shock to leave the city and immediately be plunged into desert sands and native circular yurt dwellings that haven't changed in centuries. Of course even out here, in the middle of relative nowhere, the sight of SUVs and satellite dishes hints at the country's vast oil & natural gas wealth.

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A couple hours outside the capital heading north, time for a lunch stop in the village of Bokurdak. We were the guests of a local family that was clearly used to pulling out all of the stops for tourists. And they were very cooperative with my incessant picture taking.

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A peek inside one of the traditional yurts provides a study in contrasts: outside, nothing spectacular; inside, colors that dazzle the eyes. I almost didn't notice that the kids on the carpeted floor were playing with actual bones!

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The sands of the Karakum Desert soon become the only thing visible for miles.

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A couple shots of the Darvaza Gas Crater. While drilling in 1971, Soviet geologists tapped into a cavern filled with natural gas. The ground beneath the drilling rig collapsed, leaving a large hole with a diameter of about 230 feet (70m). To avoid poisonous gas discharge, it was decided to burn it off. Geologists had hoped the fire would burn itself out in a matter of days but the gas still burns more than 40 years later. In April 2010, the President of Turkmenistan ordered that the hole should be closed, but apparently even he isn't powerful enough to make it happen. Locals have dubbed the cavern "The Gateway to Hell".

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One of Turkmenistan's national treasures is the Akhal-Teke horse, one of the oldest breeds on earth. There are only a few thousand of these magnificent animals left on earth, and they are revered in the country. We were treated to a visit to a local stud farm.

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A couple elderly worshippers patrol the grounds of gorgeous Goek Tepe Mosque.

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Arriving in the northern city of Dashoguz along the Uzbekistan border, here is a simple picture from across the street of the airport parking lot. Giant Turkmenistan map in the background. Eight pointed star (national symbol of Turkmenistan) in the lower right, and an old Soviet era car on the left.

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Checking out one of the Dashoguz bazaars. This guy had the quintessential local look, and I was happy he agreed to let me take his photograph.

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Just like in Ashgabat, many of the buildings in Dashoguz were oversized and made of marble. This one looks like a palace of some kind, but it's actually a museum.

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Lovely little (and for some reason completely abandoned) square dedicated to Turkmenbashi, first president of the country.

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The reason I had flown up north was to visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Konye Urgench, which contains the unexcavated ruins of the 12th-century capital of Khwarezm. Old Urgench was one of the greatest cities on the Silk Road. The 12th and early 13th centuries were the golden age of the city, and it surpassed in population and fame all other Central Asian cities barring Bukhara. In 1221, Genghis Khan razed it to the ground in one of the bloodiest massacres in human history. First, a stop at the Sultan Ali Mausoleum.

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11th Century Gultuk Temir Minaret, once the tallest brick minaret in the world.

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Some of the beautiful tile work at the Nejamuddin Kubra Mausoleum.

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We got to ride on the same plane as a huge wedding party on our flight from Dashoguz back to Ashgabat. While the groom was dressed in a smart Western suit, the bride was hidden underneath a giant veil. Upon arrival in Ashgabat, local musicians gave one of the loudest welcomes to any new bride & groom that I've ever heard. The musicians followed the bride and groom all the way outside until they got into their cars.