We had a later start than usual this morning as ‘because rules’ we can’t check in to the hotel until 1200, so it was breakfast at 0630 and then on the road shortly before 0700.
Stage 79 riding notes
Unfortunately the wind was already on the road before me, and is back to the usual headwind after a few days of something more helpful. It took me the first 25km to catch Grant at which point we got into a 2km routine of swapping who was at the front.
A couple of extra roundabouts and road changes had been added in to the route, but it’s nice to see a country in this part of the world which has the money and the impetus to improve their infrastructure – most of the other former Soviet countries (even those with oil money) seem to be letting things decay where-as Turkmenistan is actually investing in their infrastructure.
We were pretty soon at lunch and stopped for fuel, water and a break before continuing on.
Back on the road and we were soon getting into Mary. It’s a pretty amazing place – everything’s new, and flash, and huge, but somehow feels like it’s got no heart to it – that got lost under all the marble and chrome.
And the hotel’s no exception – apparently last time the tour came through Mary the hotel was ‘the worst of the trip’ – this time it feels and looks like a Vegas hotel
Mary Hotel reception
But it’s kind of a weird ‘mock up’ of a hotel, in that it has all the things you’d expect to find in a flash modern US hotel (which is what it looks like) but nothing quite works as you’d expect it to.
I’ve wandered over to the bazar across the road to find some lunch, and have then spent much of the rest of the afternoon getting images uploaded for blog posts and generally staying out of the heat.
One of the side effects of having been sick for such an extended period is that I’ve lost about 5kg relatively quickly which means my cycling shorts no-longer fit me as well as they did and so I’ve currently got a fairly sore arse because things which shouldn’t be moving have been!
The reference to Merv and Mary all being the same stems from the fact that the maps for this part of the world seem to be somewhat confused about exactly where the ancient city of Merv is, and where the modern city of Mary is.
There are reports of reasonably decent pizza being available from a cafe up the road, and given that the hotel restaurant doesn’t seem to work, and I’ve not seen anywhere else for dinner nearby that’s got my vote.
Riding data
View from my tent
They really like their flags and poles in this part of the world
Ancient Merv is at home in Marton. No idea where Mary is at present.