Kunya-Urgench and Merv – Silk Road Cities, Mostly Forgotten
Towards the end of a journey through an unfamiliar country, you inevitably start reflecting a little.
The trip had begun abruptly in Ashgabat—a surreal city of white marble, empty streets, and police officers standing on seemingly every corner.
Then came the countryside.
The roads became worse, the poverty more visible, but at the same time, the country also started to feel more human. More familiar somehow.
People outside the capital were curious. They waved, asked for selfies, and happily posed for photographs.
When we reached Dashoguz, close to the Uzbek border, I visited one of the local markets.
Most people here seemed to speak Uzbek rather than Turkmen, and the atmosphere felt noticeably different from what I had experienced earlier in the trip.
One thing stood out immediately:
The market belonged to the women.
Most of the vendors were female. Many wore headscarves, but there was no expectation of covering their hair completely, as you often see elsewhere.
Like many things in Turkmenistan, it didn’t quite match the stereotypes.
Not quite what people imagine when they think of Turkmenistan.
In many ways, the best part of the journey had been saved for last.
Now we were heading towards Kunya-Urgench, an ancient Silk Road city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Much of the city was destroyed by Genghis Khan, but several remarkable monuments still remain scattered across the landscape.
The towering Kutlug Timur Minaret can still be seen from far away, rising unexpectedly from the flat surroundings.
Nearby are several mausoleums, some with surprisingly intricate mosaic work that has somehow survived centuries of destruction and neglect.
And then finally—Merv.
Once one of the largest cities in the world.
Today, mostly silence.
Once a city. Now a horizon.
Standing in this dry, almost empty landscape, surrounded by scattered ruins and sand-coloured walls, it’s difficult to imagine what once existed here.
Entire cities rose and disappeared along these trade routes.
Now only fragments remain.
The scale only becomes real when you stand next to structures like Great Kyz Kala.
Turkmenistan may look isolated today, but this land has been shaped by thousands of years of trade, migration, conquest, and different cultures layered on top of each other.
It’s a far more complicated country than it first appears.
And that may be what I will remember most.
Yes, the political system can feel unsettling, even absurd at times.
But most people are simply people—curious, welcoming, and trying to live ordinary lives.
And hidden beneath all the marble, propaganda, and isolation, Turkmenistan still contains places that deserve to be seen by far more travellers.
Explore the rest of Turkmenistan – where this still somehow makes sense.
