Turkmenistan - Central Asia - page 376

Cafe¨Güneş¨ BAR
(Map p376; Alishera Navoi köçesi) In a courtyard
behind the Hotel Daýhan, this place serves
up the cheapest beer in town and does tasty
kebabs, with outdoor tables and a friendly
atmosphere.
Iceberg¨Bar¨ BAR
(Map p376; cnr Kemine köçesi & Revfov köçesi;
h 10am-11pm) This tranquil beer garden,
located behind the circus, serves up frothy
pints of microbrewed beer and sticks of
shashlyk.
City¨Pub¨ PUB
(Map p376; % 35 22 88; Alishera Navoi köçesi 54a;
mains 15-35M; h 9am-10.30pm) Though look-
ing nothing like one, a 'real British pub'
has found its way to Central Asia. It's of-
ten empty though, with televisions provid-
ing the only atmosphere. There's a decent
menu here as well, which is best enjoyed
in the brighter and generally more pleasant
next-door restaurant.
3 ¨Entertainment
Sport
Ashgabat is a great place for horse-lovers.
Every Sunday from the end of March until
May, then again from the end of August un-
til mid-November, the Hippodrome plays
host to dramatic Turkmen horse races. It's
5km east of the city centre - take bus 4
down Magtymguly or a 3M taxi ride.
The local football team is Kopet Dag,
which plays at the Kopet¨Dag¨stadium
(Map p376) . You should have no trouble pick-
ing up a ticket on match days.
Theatres¨&¨Concert¨Halls
Ashgabat offers some excellent venues for
watching music and drama productions
centred on Turkmen folklore and tradi-
tional music. If you'd like to watch Turk-
men drama then the Mollanepes¨Drama¨
Theatre¨ (Map p376; % 35 74 63; Magtymguly
şayoli 79; admission 15M) is the place to go.
For Turkmen musical performances, visit
the Magtymguly¨Theatre (Map p376; % 35
05 64; Shevchenko köçesi; admission 15M) . Rus-
sian plays can be seen at the Pushkin¨Rus-
sian¨Drama¨Theatre (Map p376; % 36 42 81;
Magtymguly şayoli 142; admission 3M) near
Gunesh Park.
7 ¨Shopping
The biggest and best supermarket in town
is the Yimpaş (Map p380; % 45 42 66; Turkmen-

bashi şayoli 54; h 7am-11pm) , a huge Turkish
shopping complex featuring, among other
things, the only escalators in Turkmeni-
stan. Here you can buy everything from
frozen lobster to Doritos over several floors.
If you want to buy carpets or inexpen-
sive cotton clothing, visit the Altyn¨Asyr¨
Marketing¨ Centre (Map p376) , opposite
the Grand Turkmen Hotel, which has
outlet shops for the carpet and textile in-
dustry. The carpets are sold with all the
documentation needed to be exported from
the country, making it a lot simpler to buy
them here. The best selection is available in
Altyn¨Göl (Map p376; % 39 21 56; Görogly köçesi
77; h 9am-7.30pm Mon-Fri, to 6pm Sat & Sun) .
The best shopping experiences are to be
had at one of Ashgabat's many markets.
The Russian¨Bazaar (Map p376) is great for
food of all kinds, especially fresh fruit and
vegetables. The Tekke¨Bazaar (Map p376) is
also recommended for foodstuffs and fruit
as well as flowers.
Turkmen bookshops are little more than
propaganda storefronts to promote na-
tional glory, but the best selection of topics
can be found at Miras¨Bookshop (Map p376;
Turkmenbashi şayoli 29; h 10am-7pm) .

8 Information
DANGERS & ANNOYANCES
Take care when photographing public buildings
in Ashgabat, you may be shouted at by a police
oicer. Do not attempt to photograph the Pal-
ace of Turkmenbashi or any other ministry; the
government quarter in Ashgabat is very of-
limits for photography, but there are no signs
to this efect.
EMERGENCY
Emergency operators will speak Turkmen or
Russian only.
Ambulance ( % 03)
Fire Service ( % 01)
Police ( % 02)
INTERNET ACCESS
There are a few internet cafes in Ashgabat,
though for the best connection have a cofee
at the Soitel Ashgabat Oguzkent Hotel (p379)
where there's password-free, fast wireless.
Even when hotels have wi-i, connections are
often terrible if they work at all. A far better way
to use the internet is to buy a local SiM card
for your unlocked smart phone. MTS will sell
these to you from its main oice in the Russian
Bazaar; you'll just need to bring along your
passport.