Ashgabat: the weird, wonderful and eerily empty capital of Turkmenistan

It is an unexpected pit stop in the middle of nowhere; a lonely petrol station on the side of the road. The only other traffic, four camels trot towards the tiny hamlet where, having driven out to the Darvaza gas crater, we are taking turns to wash our SUVs. Sure, the vehicles need it after two days in the Karakum desert, but why now and why here?

It turns out that this is the last stop before Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmeni­stan, where the driving of dirty cars is illegal. Surreal? From touch down at the city’s huge falcon-shaped airport to the moment you leave the country, this mysterious “Stan” is exactly that.

AN EERIE SILENCE GREETS arrivals at the recently opened, multibillion-dollar Ashgabat International Airport. We are outnumbered by austere officials and grim military guards watching our every move, or at least giving their eyes a rest from the glitzy gold and Islamic green décor.

A republic under the Soviet Union, Turk­menistan declared its independence in 1991 and has since been ruled in isolation and secrecy. Comfortably enthroned on vast gas reserves and with no checks and balances to worry about, its two despotic presidents and their Potemkin fantasies have changed the very landscape, particularly in Ashgabat.