🇹🇲 Short drive outside Ashgabat 🇹🇲

Ashgabat is called Aşgabat in Turkmen. Although the name literally means "city of love" or "city of devotion" in Persian. Turkmen historians believe that the name goes back to the Parthian era, 3rd century BC, deriving from the name of the founder of the Parthian Empire, Arsaces I of Parthia, in Persian Ashk-Abad. Ashgabat is the capital and the largest city of Turkmenistan. It is situated between the Karakum Desert and the Kopet Dag mountain range in Central Asia. It is also near the Iran-Turkmenistan border. Ashgabat is a showpiece capital. The city looks like none other on Earth – a thoroughly artificial collection of white marble buildings across a long, dry valley. The biggest attraction in Ashgabat is the many, many white marble buildings.