Welcome to Ashgabat - or as the locals call it Ash Vegas. There are a few things that immediately strike you. The first is that virtually every building is white, and in many cases it is white Italian marble, the second is the neat and tidy layout and the proliferation of parks and gardens (12 million trees have been planted) and the third is they love their lights. It's a very modern city thanks to the unfortunate occurence of an earthquake in 1948 that measured 9 on the Richter scale and practically wiped out the city. The other notable thing is that all social media is blocked. It's an Instagrammar's worst nightmare!. Our first foray into Turkmen culture was to hire a taxi driver for what turned out to be around 5 hours for the bargain price of US $30. First stop was the Turkmenbashi Cableway. A 3.5km gondola ride which provided a panoramic view ovef Ashgabat and the surrounding countryside. From there we could see the world's biggest indoor ferris wheel which was a "must do" on John's list. So with the help of some young Turkmen people, who wanted our photograph and our email addresses we were able to explain the to our taxi driver and off we headed. We were amazed/astounded at the complete lack of people and traffic. At times we were the only car on a 6 lane tree lined boulevarde. And we were the only people on the ferris wheel. A ferris wheel inside a building seemed to defeat the purpose a little but there were still good views to be had. The city is adorned with monuments, some that celebrate an event or purpose and others that just seem to exist because they can. At night the city becomes a kaleidoscope of lights. Buildings, monuments, streets, sports stadiums become an ever changing pattern of colours. The Turkmen people are very patriotic, andare fiercely proud of their neutrality. It is openly promoted on monuments and plaques where ever you look. The gigantic flag pole which can be seen from most parts of the city has a forced air system built into the flag pole to ensure that the flag is always flying - even on windless days. It's a little hard to describe Ashgabat. A city determined to create its own identity - albeit in a strange way at times but populated by extremely friendly people, ever keen to help and always interested in who you are and where you are from.